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NASA to Study Water around the World from Space

时间:2022-12-22 06:03来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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NASA to Study Water around the World from Space

A NASA-led international mission launched a radar1 satellite from southern California early on Friday. The satellite will be involved in a major project to research the world's oceans, lakes and rivers.

The satellite is called SWOT, short for Surface Water and Ocean Topography. It is designed to give scientists a never-before-seen view of Earth's water, which covers 70 percent of the planet.

About the size of a car, the satellite uses advanced microwave radar technology to collect detailed2 height and surface measurements of all bodies of water. The data will provide researchers with more information on the effects of climate change.

Data will be taken from radar readings of the planet at least two times every 21 days. The information will help study ocean currents, predict the weather, and control freshwater supplies in areas with little rain, researchers said.

The satellite took nearly 20 years to develop by NASA along with the French and Canadian space agencies. It was designed and built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles.

"It's really the first mission to observe nearly all water on the planet's surface," said JPL scientist Ben Hamlington.

One major goal of the mission is to research how oceans absorb atmospheric3 heat and carbon dioxide - the natural process that moderates temperatures and climate change.

SWOT is designed to measure small differences in surface heights around smaller currents, where much of the oceans' reduction of heat and carbon is believed to happen. And SWOT can do so with 10 times greater detail than existing technologies, JPL says.

Oceans' ‘turning point'

The world's oceans are estimated to have absorbed more than 90 percent of the extra heat trapped in the Earth's atmosphere by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions5.

Studying how that happens will help climate scientists answer an important question: "What is the turning point at which oceans start releasing, rather than absorbing, huge amounts of heat back into the atmosphere...?" said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer. She is SWOT's program scientist at NASA in Washington.

The satellite will also be used to study the effect of rising ocean levels. And it will be able to measure all rivers wider than 100 meters, as well as more than 1 million lakes and bodies of water larger than 6.25 hectares.

Tamlin Pavelsky is leading SWOT's freshwater research team. He said collecting data on freshwater bodies is like "taking the pulse of the world's water system, so we'll be able to see when it's racing6 and we'll be able to see when it's slow."

SWOT's radar instrument can also read through cloud cover and darkness over wide areas of the Earth. This permits scientists to accurately7 map their observations no matter the weather or time of day and to cover large areas far more quickly than before.

Words in This Story

microwave — n. a very short wave of electromagnetic energy

absorb — v. to take in in a natural or gradual way

greenhouse gas — n. gas that cause the warming of the earth's atmosphere

emission4 — n. the act of producing or sending out something

pulse — n. the regular movement of blood through your body that is caused by the beating of your heart and that can be felt by touching certain parts of your body


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 radar kTUxx     
n.雷达,无线电探测器
参考例句:
  • They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
  • Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。
2 detailed xuNzms     
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的
参考例句:
  • He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
  • A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。
3 atmospheric 6eayR     
adj.大气的,空气的;大气层的;大气所引起的
参考例句:
  • Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
  • Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。
4 emission vjnz4     
n.发出物,散发物;发出,散发
参考例句:
  • Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施,降低污染物排放总量。
  • Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后,指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。
5 emissions 1a87f8769eb755734e056efecb5e2da9     
排放物( emission的名词复数 ); 散发物(尤指气体)
参考例句:
  • Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
  • Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。
6 racing 1ksz3w     
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的
参考例句:
  • I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
  • The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。
7 accurately oJHyf     
adv.准确地,精确地
参考例句:
  • It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
  • Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。
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