NASA space station uses Laser ocean exploration

Although plankton are very small in size, they play a huge role in ecosystems - they can even tell us about climate change.

In 2006, NASA launched Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) into space to study the role of clouds and atmosphere in regulating planetary climate, weather and air quality. . One of NASA's Calipso satellite tools is Cloud - Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization, an instrument designed to measure polar plankton.

CALIPSO satellites have laser measuring equipment.

Earlier, satellites tracked phytoplankton based on sunlight reflected from the ocean surface into space. Observing the ocean surface near the poles is problematic because sunlight is limited and covered by clouds. On the other hand, CALIOP device (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) does not meet these obstacles because it uses laser to measure.

Thanks to satellites, NASA has discovered that small changes in the food chain at the poles lead to an explosion or decline in the number of plankton over time. These findings will provide important data for the management of commercial ecosystems and fisheries and understand the importance of the interaction between the Earth's climate and the marine ecosystem.

Michael Behrenfeld, a marine plankton expert at Oregon State University in Corvallis, said: "It is really important for us to understand and control the explosion or decline in the number of planktonic organisms in the past. and how they can change it in the future so we can better assess the effects on other areas of the food network. "

Plankton play an extremely important role in the food chain.

Why must study phytoplankton

Although plankton are small in size, they play a huge role in ecosystems. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA):

Photosynthesis of phytoplankton accounts for half of the global photosynthesis process. They also provide the main food source for zooplankton, and together form marine food chains. The life of larger species of zooplankton such as fish and mammals depends on plankton. Plankton play an important role in the recycling and re-mineralization of materials and energy in the food chain.

Plankton under a microscope.(Photos: Gordon Taylor, NOAA).

The role of plankton in the food chain is very important, extremely small organisms enrich the food source. Studies show that they have an impact on climate change, exactly coinciding with Calipso's parameters. They affect the carbon cycle of the Earth by absorbing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.

Moreover, the study also revealed that the interplay between predators and prey has changed the phytoplankton system in the Arctic in the past 10 years. In the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, changes in the ice cover are important factors that change the number of phytoplankton.

"If we want to understand the polar food chain system, we must focus on changes in the ice cover and changes in the ecosystem to regulate the balance between predators and children. "Primer," adds Behrenfeld.