SoylentNews

Arthur T Knackerbracket writes:

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Following a rigorous selection process, ESA has selected a new satellite mission to fill in a critical missing piece of the climate jigsaw. By measuring radiation emitted by Earth into space, FORUM will provide new insight into the planet's radiation budget and how it is controlled.

The Far-infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) mission was one of two concepts competing to be ESA's ninth Earth Explorer mission.

Earth Explorers use innovative measurement techniques to yield new insight into different aspects of the Earth system and the interactions that bind the system as a whole. Fundamentally, they are designed and built to fill scientific community, so, importantly, the community retains a key role in the selection and development process.

After a two-year feasibility study phase, both FORUM and its competitor, the Sea-surface Kinematics Multiscale monitoring (SKIM) concept, were presented and discussed in detail with the scientific community at a User Consultation Meeting in Cambridge, UK, in July.

Wolfram Mauser, who chaired ESA's Advisory Committee for Earth Observation on behalf of Martin Visbeck, said, "Both mission concepts are outstanding in the value they would bring to science, and are technologically ready to be built, so it was difficult to recommend which one should be implemented.

"Nevertheless, FORUM promises to improve climate models and, therefore, climate prediction. So with the issue of climate change a major global concern, we finally decided to recommend this concept—and we are very happy that ESA has taken our recommendation."

Original Submission