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[music playing]

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- Hi, I'm Mishay for
"NASA eClips,"

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and today I'm at
the Virginia Living Museum

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in Newport News, Virginia.

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Today I'll be talking with some
NASA scientists

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to learn more about how
scientists gather information

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about Earth systems.

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[music playing]

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I'm here with Jessica Taylor

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from NASA Langley Research
Center.

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Jessica is an atmospheric
scientist.

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- Hi, Mishay.
It's nice to meet you.

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- It's nice to meet you too.

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- I understand that you want to
learn more about how NASA

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scientists gather information
about our earth.

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- That's right.

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For my science class, I learned
that Earth is a part

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of one big system,
but it also is a part

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of some smaller subsystems.

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But I'm not quite sure how all
that works together.

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- Well, why don't we go inside
and go to cypress swamp

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and I can show you a little more
about how these Earth systems

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interact.

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As you can see, the Earth
really is a complex system.

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Changes in one part
of the subsystem

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can impact the whole planet.

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Scientists study
the Earth system

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by looking at multiple spheres.

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The water here is an example
of the hydrosphere.

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The air that we breathe is an
example of the atmosphere.

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The land that you see here,

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that's an example of
the lithosphere.

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And all of these animals--

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the turtles, the fish,
and the ducks,

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they're all part of
the biosphere, living things.

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And then there's the cryosphere,
ice.

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We can't see that here because
we're in Virginia,

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and it just doesn't get cold
enough here.

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Scientists keep an eye
on these systems

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to make sure they're functioning
as we expect.

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While scientists look at changes

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right here at our Earth's
surface,

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NASA also uses satellites,

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with instruments looking back
down at Earth from space.

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And we use these satellites
to collect data

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for long-term global
perspective.

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- So what kind of tools do you
use to look at those changes?

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- Well, let's find out more by
talking with a friend of mine,

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Dr. Steven Pawson.

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He's at NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center.

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So let's come right over here,

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and we can call Dr. Pawson
directly.

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[keypad beeping]

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- Hi, Dr. Pawson.

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Jessica and I have already
talked about Earth systems,

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but I don't understand how these
systems affect climate

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or how NASA can track that.

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- Yes, I'm very happy to talk
about that.

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First, what we know about
climate

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is that it includes not only
the temperature of Earth

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but also lots of other things,

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such as the cycles of carbon
and water.

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Now, what does NASA do?

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Because NASA built satellites
that can orbit Earth,

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it means we can see all places
from space.

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This gives us a much bigger view
that we can see

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from the surface alone.

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So the instruments on NASA's
satellites

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help us see the complete Earth
and also measure different parts

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of the climate system.

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- So, Steven, can you explain to
Mishay

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a little more about the tools
that are used

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to gather this kind of data?

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And then once NASA has the data,

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how is that data analyzed
and visualized?

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- So I think what's very
interesting

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is that usually when we're
measuring from space,

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we're actually measuring
the light

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that's coming into
the satellite,

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whether that's light in the
visible spectrum that we can

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or whether it's infrared
or ultraviolet light

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that we can't see,
but it's still part

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of the electromagnetic
spectrum.

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And to make real use
of these data,

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we have to be able to deduce
the quantities

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that we're interested in.

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So we know that if we're looking
for ice,

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then if there's a lot of ice,

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more light will be reflected;

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and if there's not much ice,

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it won't be reflected.

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So in a way that's a relatively
straightforward measurement.

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We can detect if there is ice
there or not.

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But typically, if we're trying
to deduce the temperature

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of the Earth from space,

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then we're looking at a
different part of the spectrum

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and we have to be able to
separate impacts of temperature

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from water vapor and from other
gases in the atmosphere

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and do what we call a retrieval
of that information.

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And a retrieval is really using
a lot of complex physical models

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to try to understand what it is
that we're observing

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and what's causing the change in
the light that we're measuring.

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Typically, the physical models
are mathematical equations,

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but what we actually do is code
them to run on a computer.

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Instead of reading just one
column of the atmosphere,

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we're looking at a grid over
the entire Earth of points,

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and that includes
the atmosphere, the land,

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and the ocean.

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And when we know what the state
is at any one time,

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we can run those models forward
in time,

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using very, very powerful
computers.

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And from those we can deduce
what is going to happen

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in one day or two days.

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For instance, we can make
weather forecasts

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or we can run climate
projections,

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which are running up to about
100 years ahead.

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Using this technique,
we're able to deduce

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a lot of information about
the surface of Earth

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and the atmosphere,

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and even the surface layer
of land and oceans from space.

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- Thank you so much
to Dr. Steven Pawson

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and Jessica Taylor.

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Want to find out more about
Earth systems

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and the work being done by
NASA and other scientists?

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Go to this website.

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That's all for now.

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I'm Mishay, and I'll see you
next time on "NASA eClips."