PACE's Instruments Reveal a New Dimension of Atmospheric Info

Two instruments on NASA’s upcoming PACE satellite mission will look at aerosols and clouds – the A and C in the mission’s name, Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem – to help scientists learn more about their characteristics and interactions in Earth’s systems.

PACE’s instruments that will help scientists view features of Earth’s atmosphere are polarimeters, which measure light properties. There are characteristics of light that we can see with our eyes, such as color, but others that are invisible to the human eye, like what scientists call polarization.