Este satélite estudiará el ciclo del mar
La Agencia Espacial Europea (ESA) envió hoy al espacio el satélite de observación SMOS que tendrá un importante rol en la investigación y monitoreo del cambio climático. Hasta 2012 el aparato medirá la concentración salina de los océanos y la humedad de los continentes. Desde una altura promedio de 758 kilómetros y con ayuda de 69 antenas de microondas, suministrará información de la tierra y del agua.
Los investigadores a cargo de la operación esperan que el artefacto les provea nuevos datos sobre el ciclo hidrológico. El intercambio de agua entre la atmósfera, los océanos y la Tierra es uno de los factores que supuestamente determinan el tiempo y el clima. El lanzamiento se concretó desde el Cosmódromo de Plesetsk, en Rusia, y el costo de la misión fue de U$S 463.700 millones.
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http://science.portalhispanos.com/video/smos.flvEl contenido de sal, junto con la temperatura, influyen sobre la densidad del agua marina. A la vez, ésta juega un papel importante en la circulación de los océanos que transportan el calor de los trópicos hacia latitudes más altas. “La corriente del Golfo calienta Europa con una energía que es comparable a la generada por 100.000 centrales nucleares”, explicó el director de programas de observación de la ESA, Volker Liebig.
Además, señaló que los datos sobre la humedad del suelo deberán ayudar a mejorar el pronóstico de fenómenos climáticos extremos y su impacto ambiental. “Si el suelo se encuentra muy húmedo, sólo puede absorber poca agua en caso de precipitaciones intensas. Esto podría traer graves inundaciones”, reflexionó.
Liebig remarcó que la nave dará 14 vueltas a la Tierra por día para cubrir toda la superficie. La misión del SMOS es la segunda dentro del programa de la ESA. En marzo fue puesto en órbita el satélite GOCE, para investigar el campo gravitatorio de la Tierra.
http://www.smos-bec.icm.csic.es/
A video from ESA regarding the SMOS (soil moisture and ocean salinity) mission. Video date- 11th Feb 08
Source- http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmghome.pl
‘To help address climate change, 2008 will see the launch of Europe’s SMOS satellite. SMOS, which stands for soil moisture and ocean salinity, is designed to map these elements with unprecedented accuracy.
Three-quarters of the globe is covered in water and its influence is felt everywhere. It’s not only oceans, rivers and lakes that affect the climate but water in all its forms, such as soil moisture and its evaporation.
SMOS, ESA’s water mission, will provide a uniform dataset for understanding better the water cycle, thus helping to forecast climate change and predict extreme weather conditions.
Circulating at a low orbit of around 750 km above the Earth, SMOS will be the first satellite to provide us with a global picture of ocean salinity levels. Understanding the salinity and temperature of the seas will help to predict more easily the zones where hurricanes intensify as they pass over the ocean. Salinity in the oceans has a big impact on ocean circulation, which plays a key role in driving the global climate.
The SMOS satellite will be launched into space in 2008 atop the Russian launcher ‘Rockot’.’
ESOcast 4: 24 hours in the life of an ESO astronomer.
Have you ever wondered what it must be like to be an astronomer? In this fourth episode of the ESOcast, Dr. J takes us behind the scenes at ESOs Very Large Telescope in Chile to show us what a day in the life of an ESO staff astronomer is like.
The countdown for an exciting night with an observation run at the world’s most advanced optical telescope, the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT), has begun …
In this ESOcast episode, were going to follow a day in the life of Dieter Nürnberger. Dieter is a staff astronomer at ESO. His job is to support those scientists that have managed to get observing time on ESOs Very Large Telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile. Dieter spends most of his working days helping the successful few to make ground-breaking discoveries.
Dieter Nürnberger is on his way to meet the visiting scientists to team up for the night to come. The three have been observing together for several nights, today is their final evening and they are keen to get started. Over dinner they discuss plans for the night ahead.
Well before sunset they leave the Residencia and drive up the desert road to the building housing the VLT control room. At the control building they prepare the observations and check the set up of the telescope. Observing time on these great telescopes is precious and delays must be avoided at all costs.
Like a pilot checking his plane before departure, Dieter goes through a detailed check of his instrument, while the telescope operator does the same for the giant telescope. The astronomers have travelled far for a glorious view of the Universe, and here a glorious view of the sunset is included for free! As usual at Paranal, the conditions are perfect and Dieter and the visiting astronomers return with high expectations.
http://www.eso.org/public/videos/ESOCAST4/ESOCAST4.pdf
ESOcast is produced by ESO, the European Southern Observatory. ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the pre-eminent intergovernmental science and technology organisation in astronomy designing, constructing and operating the worlds most advanced ground-based telescopes.
Monday, November 2nd, 2009,
by admin and is filed under "Antartico, Artico, Biodiversidad, Biologia, Calentamiento Global, Cambio climatico, Ciencia, ESA, España, Geofisica, Geophysical, Internacional, Investigacion, Medio ambiente, Oceanografia, Rusia, Science, Technology, Tecnologia |
, Agua, Biologia, Calentamiento Global, Cambio climatico, Ecologia, ESA, España, Geofisica, Investigacion, Mar, Oceano, SMOS, Technology, Tecnologia, Tierra ".
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