020924_CYGNSS Update_03

Michigan Engineering
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020924_CYGNSS Update_03
020924_CYGNSS Update_03

Researchers and engineers from the University of Michigan’s Space Physics Research Laboratory including, from left, Patrick McNally, Bradley Angelocci, Anthony Russel, Stephen Musko and Josh Synowiec pose for a portrait in the lab before demonstrating how a model of one of their satellites from
the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System works.

The project, also
known as CYGNSS, originally launched to improve hurricane forecasting by
measuring how GPS signals reflect off the ocean’s surface. Such signals allow
climate and weather scientists to get better idea on how fast the wind is
moving across a larger area of the tropics and in hard-to-reach places, like
the eyes of hurricanes.
Satellites proved to be more versatile than the researchers original hoped,
and the data they collect is now used for a wide array of Earth Science
topics, including measuring soil moisture, tracking locust swarms, and
measuring microplastic pollution in the oceans. The mission was so
successful that it inspired private companies and governments around the
world to launch their own versions of the satellite to make their own data
forecasting products.
The engineers use this model to test software updates on a mock system
before updating the real, operational receivers in the satellites orbiting the
Earth and flying in commercial planes, which track soil moisture. By testing
new software in the model system, the engineers can identify any problems
that the software could cause before they have a chance to interrupt a real
mission.

The CYGNSS team also gave a tour of the data center where the CYGNSS
science products are produced as well as a lab where specific components of

February 09, 2024.

Photo by Marcin Szczepanski/Lead Multimedia Storyteller, Michigan Engineering

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Taken on: February 9, 2024
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Sets appears in:   • 2024 CLASP CYGNSS   
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