PREFIRE

PREFIRE

Polar Radiant Energy in the Far InfraRed Experiment

Revealing new aspects of the Arctic climate by measuring the full spectrum of polar radiant energy.

Image courtesy of the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center

Overview

PREFIRE makes the first full spectral measurements of Far InfraRed (FIR) radiation, revealing the full spectrum of Arctic radiant energy. It fills a major gap in our knowledge of the Arctic energy budget and the role of FIR radiation in Arctic warming, sea ice loss, ice sheet melt, and sea level rise.

r1

The Arctic is Earth’s thermostat. It regulates the climate by venting excess energy received in the tropics.

r1

Nearly 60% of Arctic emission occurs at wavelengths longer than 15 μm (FIR) that have never been systematically measured.

r1

PREFIRE quantifies spatial and temporal variability in spectral FIR emission and the atmospheric greenhouse effect.

Image courtesy of NASA Visible Earth

Mission

How are we measuring and what will we do with the data?

PREFIRE measures variations in FIR emissivity and greenhouse effect via thermal radiometric sampling at the top of the polar atmosphere. These measurements are integrated with models to understand the role of FIR radiation in Arctic climate.

Baseline Mission

Two 6U CubeSat spacecraft in two different 525 km altitude, near-polar sun-synchronous (97.5° inclination) orbits, each with a heritage miniaturized IR spectrometer, covering the 3-54 μm wavelength region at approximately 0.84 μm spectral sampling, operating for about one seasonal cycle (about a year) with diurnal subsampling.


Threshold Mission

One 6U CubeSat spacecraft (525 km altitude) in near-polar sun-synchronous orbit (97.5° inclination), operating for approximately half a seasonal cycle (about 6 months).

r1

CubeSat Orbit

Two spacecraft in near-polar orbits sample Arctic and Antarctic surfaces and clouds, providing multiple observations of those regions each day.

Image courtesy of NASA Visible Earth

Instrument

tirs
TIRS Opto-mechanical design

Thermal IR Spectrometer (TIRS)

  • Flight-proven hardware and design—TIRS uncooled detector and filter block design maturity are from Mars Climate Sounder and Diviner
  • Instrument has adequate margins (mass, power, volume, and data rate)
  • Orbit and mission design flexibility for accommodating different launch opportunities

Technical Specifications

Thermopile array
64 channels x 8 pixels
Spectral sampling
approximately 0.84 μm, from 3-54 μm
Spatial coverage
8 separated pixels, 11.7 km cross-track surface footprint, multiple surface footprint overlaps along-track
Mass
< 3 kg
Data rate
12 kbps
Power
4.5 W
Image courtesy of NASA Visible Earth

Science Team


For more information, contact Erin Hokanson Wagner
Image courtesy of NASA Visible Earth

Latest News

r1

PREFIRE First Light Announcement!

September 3, 2024

NASA has publicly released the first look at PREFIRE mission data, also known as the first light announcement! The PREFIRE science team worked with NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio to create a first light video. It showcases some of the fascinating infrared details of the Arctic surface and atmosphere that PREFIRE-SAT2 captured in July 2024. The PREFIRE science team is hard at work analyzing the countless measurements that the twin CubeSats are radioing to the ground every day.


Read more
r1

2024 PREFIRE Science Team Meeting

August 15, 2024

The 2024 PREFIRE Science Team Meeting was held at the University of Colorado on August 8th and 9th. The PREFIRE team, led by Tristan L'Ecuyer (PI) discussed the status of the PREFIRE CubeSats and instruments, the Science Data Processing System (SDPS), and preliminary data output, as well as the nuances and considerations of this unique dataset. The team also discussed potential validation activities and heard from several external scientists about related projects with the potential for both collaboration and validation.


Read more
r1

Second PREFIRE Satellite Launched!

June 5, 2024

Rocket Lab successfully launched the second of two PREFIRE satellites from Mahia, New Zealand at 3:15 pm NZST (3:15 am UTC).


Read more
News Archive Image courtesy of NASA Visible Earth

Publications

Publications

  • Peterson, C., X. Chen, Q. Yue, and X. Huang, The spectral dimension of Arctic outgoing longwave radiation and greenhouse efficiency trends from 2003 to 2016, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124, 8467–8480, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030428
  • Kahn, B.H., B.J. Drouin, and T.S. L’Ecuyer, Assessment of sampling sufficiency for low-cost satellite missions: Application to PREFIRE, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 37, 2283–2298, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-20-0023.1
  • L'Ecuyer, T.S, B.J. Drouin, J. Anheuser, M. Grames, D. Henderson, X. Huang, B.H. Kahn, J.E. Kay, B.H. Lim, M. Mateling, A. Merelli, N.B. Miller, S. Padmanabhan, C. Peterson, N. Schlegel, M.L. White, and Y. Xie, The Polar Radiant Energy in the Far InfraRed Experiment: A new perspective on polar longwave energy exchanges, Bulletin of the American Meterorological Society, 102, E1431–E1449, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0155.1
  • Xie, Y., X. Huang, X. Chen, T.S. L’Ecuyer, B.J. Drouin, and J. Wang, Retrieval of surface spectral emissivity in polar regions based on the optimal estimation method. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 127, e2021JD035677, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JD035677
  • Bertossa, C., T.S. L'Ecuyer, A. Merrelli, X. Huang, and X. Chen, A neural network-based cloud mask for PREFIRE and evaluation with simulated observations. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 40, 377–396, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-22-0023.1
  • Mattingly, K.S., J.V. Turton, J.D. Wille, B. Noel, X. Fettweis, A.K. Rennermalm, and T.L. Mote, Increasing extreme melt in northeast Greenland linked to foehn winds and atmospheric rivers. Nature Communications, 14, 1743, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37434-8
  • Miller, N.B., A. Merrelli, T.S. L’Ecuyer, and B.J. Drouin, Simulated clear-sky water vapor and temperature retrievals from PREFIRE measurements. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 40, 645–659, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-22-0128.1
  • Shaw, J.K., and J.E. Kay, Processes controlling the seasonally varying emergence of forced Arctic longwave radiation changes, Journal of Climate, 36, 7337–7354, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-23-0020.1
  • Prince, H.D., and T.S. L'Ecuyer, Observed Energetic Adjustment of the Arctic and Antarctic in a Warming World, Journal of Climate, 37, 2611–2627, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-23-0294.1
Image courtesy of NASA Visible Earth

Dataset

Dataset

The PREFIRE project will start science operations in late spring of 2024, after which mission data will be publicly accessible some months later through the NASA Atmospheric Science Data Center.
Image courtesy of NASA Visible Earth