HU's AIM Mission Results Revealed
AIM Satellite Pictures Reveal Clouds are Brighter, Appearing more Frequently

Hampton, VA - Hampton University's Dr. James M. Russell, III, discussed initial results from The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite mission at the American Geophysical Union meeting held in San Francisco, Dec. 10-14.

Hampton University is the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to have complete mission responsibility of a NASA satellite mission. AIM, launched in April 2007, investigates noctilucent "night shining" clouds, which are also known as Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMC). The mission is quantifying the life cycle of these clouds that form at very high altitudes in our atmosphere above about 50 miles where the temperatures during local summer are about minus 230 degrees Fahrenheit.

"The AIM mission has changed our view of PMCs after only one season of observations," stated Russell, AIM principal investigator and co-director of the HU Center for Atmospheric Sciences." The measurements show the brightest clouds ever observed, with more variability and structure than expected, signifying a greater sensitivity to the environment in which the clouds form. They also show that the clouds exist in a much broader altitude layer than was believed to be the case before AIM was launched."

Russell shared results from the satellite observations of the clouds during the 2007 Northern Hemisphere PMC season. The satellite detected the clouds from May 25 through Aug. 25. Russell found that the clouds appeared more frequently, were extremely variable, changed on a daily and hourly basis, and were observed at lower latitudes than previously measured. The AIM measurements are providing the most detailed understanding ever of these 'night-shining clouds.'

The AIM mission is now poised to make these unprecedented PMC measurements in the southern Hemisphere where temperatures are now cold enough for their formation.