Eco Factor: Spacecraft to predict floods and gauge the impact of climate change.
The European Space Agency has launched the Smos (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) spacecraft that will help scientists predict floods easily by tracking water flow around the globe. The spacecraft will also help improve weather forecasts and check the impact of climate change.
Costing £282 million, the spacecraft will monitor the amount of moisture held in soil and the quantity of salts dissolved in the oceans. Scientists are hoping that this new friend in space will help them learn about the planet’s all-important water cycle.
Smos will also monitor Earth’s carbon cycle by which heat-trapping carbon dioxide is released and absorbed by plants and the oceans.
Via: DailyMail
