After a near death crisis, the best gravity sensor in space is back to full strength, providing data that will keep scientists on the level. On July 18th, geophysicist Reiner Rummel of The Technical Institute of Munich in Germany was told a satellite he had spent 20 years designing had stopped relaying data. The $471 million satellite, The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE), had lost connection with the European Space Agency. Even the back up computer system previously installed by Rummel and his crew could not re establish connection. In early September scientists sent a signal to raise the temperature of GOCE’s computer compartment, and it suddenly sputtered back to life.
The function of GOCE was to sensor subtle gravitational differences across Earth. These differences arise because Earth’s mass is not distributed evenly across the globe. With this data, scientists planned to construct a gravitational map called a geoid, providing geologists with a global reference for precisely measuring the height of continents, mountain peaks, and the ocean surface. The concept of the geoid was first introduced in 1828 by Carl Frederic Gauss, who realized that researchers would need such a reference to determine the precise elevation above sea level of any point on earth. To this day, uncertainties in heights of the geoid make comparisons between locations difficult, but the GOCE is believed to have fixed this with it’s extremely accurate data. The GOCE can also keep tabs on the shifting tectonic plates that cause huge earthquakes.
Now that the GOCE is up and running again, researchers are starting to turn that initial harvests of data into a highly accurate geoid. So far the geoid has demonstrated a ‘depression’ in the Indian Ocean and ‘plateaus’ in the North Atlantic and Western Pacific. More of these delicate features will be added to the map in coming months.
I thought that Joey did a great job writing a summary for this article on The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer, or GOCE. First over all, I thought Joey did a good job of explaining what the GOCE was. It is a really interesting topic and he explained it very well. I was very easy to understand. Secondly, he also did a good job of explaining to his readers how the GOCE affects society. It is used to determine “the precise elevation above sea level of any point on earth.” This is interesting because Joey explained that at this moment uncertainties still exist about some heights above sea level. Thirdly, I learned that the concept of the geoid, or a gravitational map, was first introduced in 1828 by Carl Frederic Gauss. He realized that in later years, scientists would need this map as a reference to determine the precise elevation of any height above sea level.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Joey did a great job summarizing this article I thought he could have worked on a few different things. First of all, I wish he would have elaborated more on the GOCE losing communication with the European Space Agency. All I know is that even the back up system would not work and therefore, scientists had to send a signal to raise the temperature of the GOCE’s computer compartment to bring it back to life. Also, I would have liked to learn more about geophysicist Reiner Rummel, who built the GOCE.
I was really impressed by both this article and its review. I thought that it was a very intriguing topic. One thing I learned though was that the GOCE has supplied extremely accurate data about the sea floor. In the Indian Ocean they have found a depression, and in the North Atlantic and Western Pacific Oceans they have discovered plateaus.
Joey presented a lot of great information in his current event. The first thing he did well was addressing the topic he was discussing and introducing it to the reader. He clearly explained how the satellite was thought to be lost and then after days of trying to find it, it suddenly came back on. He also told the reader who the creator of the satellite was and the name of it and how important it is in our solar system. The second thing that Joey did well was that he explained what the satellite was being used for. He said that it was used for mapping the Earth by sensing subtle gravitational differences across our planet. He clearly explained the job of the satellite, which made the article way easier to understand. The third thing that Joey did well while writing this current event was that he explained the history of the geoid and how it was conceived by Carl Frederic Gauss in 1828 and how it was supposed to work back then. Joey also explained the actual work the satellite is doing now and how it is contributing to the mapping of the seafloor.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Joey did a great job, there were some things that he could have improved on. The first thing he could have improved on was adding a paragraph that explains how important the satellite is to scientists and what we would do if we had actually lost it. Another way that he could have improved his current event was by adding another paragraph talking about the roles of other satellites and how important they are for our planet. He could have compared the GOCE with other similar satellites and explain how they compare or contrast.
The one thing that really impressed me from this article is the fact that a satellite rotating Earth from space can determine how tall a mountain or how deep a sea trench is. It is also amazing how humans are not done mapping the world and that this satellite is still helping us map the seafloor. Plateaus and depressions are being found in our oceans and are being added to maps even in this era, which I find amazing. Overall Joey did a great job with this current event and I learned a lot from it.
Joey did a great job explaining all of the components of his article. Everything was expressed clearly in an unambiguous manner. I could easily follow his ideas without being familiar with the topic. I liked how he not only explained exactly what the GOCE does, but how it relates to the recent scientific studies about the Earth. I did not know it was possible to create an accurate topographical map based on the variations in the gravitational pull of the Earth. I also liked how he gave some historical context about the GOCE, explaining its significance in the past as well as the present.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Joey summed up his article nicely, there were a few things that could be improved. I would have liked to know how the GOCE goes about making the map. What process does it go through and how does it detect the differences in the gravitational pulls? I also would have liked to know how the machine was damaged and what that means to the science field. Did that create any major difficulties for the scientists?
I learned that we are able to construct geoids from measuring the unequal distributions of gravity on Earth. From this it was surprising to learn that there is “a depression in the Indian Ocean and plateaus in the North Atlantic and Western Pacific.”
I thought that Joey did a good job in summarizing this article. He clearly presented what the GOCE does, which I had no idea even existed. He also explains to us how the GOCE effects present day science. Because we have come so far, scientifically, one would expect that we already have an accurate topographical map, yet we do not. As Joey explains, the GOCE is our only hope of acquiring an accurate topographical map which could help us in understanding the earth more precisely. I also liked that Joey provided some of the background history to the GOCE since I had no prior knowledge of this satellite.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I felt that Joey sufficiently summed up the article, there were a few things that I still wanted to know. First of all, I would have liked it if he had explained how the GOCE goes about making such a precise topographical map, besides that it uses gravitational pulls. I also would have liked to know what caused the GOCE's breaking down in the first place and how increasing the temperature could have revived the satellite all together.
Overall I found this article very informative. I learned that it is now possible for use to create geoids from measuring unequal distributions of gravity on the earth. I found this very interesting because prior to reading this article I did not even know that there was unequal distributions of gravity on the earth.
Joey did an exceptional job at summarizing this article “Weighing the World”. He explains how the Gravity Field and Steady State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) works and its purpose. Its function was to indicate indistinct gravitational variation throughout the globe. It was fascinating to read about this GOCE and also geoids. The most interesting thing that I learned was that the idea of the geoids, which was first introduced in 1828, is still being speculated today in 2010. The way he explains the failure then rebirth of the GOCE is also captivating. This equipment, which the scientist had been designing for twenty years, suddenly stopped working, then with the help of certain elements it turned back on.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Joey did a great job at interestingly explaining the GOCE and geoids there were some aspects of his summarization that could be altered. He omitted some important points of the article that would have bettered the understanding of the reader. For example, the satellite was damaged indeed, but he failed to explain how or why it got damaged. Knowing this bit of information would aide in comprehension of the article as a whole.
Furthermore I found his article very interesting and I learned about how geoids are created from measuring unequal distributions of gravity on earth. Overall Joey did a great job.
- Paige Gordon