land's increased presence in Wor-
cester County and across the Lower
Shore was the addition of a nearly
three-story tall weather satellite sta-
tion in Newark last week.
sion, the agency is erecting satellite
facilities in remote areas all over the
country to collect data on rainfall
and snowfall predictions based on
the highly technical analysis of
clouds. Because of its proximity to
NASA's facility at Wallops Island
along the Virginia coast just south of
Assateague, the rural town of New-
ark was chosen as a location for
one of the satellites.
fields and farms along Five Mile
Branch Road near the Queponco
Railroad Museum in tiny Newark.
The dish itself is 28 feet in diameter
and at its height stands about 28
feet tall.
of the ground data collected will be
transmitted and analyzed," Dr. Walt
Petersen, NASA's chief of the GPM
mission and ground validation sci-
ence manager, said. "In addition, we
were looking for a location devoid of
a lot of tall trees because they inter-
fere with our satellite data collection
from the ground. With its vast open
areas and farm fields, Newark fit the
bill nicely."
round the country to collect precipi-
tation data from the clouds above.
The GPM mission is being conduct-
ed by NASA in partnership with Ja-
pan's national space agency. Next
winter, the two agencies will launch
a satellite that will orbit the earth
collecting rainfall data for the entire
globe.
but this will give us much more ad-
vanced information," said Petersen.
"The data collected will allow us to
map ground radar and compare it
with our satellite radar. The overall
intent is to gain a better understand-
ing of changing weather patterns
and better predict storms, flooding
and other natural disasters."
making the Newark site a perfect
location for the ground-based satel-
lite facility. He said it should be up
and running within a few days and
the next step will be to install a se-
curity fence around the facility and
add landscaping to shield it from
view somewhat for residents and
visitors. He said the facility will have
little or no impact on residents in the
area. Residents will be able to see
the dish turning, but there will be lit-
tle or no noise generated by the
facility.
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