News Excerpt: 

NASA Launches Small Climate Satellite - PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission to Study Earth’s Poles.

About the PREFIRE Mission:

• The PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission was jointly developed by NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• The agency’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission consists of two shoebox-size cube satellites, or CubeSats, that will measure the amount of heat Earth radiates into space from two of the coldest, most remote regions on the planet. 
• Data from the PREFIRE mission will help researchers better predict how Earth’s ice, seas, and weather will change in a warming world.
• This will improve prediction of sea ice loss, ice sheet melt, and sea level rise, creating a better understanding of how our planet’s system will change in the coming years as well as give a crucial information to farmers tracking changes in weather and water, fishing fleets working in changing seas, and coastal communities building resilience.
• At the heart of the PREFIRE mission is Earth’s energy budget – the balance between incoming heat energy from the Sun and the outgoing heat given off by the planet.