TSIS: Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor
- Visualizations by:
- Walt Feimer
- Produced by:
- Michael Starobin
- View full credits
Movies
- 112717--Solar_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER_V2.webm (960x540) [47.4 MB]
- YOUTUBE_720_112717--Solar_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER_V2_youtube_720.mp4 (1280x720) [191.6 MB]
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- 112717--Solar_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER_V2.mov (1920x1080) [1.6 GB]
- 112717--Solar_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER_V2_lowres.mp4 (480x272) [16.0 MB]
Captions
- Solar_Irradiance_V2.en_US.srt [2.1 KB]
- Solar_Irradiance_V2.en_US.vtt [2.1 KB]
Images
- APPLE_TV-TSIS_Solar_Irradiance_FINAL_PR422_appletv.00732_print.jpg (1024x576) [71.7 KB]
In terms of climate change research, scientists need to understand the balance between energy coming in from the Sun and energy radiating out from Earth, as modulated by Earth's surface and atmosphere. That's why NASA is launching TSIS, the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor. Find out more in this short narrated video.
Movies
- 112717--Spectral_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER.webm (960x540) [55.6 MB]
- FACEBOOK_720_112717--Spectral_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER_facebook_720.mp4 (1280x720) [171.6 MB]
- TWITTER_720_112717--Spectral_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER_twitter_720.mp4 (1280x720) [30.6 MB]
- YOUTUBE_720_112717--Spectral_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER_youtube_720.mp4 (1280x720) [228.8 MB]
- 112717--Spectral_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER.mov (1920x1080) [1.8 GB]
- YOUTUBE_1080_112717--Solar_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER_V2_youtube_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [191.8 MB]
- YOUTUBE_1080_112717--Spectral_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER_youtube_1080.mp4 (1920x1080) [231.3 MB]
- 112717--Spectral_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER_large.mp4 (1920x1080) [138.8 MB]
- 112717--Spectral_Irradiance_NO_BUMPER_lowres.mp4 (480x272) [18.7 MB]
Captions
- Spectral_Irradiance_V4.en_US.srt [2.6 KB]
- Spectral_Irradiance_V4.en_US.vtt [2.6 KB]
Images
- FACEBOOK_720-TSIS_Spectral_Irradiance_FINAL_PR422_facebook_720.02703_print.jpg (1024x576) [127.7 KB]
The composition of that light that falls on Earth matters to understanding Earth's energy budget. That's the reason NASA has a new instrument designed to study this question. It's called TSIS --the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor. Find out more in this short narrated video.
Movies
- TSIS_WShot_h264.mov (1920x1080) [451.4 MB]
- TSIS_WShot_h264.webm (1920x1080) [2.0 MB]
- Wide_Shot_Prores.mov (3840x2160) [1.0 GB]
- Wide_Shot_Prores.webm (3840x2160) [5.0 MB]
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- Wide_Shot_Prores.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [197.5 KB]
- Wide_Shot_Prores.00001_thm.png (80x40) [6.5 KB]
- Wide_Shot_Prores.00001_searchweb.png (320x180) [108.8 KB]
Frames
- frames/3840x2160_16x9_30p/ISS_beautyTwo_wide_frames/ (3840x2160) [20.0 KB]
Wide shot of TSIS on the ISS
TSIS on board the ISS
TSIS tracking the Sun
Turntable of the TSIS payload
Movies
- TSIS_TotalSolarIrradiance_Graph_002.mp4 (3840x2160) [60.0 MB]
- TSIS_TotalSolarIrradiance_Graph_002.mov (3840x2160) [13.4 GB]
- TSIS_TotalSolarIrradiance_Graph_002.webm (3840x2160) [8.2 MB]
Images
- TSIS_TotalSolarIrradiance_Graph_02340_print.jpg (1024x576) [91.9 KB]
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- frames/3840x2160_16x9_30p/Irradiance_frames/ (3840x2160) [136.0 KB]
Irradiance Data Animation
For More Information
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Music Courtesy:
Killer Tracks
Animators
- Walt Feimer (KBRwyle) [Lead]
- Lisa Poje (USRA)
Writer
- Michael Starobin (KBRwyle)
Producer
- Michael Starobin (KBRwyle) [Lead]
Narrator
- Michael Starobin (KBRwyle)
Related pages
Earth's Energy Budget
July 20th, 2017
Read moreNASA's Total and Spectral solar Irradiance Sensor, or TSIS-1, is a mission to measure the sun's energy input to Earth. Various satellites have captured a continuous record of this solar energy input since 1978. TSIS-1 sensors advance previous measurements, enabling scientists to study the sun's natural influence on Earth's ozone layer, atmospheric circulation, clouds, and ecosystems. These observations are essential for a scientific understanding of the effects of solar variability on the Earth system. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center manages the project. The University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) built both instruments and provides mission operations. The International Space Station carries TSIS-1. TSIS-1 makes two key measurements: total solar irradiance, or TSI, the sun's total energy input into Earth, and solar spectral irradiance (SSI), the distribution of the sun's energy input across ultraviolet, visible, and infrared wavelengths of light. TSI measurements are needed to quantify the solar variations in the total amount of energy input to the Earth. SSI measurements are also vital because different wavelengths of light are absorbed by different parts of the atmosphere. NASA's Total and Spectral solar Irradiance Sensor, or TSIS-1, will measure the total amount of solar energy