SMOS - ESA's Water Mission
ESA TV Exchanges
In about one year, ESA will launch SMOS.
SMOS stands for Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission. Global soil moisture data are needed for hydrological studies and information on ocean salinity are vital for improving our understanding of ocean circulation patterns, and therefore climate change. SMOS will measure soil moisture and ocean salinity by capturing images of the very weak microwave radiation around the frequency of 1.4 GHz that is emitted by the Earth. This depends on humidity and salinity, respectively.
Soil moisture plays an important role in the global water cycle. However, in-situ measurements are sparse. The same is true for data on ocean salinity. There are few historical measurement data, and only a small fraction of the ocean is currently sampled on any regular basis. However, ocean salinity is therefore one of the key variables for monitoring and modelling ocean circulation.
Today's Exchange includes new 3-D graphics of SMOS, images of SMOS d

SMOS: Measuring Soil Moisture & Ocean Salinity
10.00:40 The Earthís water cycle, one of the most important processes on our planet, sustaining life and controlling our climate, is relatively poorly understood.
10:00:50 Next year ESA will be launching the SMOS satellite, to measure two mayor variables of the Earthís surface, soil moisture over landmasses and the salinity of the oceans.
10:01:04Clip Yann KERR, SMOS Principal Investigator, CESBIO Toulouse ""These two quantities are very important, for both predicting weather, the climate evolution and monitoring the climate change and finally because itís very useful for everyday life, either over land, for water availability for populations or vegetation and over the oceans salinity is a key factor for the evolution of life within the ocean, species along the coastlines, outflow, evaporation and things like that.""
10:01:37 The payload is completing space environmental tests in ESAís facilities in the Netherlands. It will be demonstra