Using data from the European Space Agency's Swarm mission, scientists find that abrupt drops in the ionosphere's electron density may cause low-orbiting satellites to lose contact with GPS satellites
satellites
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Scientists Map Temperature and Density in Earth’s Exosphere
Data from multiple orbiters give a clearer picture of how density and temperature interact and what that could mean for future satellite missions.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Predicting Space Weather, Protecting Satellites
A new model predicts electron and ion fluxes at geosynchronous orbit an hour ahead of time, allowing satellite operators to protect their instruments.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
New Weather Satellite Captures Sea Surface Temperatures
A new algorithm improves the accuracy of Pacific and Indian Ocean surface temperature measurements by the Japanese geostationary satellite Himawari-8.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Radar Technique Shows Magma Flow in 2014 Cape Verde Eruption
The European Space Agency's Sentinel-1 satellite captures volcanic surface changes that reveal the flow below.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Protecting Communications Satellites from Space Weather
A recent analysis of proprietary telecommunications data identifies a potential source of anomalous satellite component performance, and what can be done to prevent this from happening in the future.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
New Insights into Currents in Earth's Magnetic Field
Multisatellite missions give scientists a more complete view of the intense currents that bounce back and forth along our planet's magnetic field lines.
Posted inScience Updates
Changing of the Guard: Satellite Will Warn Earth of Solar Storms
This summer, Earth gets a new guardian—the Deep Space Climate Observatory—to help warn astronauts and operators of critical planetary infrastructure about the Sun's raging magnetic storms.
Posted inScience Updates
Earthquake Monitoring Gets Boost from New Satellite
Europe's Sentinel-1A spacecraft and its extraordinary images of slip from the South Napa earthquake herald a new era of space-based surveillance of faults.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Proposed Satellite Would Improve Study of Cloud Physics
Researchers propose a new satellite that would help scientists study how cloud physics is affected by aerosols.