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This visualization shows the how observations by the Suomi NPP satellite's Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb instrument, and information from the GEOS-5 computational atmospheric model, together revealed the bolide plume snaking around the atmosphere. For complete transcript, click here.This video is also available on our YouTube channel. On Feb. 15, 2013, the bolide was about to explode over Chelyabinsk, Russia. The Suomi NPP satellite made its first observation 1,100 kilometers from the explosion. Scientists used the initial satellite measurements of the plume to seed the GEOS-5 computational model. The location of the satellite's first observation (blue circle) is seen with respect to the modeled plume. The satellite's second observation is labeled with respect to the modeled plume. The modeled path and height of the plume continue to agree well with satellite observations. Four days after the bolide explosion, the faster, higher portion of the plume (red) had snaked its way entirely around the northern hemisphere and back to Chelyabinsk, Russia. The modeled plume is diffuse, shown here with early Suomi NPP observations. These vertical profiles of the atmosphere are based on the Suomi NPP satellite's Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb instrument; measuring at an angle to Earth's surface, the instrument scans tiny slices of the atmosphere through 3 separate slits. Colors assigned to the GEOS-5 model of the plume which range from 10 km (gray) to 30 km (yellow) to 50 km (red) Colors assigned to the Suomi NPP data curtains from the OMPS instrument: extinction ranging from 1e-06 (blue) to 1e-05 (purple) to 1e-04 (green) to 1e-03 (white). This is a logarithmic scale. Shortly after dawn on Feb. 15, 2013, a bolide measuring 18 meters across and weighing 11,000 metric tons, screamed into Earth's atmosphere at 18.6 kilometers per second. Burning from the friction with Earth's thin air, the space rock exploded 23.3 kilometers above Chelyabinsk, Russia. The event led to the formation of a new dust belt in Earth's stratosphere. Scientists used data from the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite along with the GEOS-5 computational atmospheric model to achieve the first space-based observation of the long-term evolution of a bolide plume.NPP's Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb instrument first observed the dust plume from the explosion about 1,100 kilometers east of Chelyabinsk, due to the location of the satellite's orbit. NPP's second observation was farther west, close to Chelyabinsk, because the spacecraft's orbit moves from east to west. The third observation of the plume occurred the day following the event. The OMPS instrument could only see the plume during the daytime, and the NPP orbit had progressed westward away from the plume and into night by the time it was again over the plume.The OMPS Limb instrument observations are made by looking backward (relative to NPP's orbit) toward the Earth's limb. The instrument makes measurements through three separate slits. Early on, some of the plume observations where only made in one or two of the slits, but later observations tended to include all three slits as the plume stretched out. For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/around-the-world-in-4-days-nasa-tracks-chelyabinsk-meteor-plume](http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/around-the-world-in-4-days-nasa-tracks-chelyabinsk-meteor-plume) Related pages

A meteor weighing 10,000 metric tons exploded only 23km above the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia on Feruary 15, 2013. Unlike previous such events, this time scientists had the highly sensitive OMPS instrument on NPP to deliver unprecedented data and help them track and study the meteor plume for months. This video shows how accurately the model prediction coincided with the satellite observations.For complete transcript, click here. The NPP satellite is a prototype of the next generation polar orbiting JPSS series of satellites. NPP provides scientists and weather forecasters with critical continuity of data allowing them to study long-term climate changes and provide improved weather forecasts. The highly accurate five instruments on board NPP have already proven to deliver an exceptional quality of data thus continuing the legacy of satellites like Terra and Aqua.Shortly after local sunrise on February 15th of 2013, a meteor as big as a building reached Earth’s atmosphere and produced a massive explosion above Chelyabinsk, a densely populated Russian metropolis. The highly sensitive OMPS instrument on board NPP observed the plume from the explosion 1,100km eastward. Scientists used the data from this first observation and ran two NASA models to project the path of the plume. The results show that the plume’s higher layer would move ahead of the lower layer due to the difference in wind velocity at higher and lower altitudes. The models also showed that the plume would circumnavigate the entire globe and return to Chelyabinsk by February 19th, 2013. As more OMPS observations came in, it was clear that they coincided with the projected path perfectly. The results from this study proved the accuracy of the models as well as the unprecedented sensitivity of the OMPS instrument. The OMPS instrument was able to detect remains of the plume months after the initial explosion, which helped scientists track and study the plume for a long period of time. Since the Earth is constantly impacted by meteoric debris, an instrument like OMPS gives the scientists hope that in its 5-year design lifetime, they will better understand the effect of meteors and particles on the stratosphere, as well as the chemistry of our stratosphere and atmospheric ozone layer. For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/around-the-world-in-4-days-nasa-tracks-chelyabinsk-meteor-plume](http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/around-the-world-in-4-days-nasa-tracks-chelyabinsk-meteor-plume) Related pages