Web updates on objects approaching Earth: NASA

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is introducing a new Web site that will provide a centralized resource for information on near-Earth objects - those asteroids and comets that can approach Earth.

The "Asteroid Watch" site also contains links for the interested public to sign up for NASA's new asteroid widget and Twitter account.

"Most people have a fascination with near-Earth objects," said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL.

"And I have to agree with them. I have studied them for over three decades and I find them to be scientifically fascinating, and a few are potentially hazardous to Earth. The goal of our Web site is to provide the public with the most up-to-date and accurate information on these intriguing objects," he added.

The website provides information on NASA's missions to study comets, asteroids and near-Earth objects, and also provides the basic facts and the very latest in science and research on these objects.

News about near-Earth object discoveries and Earth flybys will be available and made accessible on the site via a downloadable widget and RSS feed.

For those who want to learn about their space rocks on the go, a Twitter feed is offered.

"Asteroid Watch" also contains a link to JPL's more technical Near-Earth Objects Web site, where many scientists and researchers studying near-Earth objects go for information.

"This innovative new Web application gives the public an unprecedented look at what's going on in near-Earth space," said Lindley Johnson, program executive for the Near-Earth Objects Observation program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA supports surveys that detect and track asteroids and comets passing close to Earth.

The Near-Earth Object Observation Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," also plots the orbits of these objects to determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet.

Agencies

Can a software predicts pollutants' path?

Researchers in Australia claim to have developed a software that can predict which way airborne odours and pollutants, from farms or factories, will actually blow.

According to them, the software package predicts local meteorology and assesses the likely pathway and concentration of pollutants as they disperse.

Lead researcher Dr Peter Hurley of CSIRO said: "The Air Pollution Model (TAPM) increases our ability to pinpoint pollutant behaviour in a wider range of atmospheric conditions.

"Over the coming years the new model will continue to fill a gap between simple air pollution dispersion models and the much more complex earth system models."

In fact, earlier versions of the software are widely used throughout Australia by researchers and consultants, as well as internationally by 190 customers in 25 countries.

From a one-dimensional model created by Dr Hurley's team in the mid-1990s, the software has now evolved into a complex environmental modelling tool with meteorological and air pollution components that will suit most local-scale environmental applications.

In Australia, the model has recently been used in Launceston where strong temperature inversions trap particulate emissions from wood fires, burning-off, vehicles and industry.

Some new research directions are also emerging, such as the use of TAPM coupled with CSIRO's complex chemistry model by CSIRO scientists Drs Martin Cope and Sunhee Lee. Applications include urban planning under future climate scenarios.

Source: Agencies