Different Sensor Readings Spark Debate Among Scientists

摘要

NASA has asked the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to help resolve a dispute among scientists stemming from disparate readings by a pair of instruments designed to measure the intensity of sunlight reaching the Earth. At issue is which sensor is more accurate: the Total Irradi-ance Monitor on NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment, launched in January 2003; or the Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor 3 aboard the AcrimSat satellite launched in December 1999. Scientists on both sides of the debate are standing by their instruments.