Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




EARTH OBSERVATION
SMOS: the global success story continues
by Staff Writers
Paris (ESA) Feb 26, 2013


The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission makes global observations of soil moisture over Earth's landmasses and salinity over the oceans. Variations in soil moisture and ocean salinity are a consequence of the continuous exchange of water between the oceans, the atmosphere and the land - Earth's water cycle.

ESA's water mission is shedding new light on the meandering Gulf Stream, just one of the SMOS satellite's numerous achievements. Launched in 2009, ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite has been helping us to understand the water cycle.

Over the past three years it has been providing more accurate information on global soil moisture and ocean salinity.

New results unveiled in Spain show that SMOS is now providing new insights into the movement of the Gulf Stream - one of the most intensely studied current systems.

Originating in the Caribbean and flowing towards the North Atlantic, the current plays an important role in the transfer of heat and salt, influencing the climate of North America's east coast and Europe's west coast.

Salinity observations from SMOS show that warm, salty water being carried north by the Gulf Stream meets the colder, less-salty water transported southward along North America's east coast by the Labrador Current, mixing the water masses off Cape Hatteras.

SMOS can distinguish between and follow the resulting eddies that are 'pinched off' from the current and form little parcels of warm and salty water in the Labrador Current, and the colder, fresher water in the Gulf Stream.

SMOS is able to monitor this process thanks to its high resolution and frequent revisits. This is giving scientists a new view of how salt is exchanged across current boundaries - a key to understanding the 'conveyor belt' of global oceanic circulation.

These and other scientific achievements from three years of the SMOS mission were presented at a conference held at ESA's European Space Astronomy Centre in Villanueva de la Canada, near Madrid, Spain. SMOS was realised with special contributions from France and Spain.

"SMOS is the second Earth Explorer we have placed in orbit - and is delivering important new information on global soil moisture and ocean salinity for a broad range of applications," noted Volker Liebig, ESA Director of Earth Observation Programmes.

The mission's Lead Investigators, Yann Kerr and Jordi Font, are the focal point of the scientific research of the mission and lead discussions on soil moisture and ocean salinity findings.

Unexpected results demonstrating the versatility of this collaborative European mission - like the findings on the Gulf Stream - were also highlighted at the event by Nicolas Reul from Ifremer, France's institute for sea research.

Surpassing expectations, SMOS data are being used to monitor Arctic sea-ice extent and thickness, providing daily coverage of the Arctic Ocean.

In addition, the satellite can determine wind speeds under hurricanes - such as last year's Hurricane Sandy that devastated parts of the US east coast - by measuring the microwave radiation emitted by rough seas.

Today's workshop included a welcome by the head of ESA's European Space Astronomy Centre in Spain, Alvaro Gimenez, and a speech on the future of space technology in Spain by Luis Valero, Spain's General Secretary for Industry and SMES.

.


Related Links
SMOS
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








EARTH OBSERVATION
Promising New Technique for Probing Earth's Deep Interior
Washington DC (SPX) Feb 26, 2013
researchers at Amherst College in Massachusetts and the University of Texas at Austin have described a new technique based in particle physics that might one day reveal, in more detail than ever before, the composition and characteristics of the deep Earth. There's just one catch: the technique relies on a fifth force of nature that has not yet been detected, but some particle physicists t ... read more


EARTH OBSERVATION
Water On The Moon: It's Been There All Along

Building a lunar base with 3D printing

US, Europe team up for moon fly-by

Russia to Launch Lunar Mission in 2015

EARTH OBSERVATION
Mars rover ingests rock powder for tests

Opportunity Is On A Rock Hunt

Big Nickel Rock Target Ahead

NASA Rover Confirms First Drilled Mars Rock Sample

EARTH OBSERVATION
Choreographed to Perfection

ATK Launch Abort Motor For First Orion Test Vehicle

Supersonic skydiver's records confirmed

Kennedy Engineers Designing Plant Habitat For ISS

EARTH OBSERVATION
Welcome Aboard Shenzhou 10

Reshuffle for Tiangong

China to launch 20 spacecrafts in 2013

Mr Xi in Space

EARTH OBSERVATION
Record Number of Students Control ISS Camera

NASA briefly loses contact with space station

Temporary Comm Loss Interrupts Crew's Day

Low-Gravity Flights Will Aid ISS Fluids and Combustion Experiments

EARTH OBSERVATION
SpaceX 2 Launch Set for March 1

NASA Releases Glory Taurus XL Launch Failure Report Summary

India's 102nd space mission lifts off successfully

Countdown begins for Indo-French satellite launch

EARTH OBSERVATION
NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Tiny Planet System

Kepler helps astronomers find tiny exo planet

Searching for a Pale Blue SPHERE in the Universe

Earth-like planets are right next door

EARTH OBSERVATION
Tokyo hotel shrinks in new-style urban demolition

Fluids in Space, Shaken Not Stirred

The world's most sensitive plasmon resonance sensor inspired by ancient Roman cup

Sustainable new catalysts fueled by a single proton




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement