Satellite Will Spy On El Nino
A satellite launched for the Navy is expected to help predict El Nino weather by improving the measurement of ocean changes, according to its builder, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
The $83.5 million satellite project marked Broomfield-based Ball's most comprehensive satellite mission and the first launch for the company in about three years, the program manager said.
"This is the first time Ball has completed an entire mission," manager Len Andreozzi said. "We took it from the initial concept that the Navy had, all the way through integration, procurement, launch and now mission operations."
Scientists say the satellite is expected to map variations in the positions of major ocean currents and predict drought and flood patterns.
The satellite also will give the Navy a direct link to ships at sea and facilities on shore to determine currents and eddies in the ocean.
The satellite will circle in a low-earth orbit 800 kilometers above the surface, covering an area from Greenland to Antarctica. "A ship at sea, regardless of the ocean, can collect the data," Andreozzi said.
The Navy will share the satellite's data with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which will distribute it to civil and scientific users.
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