Aqua is under the NASA-led international Earth Observation System, a coordinated series of polar-orbiting and low inclination satellites for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans. The main objective of the Aqua mission is to create datasets on:

• atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles, clouds, precipitation and radiative balance
• terrestrial snow and sea ice
• sea surface temperature and ocean productivity
• soil moisture

These would be used to improve numerical weather prediction, and contribute to the monitoring of terrestrial and marine ecosystem dynamics. Aqua is a member of the Afternoon Constellation (the A-Train), a group of satellites following each other and pass the equator around 13:30 and 01:30. This allows instruments spread across the member satellites to record data on a specific point almost simultaneously.

The satellite was launched on 4th May 2002, and the data collection for data products began in July 2002.

Further information about the Earth Observation System and missions under it can be found in:

NASA EOS Site: Link

For more information about the A-Train, please consult the following website

NASA A-Train Site (Link)

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