input to Earth as well as the distribution of The Sun's energy input across a wide range of wavelengths. In this animation we see how various wavelengths of light are partially reflected into space at different places in the column of atmosphere above the ground. The sensors of TSIS-1, the Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) and the Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SIM), are significantly improved versions of sensors included on NASA’s Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) mission launched in 2003. Both sensors are more accurate and more precise than their predecessors. Earth's energy budget is a metaphor for the delicate equilibrium between energy received from the Sun versus energy radiated back out in to space. Research into precise details of Earth's energy budget is vital for understanding how the planet's climate may be changing, as well as variabilities in solar energy output. NASA’s (The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System) CERES and NASA's Total and Spectral solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS-1), missions play key roles in our continued understanding of Earth’s Energy Budget.NASA’s TSIS helps scientists keep a close watch on the sun’s energy input to Earth. Various satellites have captured a continuous record of this solar energy input since 1978. TSIS-1 sensors advance previous measurements, enabling scientists to study the sun's natural influence on Earth's ozone layer, atmospheric circulation, clouds, and ecosystems. These observations are essential for a scientific understanding of the effects of solar variability on the Earth system. TSIS-1 makes two key measurements: total solar irradiance, or TSI, the sun's total energy input into Earth, and solar spectral irradiance (SSI), the distribution of the sun's energy input across ultraviolet, visible, and infrared wavelengths of light. TSI measurements are needed to quantify the solar variations in the total amount of energy input to the Earth. SSI measurements are also vital because different wavelengths of light are absorbed by different parts of the atmosphere.For more than 20 years, NASA Langley's CERES (System) instruments have measured the solar energy reflected by Earth, the heat the planet emits, and the role of clouds in that process. The final CERES Flight Model, CERES FM6 launched aboard NOAA’s JPSS-1 in Fall 2017. CERES FM6 contributes to an already extensive CERES dataset that helps scientists validate models that calculate the effect of clouds on planetary heating and cooling. The same data can also be helpful for improving near-term, seasonal forecasts influenced by weather events such as El Niño and La Niña. El Niño and La Niña are weather patterns that develop when ocean temperatures fluctuate between warm and cool phases in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean. Built by Northrop Grumman and managed by Langley, CERES FM6 joins five other CERES instruments orbiting the planet on three other satellites.NASA Goddard Space Flight Center manages the TSIS-1 project. The University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) built both instruments and provides mission operations. The International Space Station carries TSIS-1.Earth's energy budget is a metaphor for the delicate equilibrium between energy received from the Sun versus energy radiated back out in to space. Research into precise details of Earth's energy budget is vital for understanding how the planet's climate may be changing, as well as variabilities in solar energy output. NASA’s (The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System) CERES and NASA's Total and Spectral solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS-1), missions play key roles in our continued understanding of Earth’s Energy Budget.NASA’s TSIS helps scientists keep a close watch on the sun’s energy input to Earth. Various satellites have captured a continuous record of this solar energy input since 1978. TSIS-1 sensors advance previous measurements, enabling scientists to study the sun's natural influence on Earth's ozone layer, atmospheric circulation, clouds, and ecosystems. These observations are essential for a scientific understanding of the effects of solar variability on the Earth system. TSIS-1 makes two key measurements: total solar irradiance, or TSI, the sun's total energy input into Earth, and solar spectral irradiance (SSI), the distribution of the sun's energy input across ultraviolet, visible, and infrared wavelengths of light. TSI measurements are needed to quantify the solar variations in the total amount of energy input to the Earth. SSI measurements are also vital because different wavelengths of light are absorbed by different parts of the atmosphere.For more than 20 years, NASA Langley's CERES (System) instruments have measured the solar energy reflected by Earth, the heat the planet emits, and the role of clouds in that process. The final CERES Flight Model, CERES FM6 launched aboard NOAA’s JPSS-1 in Fall 2017. CERES FM6 contributes to an already extensive CERES dataset that helps scientists validate models that calculate the effect of clouds on planetary heating and cooling. The same data can also be helpful for improving near-term, seasonal forecasts influenced by weather events such as El Niño and La Niña. El Niño and La Niña are weather patterns that develop when ocean temperatures fluctuate between warm and cool phases in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean. Built by Northrop Grumman and managed by Langley, CERES FM6 joins five other CERES instruments orbiting the planet on three other satellites.NASA Goddard Space Flight Center manages the TSIS-1 project. The University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) built both instruments and provides mission operations. The International Space Station carries TSIS-1. Related pages
