{"id":104,"date":"2022-06-08T10:30:01","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T10:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/?p=104"},"modified":"2022-06-08T16:07:12","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T16:07:12","slug":"top-5-things-to-know-about-nasa-new-mineral-dust-detector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/news\/top-5-things-to-know-about-nasa-new-mineral-dust-detector\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5: Things to know about NASA\u2019s New Mineral Dust Detector"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Each year, strong winds carry more than a billion metric tons \u2013 or the weight of 10,000 aircraft carriers \u2013 of mineral dust from Earth\u2019s deserts and other dry regions through the atmosphere. While scientists know that the dust affects the environment and climate, they don\u2019t have enough data to determine, in detail, what those effects are or may be in the future \u2013 at least not yet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Launching to the International Space Station on June 9, NASA\u2019s&nbsp;Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation&nbsp;(EMIT) instrument will help fill in those knowledge gaps. EMIT\u2019s state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer, developed by the agency\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, will collect more than a billion dust-source-composition measurements around the globe over the course of a year \u2013 and in doing so, significantly advance scientists\u2019 understanding of dust\u2019s influence across the&nbsp;Earth system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are five things to know about EMIT:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>It will identify the composition of mineral dust from Earth\u2019s arid regions.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Desert regions produce most of the mineral dust that makes its way into the atmosphere. They\u2019re also largely remote, making it difficult for scientists to collect soil and dust samples over these vast areas by hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From its perch on the space station, EMIT will map the world\u2019s mineral dust source regions. The imaging spectrometer will also provide information on the color and composition of dust sources globally for the first time. This data will help scientists understand which kinds of dust dominate each region and advance their understanding of dust\u2019s impact on climate and the Earth system today and in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What Is NASA\u2019s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT)? (Mission Overview)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/z9RjGdfxSDk?list=PLTiv_XWHnOZoPDLi6vExJTP1uHtxT0xsQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>It will clarify whether mineral dust heats or cools the planet.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Right now, scientists don\u2019t know whether mineral dust has a cumulative heating or cooling effect on the planet. That\u2019s because dust particles in the atmosphere have different properties. For instance, some particles may be dark red, while others may be white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The color matters because it determines whether the dust will absorb the Sun\u2019s energy, as dark-colored minerals do, or reflect it, as light-colored minerals do. If more of the dust absorbs the Sun\u2019s energy than reflects it, it\u2019ll warm the planet, and vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EMIT will provide a detailed picture of how much dust comes from dark versus light minerals. That information will allow scientists to determine whether dust heats or cools the planet overall, as well as regionally and locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>It will help scientists understand how dust affects different Earth processes.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/thumbnails\/image\/e2-pia25150-emit-5-things-1041.jpg?itok=-M8m3_kj\" alt=\"Officials from NASA and JPL oversee vibration testing of the EMIT science instrument - Mineral Dust\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Mineral dust particles vary in color because they\u2019re made of different substances. Dark red mineral dust gets its color from iron, for example. The composition of dust particles affects how they interact with many of Earth\u2019s natural processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, mineral dust plays a role in cloud formation and atmospheric chemistry. When mineral dust is deposited in the ocean or forests, it can provide nutrients for growth, acting like fertilizer. When it falls on snow or ice, the dust accelerates melting, leading to more water runoff. And for humans, mineral dust can be a health hazard when inhaled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EMIT will collect information on 10 important dust varieties, including those that contain iron oxides, clays, and carbonates. With this data, scientists will be able to assess precisely what effects mineral dust has on different ecosystems and processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Its data will improve the accuracy of climate models.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In the absence of more specific data, scientists currently characterize mineral dust in climate models as yellow \u2013 a general average of dark and light. Because of this, the effects that mineral dust may have on climate \u2013 and that climate may have on mineral dust \u2013 are not well represented in computer models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Color and composition information gathered by EMIT will change that. When the instrument\u2019s data is incorporated, the accuracy of climate models is expected to improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>It will help scientists predict how future climate scenarios will affect the type and amount of dust in our atmosphere.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As global temperatures rise, arid regions may become even drier, possibly resulting in larger (and dustier) deserts. To what extent this might happen depends on several factors, including how much temperatures rise, how land use changes, and how rainfall trends change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By incorporating EMIT\u2019s global dust source composition data into models and predictions, scientists will gain a better understanding of how the amount and composition of dust in arid regions may change under different climate and land-use scenarios. They\u2019ll also gain a better understanding of how these changes may impact climate in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More About the Mission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EMIT is being developed at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California. It will launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX\u2019s 25th commercial resupply services mission for NASA. Once EMIT begins operation, its data will be delivered to the NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) for use by other researchers and the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn more about the mission, visit: <a href=\"https:\/\/earth.jpl.nasa.gov\/emit\/\">https:\/\/earth.jpl.nasa.gov\/emit\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We recommend you: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/technical-articles\/space-robots-why-them-instead-of-humans\/\">Space Robots: Why them instead of humans?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Called EMIT, the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation will analyze dust carried through the atmosphere from dry regions to see what effects it has on the planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[8,38,35,24,34],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions\/112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}