NASA Sensors Find Pollution Hiding in the SHADOZ
May 31 — NASA and scientists from 10 tropical countries have used balloon-borne sensors to obtain the first picture of the structure of ozone (pollution) in the tropical troposphere, the atmospheric layer between the surface and 50,000 feet. Under the SHADOZ (Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes) Project, they have found that ozone "piles up" over the south Atlantic Ocean due to natural circulation patterns and that pollution (low-level ozone) from Africa and South America streams into the pile-up region, making the ozone even thicker. More

NASA, NOAA to Launch New Environmental Satellite
May 30 — A new environmental satellite, NOAA-M, is being planned for launch June 24 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., NOAA and NASA announced today. More

Decline of World's Glaciers Expected to Have Global Impacts Over This Century
May 29 — The great majority of the world's glaciers appear to be declining at rates equal to or greater than long-established trends, according to early results from a joint NASA and United States Geological Survey (USGS) project designed to provide a global assessment of glaciers. More

FLAMBE Helps With Firefighting, Weather and Air Quality Forecasts
May 28 — Several federal agencies have teamed with universities in the development of revolutionary new fire and smoke monitoring products under a program using satellite data that will help with improving weather and visibility forecasts, firefighting efforts and air quality forecasts as smoke and fire events are happening. More

A Warm Polar Winter Was Easier on Arctic Ozone
May 28 — A NASA researcher has found unusually high levels of protective upper atmospheric ozone in the Arctic as a result of a rare sudden warming during the early winter of 1998. More

New Method Links Rainfall Patterns to Developing El Ninos
May 28 — NASA researchers have created a tool that can predict El Nino events months before they occur, by linking variations in rainfall patterns over the Indian Ocean with developing El Ninos. More

Fleet of NASA Spacecraft Observe Atmosphere's Response to Recent Solar Storms
May 28 — The atmospheric data from NASA's newest solar spacecraft, TIMED (Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics), is providing important new information on the final link in the Sun-Earth Connection chain of physical processes that connect the Sun and Earth. More

New On-Line Tool Tailors Climate Forecasts to Fit Resource Managers' Needs
May 22 — A soon-to-be-released online tool, developed through NASA funding, provides "Consumer Reports" type evaluations of seasonal forecasts for water, land and agricultural managers. By helping users determine what forecasts are right for their needs, this tool could help users make multi-million dollar decisions. More

Children Compete in an Odyssey to Solve a NASA-Sponsored Problem
May 20 — Every year, children from all over the world gather together and compete in a creative problem-solving competition called "Odyssey of the Mind World Finals," which challenges students to solve long-term problems in topics ranging from science and technology to the creative arts. More

Changes In Rainfall Patterns Spur Plant Growth, Carbon
May 16 — NASA-funded study finds that changing rainfall patterns over much of the United States in the last century have allowed plants to grow more vigorously and absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. More

Tropical 'Runaway Greenhouse' Provides Insight to Venus
May 15 — A region in the western tropical Pacific Ocean may help scientists understand how Venus lost all of its water and became a 900-degree inferno. The study of this local phenomenon by NASA scientists also should help researchers understand what conditions on Earth might lead to a similar fate here. More

NASA Scientists Could Provide Severe Icing Warnings to Pilots
May 14 — In the future NASA scientists could enhance current warning systems that update pilots of dangerous icing conditions and provide this information in near real-time. More

NASA Brings New Earth Monitoring Technology to Light
May 14 — A new, cost-effective technology based on the venerable global positioning system (GPS) may soon revolutionize the way Earth's atmosphere is monitored. More

NASA Research Helps Communities Prepare For Flood Season
May 14 — As communities around the nation prepare for this year's flood season, Earth scientists at NASA's Stennis Space Center are at work on several projects to help communities better understand flood risk. More

NASA Scientists Use Empty Skies to Study Climate Change
May 13 — When the tragic events of September 2001 temporarily halted U.S. commercial air traffic, it created an opportunity to study the relationship between aviation and clouds. More

NASA Study Leads to Better Understanding of Ozone Depletion
May 9 — Scientists have unraveled a mystery about hydrogen peroxide that may lead to a more accurate way of measuring a gas that contributes to depletion of Earth's protective ozone layer More

Aqua Launches!
May 4 — NASA's latest Earth observing satellite, Aqua, lifted off from the Western Test Range of Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., aboard a Delta II rocket at 2:55 a.m. PDT on May 4, 2002. More

New NASA Satellite Zooms in on Tornado Swath
May 2 — The La Plata tornado's path can be seen clearly in this panchromatic image acquired on May 1 by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI), flying aboard NASA's EO-1 satellite. More

Thunderstorms Are Affected By Pollution
May 2 — A NASA-funded researcher has discovered that tiny airborne particles of pollution may modify developing thunderclouds by increasing the quantity and reducing the size of ice crystals within them. These modifications may affect the cloud's impact on the "radiation budget," the amount of radiation that enters and leaves the Earth. More

NASA to Test Microwave Effects on Plant Growth
May 2 — Microwaves derived from solar power and transmitted by orbiting satellites to electric power stations on Earth may someday enable U.S. energy self-sufficiency, but is this method safe for local plant life? More

NASA Helps Preserve Our Nation's History
May 1 — A team of NASA scientists working at the request of the National Archives has determined why the United States' most important historical documents may be sealed in an atmosphere unhealthy to their future preservation. More

NASA Eyes Intricate Pattern on Cloud Street
May 1 — Newly-released images from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer capture perhaps the longest cloud vortex, or "cloud street," ever viewed by a satellite. More

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