A joint three-year project between NASA and CONAE, Argentina’s space agency, is working on measuring the saltiness of the sea from outer space. Brazil, Canada, France, and Italy are also participating in the project. A spacecraft built by Argentina and carrying instruments from the United States and other countries is set to be launched on Thursday from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
NASA’s Aquarius, a sensitive instrument that detects even the slightest changes in salt concentration of the sea, is to map changes weekly from 408 miles above the Earth’s surface. Other than salt concentration, satellites orbiting the Earth are providing updates on sea surface temperatures, sea level changes, and ocean winds. Previous to this project, ships and buoys have been making inaccurate measureemnts of salt concentration in limited sea area.
Although the overall saltiness of the world’s oceans is constant, the salt concentration in the top layer of the sea varies throughout the Earth. Understanding the saltiness of the sea surface will help scientists predict future climate change and short-term climate phenomena.
This project is not the first mission set out to measure the sea’s saltiness. A European satellite has been collecting data on ocean salt and soil moisture since 2009. The new project uses different technology to measure salt concentration. Aquarius is a $287 million dollar instrument that can measure microwave energy emitted by the ocean to help scientists determine the saltiness. The two missions will be collaborating when the Argentina-built spacecraft enters orbit. Results from the two missions will be compared to obtain the most accurate data.
SOURCES
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