10/28/11 New Weather Satellite

Putting satellites into space is nothing new, but the new National polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite system Preparatory Project (NPP for short) that launched from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base early this morning is a brand new type of weather satellite. All weather satellites currently in pace are there to collect current data, but this new satellite will also be collecting long-term climate modeling data. 
On the 5 year mission, the NPP is designed to collect some 30 different kinds of data ranging from the amount of solar energy the Earth receives and reflects, to measurements of temperature and water vapor, to tracking changes in vegetation on land and plankton at sea.

The satellite will send back about 800 DVDs worth of information home to Earth every single day. NPP's observations should help meteorologists improve their weather forecasts and assist scientists seeking to understand longer-term climate impacts, researchers said.
"We know it'll become a significant part of our nation's climate and weather monitoring system," said Andrew Carson, the NPP program executive at NASA headquarters in Washington.

Sources: NASA, Space.com, Alaska Dispatch