Phys.org July 1, 2021 To bring more data to forecasters and have a more consistent watch over Earth’s tropical belt where these storms form, NASA has launched a test satellite (pathfinder) ahead of a constellation of six weather satellites called TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats) planned for launch in 2022. The TROPICS satellites will work together to provide near-hourly microwave observations of a storm’s precipitation, temperature, and humidity—a revisit time for these measurements not currently possible with other satellites. The new constellation will provide high frequency temperature and humidity soundings as […]