PREFIRE

The Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment (PREFIRE) mission will measure the amount of heat Earth emits into space from the Arctic and Antarctic. Data from this climate mission will enable researchers to better predict how Earth’s ice, seas, and weather will change in a warming world – providing information to help humanity thrive on our changing planet.

The PREFIRE mission consists of two shoebox-size cube satellites, or CubeSats. Launched in May and June 2024 into an asynchronous, near-polar orbit, each CubeSat carries a thermal infrared spectrometer that measures far-infrared emissions from the Arctic and Antarctica. These cold, remote areas radiate much of the Sun’s heat the planet absorbs in the tropics back into space. This exchange determines Earth’s energy balance and drives our weather and climate. A lot of the heat emitted from the poles is in the form of far-infrared radiation, a part of the energy spectrum we haven’t systematically measured before.

The data from PREFIRE will give researchers a clearer understanding of when and where Earth’s polar regions emit far-infrared radiation to space, as well as how atmospheric water vapor and clouds influence the amount that escapes.

Key Objectives

• Determine how much heat — in the form of far-infrared radiation — snow and ice surfaces emit into space and how the amount varies from month to month.
• Measure the amount of far-infrared radiation trapped by atmospheric water vapor and clouds in the Arctic and Antarctica and how this influences the greenhouse effect at the poles.
• Use data from PREFIRE to update far infrared emission estimates in climate models to more accurately reflect observations and improve projections for Arctic warming and sea ice loss.
• After improving far-infrared emission estimates in climate models, assess how well models simulate ice sheet processes like melt rates.

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PREFIRE Fact Sheet