Science and Technology
Context: Recently, a defunct NASA satellite Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) has fallen back to Earth after 38 years orbiting Earth.
About Earth Radiation Budget Satellite:
- It was launched in 1984 from space shuttle Challenger.
- It was part of NASA’s three-satellite Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) mission.
- It carried three instruments to measure– Earth’s radiative energy budget and stratospheric constituents that includes ozone.
- The ERBS was designed to investigate how energy from the Sun is absorbed and re-radiated by the Earth.
- Understanding this process helps reveal patterns in Earth’s weather.
- Until 2005, data from ERBS helped researchers investigate how Earth absorbed and radiated energy from the Sun.
- It measured ozone, water vapor, nitrogen dioxide and aerosol concentrations in the Earth’s stratosphere.
- An instrument on ERBS, Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II), collected data that found that ozone layer was declining on a global scale.
- This helped to create Montreal Protocol Agreement, an international agreement signed in 1987 that resulted in a decreased use of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
- Its observations helped researchers measure effects of human activities on Earth’s radiation balance.
Source: Indian Express
Previous Year Questions
Q.1) If a major solar storm (solar flare) reaches the Earth, which of the following are the possible effects on the Earth? (2022)
- GPS and navigation systems could fail.
- Tsunamis could occur at equatorial regions.
- Power grids could be damaged.
- Intense auroras could occur over much of the Earth.
- Forest fires could take place over much of the planet.
- Orbits of the satellites could be disturbed.
- Shortwave radio communication of the aircraft flying over polar regions could be interrupted.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- 1, 2, 4 and 5 only
- 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 only
- 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7 only
- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7