Among the many events held on Monday, April 29th, during UMBC's 8th Earth Day Symposium, was Vanderlei Martins’ presentation, “The PACE Satellite.” Dr. Martins was the first of five speakers who would contribute to the symposium. He is the Director of the Earth and Space Institute at UMBC, a Physics professor, and a scientist with GESTAR II. Dr. Martins and his team at UMBC built the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter-2 (HARP2), which is currently onboard the PACE satellite (read more about HARP2 and the PACE launch here).
The PACE satellite consists of three instruments, which are complementary: the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), HARP2, and the Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration one (SPEX-one). Originally, PACE would have only carried the OCI. However, with these three instruments’ combined measurements, the data provided will be robust and will “provide worldwide usage of information,” according to Dr. Martins. Learn more about these three instruments here. He emphasized that PACE has “unprecedented capabilities covering ocean ecology, aerosol (amount and type), and land surface properties.”
Dr. Vanderlei Martins presenting "The PACE Satellite."
(Photo: A. Houghton.)
