Orbiting satellite returns its first data

An instrument on NASA's newest Earth-observing satellite has acquired its first data, measuring water vapor in the lower atmosphere, the space agency said. The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder is one of five instruments on board the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project, or NPP, that launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on October 28, a NASA release said Thursday. The ATMS captured its first measurements Nov. 8. Tropical Storm Sean is visible in the data in the Atlantic off the coast of the Southeastern United States, NASA said. The ATMS instrument can collect data even when it is cloudy and will produce global sets of high-resolution temperature and moisture profiles that are used for forecasting and studying weather. "NPP data will improve our forecast skills out to 5 to 7 days in advance of extreme weather events, including hurricanes, and severe weather outbreaks," said Dr. Louis Uccellini, director of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Prediction. "With NPP, our goal is to make the accurate forecasts achieved for this year's events even better in the future."