Drought-Tracking Satellite to Blast Off This Month (STA BREAKING NEWS and ARCHIVES)

by Theresa , Monday, January 12, 2015, 10:11

A new satellite expected to launch this month will improve drought monitoring in the United States and around the world, NASA scientists said Thursday (Jan. 8).

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite will provide the best maps yet of soil moisture levels from pole to pole, mission scientists said. Soil moisture is one of the key factors in estimating drought severity; it also influences local weather, adds to hazards such as flooding, and plays a role in how plants store and release carbon.

"I think the next couple of years are going to be very exciting for Earth science," Dara Entekhabi, SMAP science team lead and an environmental engineer at MIT, said Thursday during a NASA media briefing.

Data from the satellite will track global soil moisture levels for the top 2 inches (5 centimeters) of Earth's surface every two to three days. For the first time, scientists will get a bird's-eye view of drought patterns; for instance, they'll watch where droughts begin and end, and how droughts spread across large areas. The mission is planned to last three years, at a cost of $916 million (including launch), but the instruments could last several years longer, mission scientists said. [Dry and Dying: Images of Drought]

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