It’s not surprising that NASA has found a way to create technology previously unheard of. The robotic rovers Opportunity and Spirit were created to traverse Mars, while other sophisticated equipment and materials were previously developed in order to send astronauts to the Moon. Now, the space organization has developed the Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, a satellite that can measure the planet’s moisture level from space. Currently, the satellite is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Jan. 29, 2015 at 9:20 am ET.
According to a press release from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, SMAP contains three main parts: a radar, radiometer and the “largest rotating mesh antenna every deployed in space.” Based on convention, sensing instruments are considered “active” when they produce signals and “passive” when they record existing signals. The SMAP satellite thus uses both passive and active instrumentation to provide the “highest-resolution, most accurate” measurements of soil moisture. And one of the greatest innovations that will allow the satellite to produce such accurate measurements is its final component, a rotating antenna (the largest of its kind), also known to NASA scientists as “the spinning lasso.”
The rotating antenna is “attached on one side to an arm with a crook in its elbow” and spins approximately 14 revolutions per minute as demonstrated in a recently published YouTube video. Attached near the top of the arm is a dish made of mesh that is 19.7 feet (6 meters) in diameter.
Of course, the other components of SMAP are also important for measuring the Earth’s moisture. The attached radar will use the antenna to send microwaves toward the Earth and record the backscatter. Differences between the microwaves emitted by the radar and the properties of the backscattered waves that return to the radar, will indicate changes in the Earth’s soil moisture. A technique known as synthetic aperture radar processing will subsequently allow the radar to create sharp images of these changes. SMAP’s radiometer will then work passively to detect the Earth’s natural emissions of microwaves produced by water in the soil.
As stated in a YouTube video by NASA describing the new technology, SMAP should thus gather data that will improve weather forecasting and the prediction of floods, drought, crop yields and landslides — all from the ‘comfort’ of space. According to CNN News, this information will prove essential for farmers who might be able to change irrigation patterns or delay planting if they are aware of an upcoming drought. Currently, most farmers make such predictions based on experience; however, SMAP should greatly improve the accuracy and timing of their assessments of soil moisture.
This ultimately could be good news for consumers. Better weather prediction will help farmers plant more effectively, which in turn will mean less food price hikes for consumers. If SMAP works as hoped, it could mean millions of dollars of savings to consumers by avoiding crop failures, which could not have been predicted in a timely manner the past.
(Photo courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
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