On Christmas Eve in 1968, astronaut Bill Anders took a photo which would affectionately come to be known as the “Earthrise” image. It wasn’t the first photo of Earth from space, but it quickly became a cultural touchstone and a source of momentum for the budding environmental movement which helped establish the first Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970.
Since then, space has become a great vantage for not only perspective-shifting images of our planet, but also observing and studying Earth’s systems. Space-based missions have been working hard helping us learn more about our rapidly changing planet and how we as humanity fit into those changes.
BAE Systems has been a proud mission partner for the scientific and environmental communities to develop the most advanced technologies and cutting-edge solutions to our world’s hardest environmental problems.
Addressing the ozone problem
In the late 1980s, the scientific community confirmed a shocking discovery; human activity was carving a hole in the layer of the atmosphere which protects us from dangerous UV radiation, known as the ozone layer.
That discovery led to the Montreal Protocol, in which the international community came together to take action and reduce the use and release of chemicals that were systematically destroying the ozone layer. Experts now expect to see a nearly full recovery of the ozone layer by the end of the century. The Montreal Protocol is widely considered to be one of the premier environmental treaties thanks to the success in reducing ozone-depleting substances.
The findings that led to this heartening example of scientific data and international cooperation working together to protect our planet was supported by the work of the BAE Systems-built Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer-2 (SBUV/2) instrument.
We’ve been proud to support the continual monitoring of the ozone layer since, building the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) which is now measuring the ozone layer.
The next big atmospheric challenge
With the healing of the ozone layer well on its way, the scientific community has turned its eye to another challenge facing Earth’s atmosphere, global air quality.
According to the World Health Organization, poor outdoor air quality leads to more than 4.2 million premature deaths globally every year. On top of the human cost, the World Bank estimates air pollution cost the global economy $8.1 trillion in 2019.
Managing air quality across the globe is challenging because while pollution may be produced by cars or energy production in one country, atmospheric systems can carry it hundreds or thousands of miles away. Scientists, policy makers, and citizens are searching for ways to tackle our air quality problem and better protect vulnerable communities; to do so they’ll need frequent, accurate data.
How our technology is going to help
The good news is that the latest in space-based air quality monitoring is now on orbit. The BAE Systems-built Tropospheric Emissions Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) and Geostationary Emissions Monitoring Satellite (GEMS) are now inflight over North America and Asia respectively, providing the best air quality data on the market.
The satellites’ hourly measurements of tropospheric ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde, and other trace gas species allow comprehensive understanding of the chemistry and dynamics that drive air quality.
We’ve been honored to support important work on atmospheric health for the last century, and we look forward to supporting a future where people across the globe have access to the best data to help tackle challenges in our ever-changing world.