Mission Name Glory Glory Mission Patch LASP Instruments TIM: Total Irradiance Monitor Principal Investigator: Greg Kopp Destination Upper atmospheric regions of the Earth Launch Date December 2008 Launch Location Vandenberg Air Force Base Launch Vehicle Taurus XL Mission Duration 3 years with a 5 year goal Mission Description/ LASP involvement   LASP Divisions Involved Science LASP Mission Web Page   Official Mission Web Page http://glory.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html

The Earth' s energy balance and the effect on climate requires measuring black carbon soot and other aerosols, and the total solar irradiance. Glory is a low Earth orbit (LEO) scientific research satellite designed to achieve two major goals:

+ Collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon in the Earth's atmosphere and climate system. It will enable a greater understanding of the seasonal variability of aerosol properties.

+ Collect data on solar irradiance for the long-term effects on the Earth climate record. Understanding whether the temperature increase and climate changes are by-products of natural events or whether the changes are caused by man-made sources is of primary importance.

Glory will accomplish these objectives by utilizing two separate instruments, the Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor, being developed by Raytheon Santa Barbara Sensing, and the Total Irradiance Monitor, being developed by University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric & Space Physics. The instruments will be reside aboard Orbital Science Corporation's spacecraft bus.

(taken from http://glory.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html)

The Total Solar Irradiance (Tim) will measure the absorption and reflection of this radiation by the Earth's atmosphere, and determine the global average temperature of the Earth.