FRANCE: NASA successfully launched the Soil Moisture Active Passive observatory satellite at 6:22 a.m. PST Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket.
It will monitor the soil moisture that affects a number of environmental phenomena on Earth. The SMAP is managed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The craft is build by JPL; instruments supplied and maintained by Goddard while the scientific data is collected and supplied to Alaska Satellite Facility, in Fairbanks, and the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
SMAP will revolve round the Earth from pole to pole once every 98.5 minutes and will repeat the ground track every eight days.
The equatorial region will be covered every three days while the higher latitudes will be covered every two days. The satellite is on a three year mission to gather valuable data on soil moisture contained in the top five centimetres of the soil.
The data collected by SMAP has scientific as well as social implications. Soil moisture is a vital link between the energy, water and carbon systems that drives the Earth. Moreover, it will also record whether the ground is frozen or thawed. The moisture data will improve weather forecasts and warnings for flood and draught.
It will also contribute to global famine early warning system as plant growth depends on soil moisture. Crop yields will also be estimated. Data from SMAP will help scientists predict how much carbon plants are removing from the Earth’s atmosphere. It will increase the accuracy of short and long term weather forecasts. At present SMAP is working with 45 early adopters who can translate this technology into practical use.
