Newest NASA mission will unveil water trapped in Earth's soil, providing boost to forecasts of extreme weather
Meteorologist/Science Writer
Saturday, January 31, 2015, 9:07 AM - A new satellite mission, known as SMAP, or Soil Moisture Active Passive, is now circling the Earth after an early Saturday morning launch, and the data this mission returns should put NASA at or near the top of every atmospheric scientist's friend list.
Forecasting weather and climate, especially when it comes to dangerous aspects like flooding, severe storms and droughts, is a challenging field in which to work. As accurate as these forecasts are today, the task that these scientists face every day in their efforts is quite daunting. Earth's atmosphere is a very chaotic place, with interactions from the Sun and space above, and the oceans and land below, that disturb and perturb the system enough that it takes complex models, run on advanced supercomputers, to process what's going on, and it requires the keen eyes and minds of scientists to interpret what these models are delivering.
One very important aspect of all of this is water, and there are several satellites in orbit that track the water, in both the atmosphere and the various streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans around the world. However, there's been a missing piece to the puzzle so far, since there is a large amount of water locked up in the soil, but there's been only limited information available about how much there is and how soil moisture conditions change with time.
NASA's new Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission will be able to provide this information, giving forecasters that missing puzzle piece, so that forecasting accuracy can improve even more.
CLICK BELOW TO WATCH: NASA scientists discuss the invaluable contribution that SMAP will make to understanding our planet and protecting ourselves against some of the inherent dangers of living on it.
The launch of the SMAP satellite took place at a tenth of a second past 6:22 am PST, on Saturday, January 31, after Thursday's original launch attempt was scrubbed. Strong winds high above the launch site resulted in a dangerous wind shear that could have ended the mission before it ever reached orbit, so the launch was delayed.
According to NASA:
| SMAP now begins a three-year mission that will figuratively scratch below Earth's surface to expand our understanding of a key component of the Earth system that links the water, energy and carbon cycles driving our living planet. SMAP’s combined radar and radiometer instruments will peer into the top 2 inches (5 centimeters) of soil, through clouds and moderate vegetation cover, day and night, to produce the highest-resolution, most accurate soil moisture maps ever obtained from space.
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