FEATURED DATA

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PMC measurement showing a PMC near 86-87km.
The figure shows the SOFIE signals for the first detected PMC of the 2008 Northern Hemisphere season. The signals (formulated as extinctions) are for the 3 micron PMC channel. Band 9 is shown in green, band 10 in red and the DV signal in blue. The signals have been smoothed slightly to help illustrate the PMC signature.

Featured Data Archive

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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

INSTRUMENTS

SOFIE

CIPS

CDE

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 is expected to last two or more years during which 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.

NEWS & PRESS

05.20.08
AIM has been selected for extended mission funding following the 2-year Explorer baseline mission.  The extension from June 2009 through September 2012 will allow tracking the evolution of mesospheric clouds for an additional seven seasons and provide data to address key outstanding questions including:

• Are there variations in PMCs that can be explained by changes in solar irradiance and particle input?
• What changes in mesospheric properties are responsible for north/south differences in PMC features?
• What controls interannual variability in PMC season duration and latitudinal extent?
• What is the mechanism of teleconnection between winter temperatures and summer hemisphere PMC’s?
• What is the global occurrence rate of gravity waves outside the PMC domain?

View the Extended Mission Proposal

EPO HIGHLIGHTS

An exciting OSTM/Jason-2 Educator Launch Conference will be held on 14-15 June 2008 (Saturday/Sunday).  The conference will have rich Space and STEM education educator workshops in the afternoon followed by a dinner banquet.

All conference information is posted at http://endeavours.org/sec

MORE @ NASA

NASA's AIM website

Article: The Science of AIM