NASA’s SMAP satellite to predict natural disasters, help farmers

NASA’s latest project, known as the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, may help farmers bounce back from a bad yield, provide useful information to meteorologists, and allow experts to predict natural disasters.

The technology, which is set to launch into orbit from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, effectively maps global soil moisture.

NASA scientist Nadendra Das tells CNN International, “SMAP can assist in predicting how dramatic drought will be, and then its data can help farmers plan their recovery from drought.”

SMAP is composed radiometer, a radar, and “the largest rotating mesh ever deployed in space,” according to NASA’s official statement.

The dish measures in at 19.7 feet across and results from the meticulous work of NASA engineers.

Wendy Edelstein of the Jet Propulsion Lab adds, “Making sure we don’t have snags, that the mesh doesn’t hang up on the supports and tear when it’s deploying – all of that requires very careful engineering.”

Once launched, the spacecraft will measure differences between microwaves created by soil water and our planet’s natural emissions using both passive and active technology. Passive tools collect data on pre-existing signals, meanwhile active tech sends out signals. SMAP overlaps both methods to create a single high resolution map.

“The radiometer provides more accurate soil moisture but a coarse resolution of about 40 kilometers [25 miles] across,” explains NASA team member Enj Njoku. “With the radar, you can create very high resolution, but it’s less accurate. To get both an accurate and a high-resolution measurement, we process the two signals together.”

During development the antenna, known to the team as the spinning lasso, was the source of much frustration.

“The antenna caused us a lot of angst,” admits Edelstein.

Barring any changes to the schedule, onlookers can expect SMAP to commence its mission at 9:20 a.m. Eastern Time or 6:20 a.m. Pacific Time on January 29.

While it’s unclear what implications SMAP may have on the farming industry, NASA is poised to provide professionals in a number of disciplines with invaluable information.

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