ESA mission highlighted at remote sensing ...( hms. SMOS will demonstrate a new measur...)

hms. SMOS will demonstrate a new measuring technique by adopting a completely different approach in the field of observing the Earth from space. A novel instrument has been developed that is capable of deriving both soil moisture and ocean salinity by capturing images of emitted microwave radiation around the frequency of 1.4 GHz (L-band). SMOS will carry the first-ever, polar-orbiting, space-borne, 2-D interferometric radiometer.

"It has been a big challenge to get this technology working but from the tests done so far on the ground, it appears we have got it right," ESAs SMOS Project Manager Achim Hahne said. "Of course the real proof will come once we have launched the satellite and started analysing the measurements."

Although soil only holds a small percentage of the total global water budget, soil moisture plays an important role in the global water cycle as it controls vegetation growth to a large extent. Because in-situ measurements of soil moisture are sparse, more data are urgently required if we are to better our understanding of the water cycle so that the forecasting of climate, weather and extreme-events can be improved.

The same is true for data on ocean salinity. There are few historical measurement data, and only a small fraction of the ocean is currently sampled on a regular basis. Salinity and temperature determine the density of seawater, and in turn, density is an important factor driving the currents in our oceans. Ocean circulation plays a crucial role in moderating the climate by, for example, transporting heat from the Equator to the poles. Ocean salinity is therefore one of the key variables for monitoring and modelling ocean circulation.

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Contact: Mariangela D'Acunto
Mariangela.DAcunto@esa.int
39-069-418-0856
European Space Agency
30-Jul-2007


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