2013 SENIOR REVIEW PROPOSAL

• Proposal References
• AIM Team Publications
• AIM Team Presentations
• General NLC/PMC References

FEATURED DATA

The current PMC season began on May 13, 2013, ~10 days before any of the previous 6 Northern Hemisphere seasons to date. The Figure above shows SOFIE observations on May 13, 2013, at 70°N latitude. The left panel shows the temperatures associated with the observed PMC, compared to the daily mean temperature and frost point temperature profiles. The right panel shows the water vapor mixing ratio contained in the PMC versus altitude.

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Featured Data Archive

ORBIT TOOLS

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LAUNCH DETAILS

days
since AIM launched.

Launch Date: 25 April 2007
Location: Vandenberg AFB, California, USA
Launch Vehicle: Pegasus
Orbit: Sun-synchronus
Inclination: 97.8 degrees
Period: 96 min, 32 sec

After initial spacecraft stabilization, the spacecraft and instruments underwent extensive commissioning activities to ensure proper operation.

AIM DATA SETS

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MISSION STATUS

AIM continues to operate nominally.  A lunar eclipse occurred on May 10 but the coarse sun sensors remained locked on the Sun and therefore had no impact on the spacecraft operations. All spacecraft subsystems continue to perform well.  Lastly, on March 25th AIM celebrated its 6th birthday  Congratulations AIM!

INSTRUMENTS

SOFIE

CIPS

CDE

Final Mass, Power, & Data Rates for SOFIE, CIPS, CDE, BUS, and their totals.

SPACEWEATHER

Spaceweather Photo Gallery

THE MISSION

The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite mission is exploring Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs), also called noctilucent clouds, to find out why they form and why they are changing.

The AIM mission has been extended by NASA through the end of FY12. During this time the instruments will monitor noctilucent clouds to better understand their variability and possible connection to climate change. Individual instrument data collection status, as well as spacecraft and instrument health, will be monitored throughout the life of the mission and reported periodically on this website.

The primary goal of the AIM mission is to help scientists understand whether the clouds' ephemeral nature, and their variation over time, is related to Earth's changing climate - and to investigate why they form in the first place. By measuring the thermal, chemical and other properties of the environment in which the mysterious clouds form, the AIM mission will provide researchers with a foundation for the study of long-term variations in the mesosphere and its relationship to global climate change. In addition to measuring environmental conditions, the AIM mission will collect data on cloud abundance, how the clouds are distributed, and the size of particles within them.

NEWS & PRESS

Noctilucent clouds have surprised researchers by appearing early this year. The unexpected apparition of electric-blue night-shining clouds hints at a change in the "teleconnections" of Earth's atmosphere.

FULL STORY: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/07jun_nlcs/

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohQzHz9gy6c

VIMEO viewing and download video: http://vimeo.com/67889591

12.31.12
www.universetoday.com/99190/most-awesome-space-images-of-2012-2/#ixzz2HVKeyy7L

"Astronauts shot an image of delicate shining threads called polar mesospheric clouds as they zoomed across the Tibetan plateau in June 2012. Also known as noctilucent or night-shining clouds, this image is the first time astronauts caught the phenomenon from orbit."

click to view full size image

Press Release Archive