PREFIRE

PREFIRE (also known as Polar Radiant Energy In The Far Infrared Experiment) is a NASA CubeSat mission designed to measure far-infrared (FIR) radiation emitted from Earth's polar regions. Launched in 2024, the mission uses two identical 6U CubeSats to provide the first comprehensive spectral observations of FIR emissions, which account for nearly 60% of outgoing longwave radiation in the Arctic. These measurements aim to improve understanding of polar energy budgets, the role of water vapor and clouds in the atmospheric greenhouse effect, and their implications for Arctic amplification, sea ice loss, and global climate models.

PREFIRE addresses key gaps in climate science by quantifying spatial and temporal variability in FIR emissivity and the greenhouse effect on hourly to seasonal scales. The mission was selected in 2019 under NASA's Earth Venture Instrument program and developed collaboratively by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the University of Wisconsin–Madison's Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC).