Taking the measure of climate change

摘要

Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory are planning a "standards lab in space" that could improve the accuracy of climate change observations by an order of magnitude. The instruments on current Earth observation satellites tend to drift seriously off calibration after the rigours of the launch and the temperature swings and high radiation levels in orbit. Recalibration is difficult and uncertain. Some instruments have drifted as much as 30 per cent in just a few months, which severely limits the accuracy of the observations.