NASA's TSIS-1: Tracking Sun’s Power to Earth (Prelaunch Media Roll-Ins)
Dec. 5th, 2017
Read moreTotal and Spectral solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS-1) is a NASA mission that will orbit on the International Space Station in order to study the Sun's energy input to Earth and how solar variability affects climate. TSIS-1 follows the Sun, from the ISS sunrise to its sunset, which happens every 90 minutes. At sunset, it rewinds, recalibrates and waits for the next sunset. Total solar irradiance, also known as TSI, is the total energy from the Sun – in the form of both visible and invisible sunlight – that reaches Earth’s atmosphere. Though TSI was historically called the 'solar constant,’ we now know that TSI varies in both the short- and long-term: from small changes happening over minutes, to dramatic shifts over the Sun’s billion-year evolution. Solar irradiance is one of the most fundamental of all space-based climate data records and for that reason scientists have measured TSI from space since 1978 to help quantify the role of changes on the Sun in climate change. Spectral irradiance is the full spectrum of sunlight reaching the top of Earth’s atmosphere classified by different colors of light, like the colors we can see in a rainbow (visible light, reaching the ground), and the light we cannot sense with our eyes, such as the ultraviolet (shorter wavelengths than visible, half of UV rays are blocked by the stratospheric ozone layer and oxygen atoms), and infrared wavelengths (longer than the visible,) that reflect off clouds and water vapor. A little less than half of the energy Earth receives in the form of light is in the visible part of the spectrum. 2017 Antarctic Ozone HoleNASA and NOAA scientists work together to study the ozone layer, monitoring the hole over Antarctica as it fluctuates with the seasons. Scientists use computer models to simulate and help understand Earth’s physical, chemical, and weather processes, including the complex interactions between UV light, temperature and upper atmospheric chemical constituents such as ozone. Atmospheric models need accurate UV measurements over a wide range of wavelengths to correctly simulate the effects of changing UV on the atmosphere. Understanding these natural variations is vital when studying the effects of human influence on Earth’s atmosphere, including ozone loss from human-made ozone depleting chemicals and climate change from greenhouse gases. The picture on the left shows a calm sun from Oct. 2010. The right side, from Oct. 2012, shows a much more active and varied solar atmosphere as the sun moves closer to peak solar activity, or solar maximum, predicted for 2013. Both images were captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observing light emitted from the 1 million degree plasma, which is a good temperature for observing the quiet corona. Solar irradiance is affected by both sunspots, which are cooler and darker areas of the Sun, and faculae, the associated bright areas that appear near sunspots. The faculae increase the Sun’s irradiance more than the sunspots lessen it, so the Sun is brighter when there are more sunspots, which is most common near the peak of the 11-year sunspot cycle. NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment, or SORCE, collected this data on total solar irradiance, the total amount of the Sun’s radiant energy, throughout Sept. 2017. While the Sun produced high levels of extreme ultraviolet light, SORCE actually detected a dip in total irradiance during the month’s intense solar activity. A possible explanation for this observation is that over the active regions — where solar flares originate — the darkening effect of sunspots is greater than the brightening effect of the flare’s extreme ultraviolet emissions. As a result, the total solar irradiance suddenly dropped during the flare events. Scientists gather long-term solar irradiance data in order to understand not only our dynamic star, but also its relationship to Earth's environment and climate. NASA is ready to launch the Total Spectral solar Irradiance Sensor-1, or TSIS-1, this December to continue making total solar irradiance measurements. Observed changes in energy output from the Sun, compared to the observed temperatures measured on Earth for the last centuryScientists have studied the links between solar activity and climate and say the small variations in the Sun's irradiance over the last century – estimated to be about the same magnitude of a typical solar cycle variation – cannot explain the intensity and speed of warming trends seen on Earth over this time. We live on a solar-powered planet. As we wake up in morning, the Sun peeks out over the horizon to shed light on us, blankets us with warmth, and provides cues to start our day. At the same time, the Sun’s energy drives our planet’s ocean currents, seasons, weather, and climate. Without the Sun, life on Earth would not exist. Related pages