NASA to Study Effects of Storms on Climate Models

NASA has announced a $177 million mission aimed at studying tropical storms and thunderstorms and their impacts on weather and climate models.

The mission, called Investigation of Convective Updrafts, will involve three SmallSats flying in close coordination. INCUS is scheduled to launch in 2027 as part of Earth Venture, a program aimed at helping the scientific community better understand the current state of the Earth system, NASA said.

INCUS was selected among 12 proposals submitted to NASA’s Earth Venture Mission-3 solicitation. The proposals were focused on addressing questions and producing data relevant to the field of Earth science.

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, said INCUS will help the agency understand the impact of extreme weather on climate models.

The mission seeks to understand why convective storms, heavy precipitations and clouds form when and where they do.

INCUS will involve participants from Colorado State University, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in South Carolina, Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

Colorado-based companies Blue Canyon Technologies and Tendeg will provide key satellite systems components.

Karen St. Germain, NASA’s Earth science division director, said that more robust weather models and a better understanding of how storms develop will become critical as the effects of climate change intensify.

In July, NASA announced that it entered into a strategic agreement with the European Space Agency to collaborate on efforts aimed at observing the Earth and its changing environment.

The partnership seeks to mitigate the effects of climate change through Earth monitoring and other similar research efforts.