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NASA's Aquarius Launched To Help Map the Oceans' Salt
oxide7 writes "NASA launched a satellite featuring an brand-new instrument which will be able to measure the saltiness of Earth's oceans. Data from the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft will help scientists understand better the processes that drive ocean circulation and the movement of freshwater around the planet."
But, the ocean is in the other direction!
rewriting history since 2109
This is Slashdot. It's ok to use words like "salinity" in the summary.
That would be one hell of a fast boat.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
You have two choices.
Spot measurements that do not encompass an entire ocean with a method that is inefficient, not automated, uses up thousands of gallons of fuel per month, ties up human resources, and gives out-of-date data,
or....
Use a satellite that can measure an entire ocean all at once via spectroscopy and map it in real time with computers.
I know which one I'm picking.
--
BMO
That would be one hell of a fast boat.
They'd need a boat that's fast and smart. They'd need Knight Boat.
or, perhaps, really big.
rewriting history since 2109
I tried to look up the mechanism of how microwave data is interpreted to give salinity levels, but all I could find in a quick hunt was some IEEE papers which were over my head. Anyone here care to give a summary of the method?
The article below has more technical details than the submitted link:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d354/
(Off topic true story: A friend was once head of his college IEEE chapter. A freshman from another country who was just joining brought him a check to cover the membership made out to "I. Tripoli".)
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
More info: http://www.conae.gov.ar
"This mission is the most outstanding project in the history of scientific and technological cooperation between Argentina and the United States,"
That's why the acronym is SAC and not SSA (Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas - Satellite for Scientific Applications). I think it's just another satellite... This was newsworthy in Argentina only because there are very few local satellites (I can only recall past iterations of SAC). Even the president talked about this, "it is a matter of great pride for our people" (elections are near - the uranium enrichment facility is timed for 2 weeks before the presidential election's second round). But generally anything built by INVAP is newsworthy in the country: they are the big guys in engineering so they get all the important government tasks like reactors, submarines, radars, etc.
In soviet russia the government regulates the companies.
Or use a satellite launched while we are bankrupt that can measure an entire ocean all at once via spectroscopy and map it in real time with computers. FTFY.
This would be all well and good if it was 1955, or if it was launched by the Chinese, but the simple fact is we're broke and the right would rather risk us defaulting than raise taxes to even 1990 levels. So spending on this kind of shit really needs to stop, at least until we can quit blowing cash like shit through a goose on three wars, new aircraft carriers and superplanes, and at least get taxes on the 1%ers up to 1990s level, although I'd say 1950s levels would be better, after all isn't that the time the right wishes we'd go back to?
But we just don't have the money to afford this shit right now, hell we can't even afford a replacement for the shuttle.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Quick question: where are the lines drawn between NASA's and NOAA's responsibilities?
OK, just to clarify the article: the "collaboration" of Argentina in this project consisted in the design, construction, tracking, and operation of the satellite. The SAC-D is an Argentine satellite for the most part, built in collaboration with NASA and France, Italy and Canadian space agencies.
So the aquarius is an instrument on board of an Argentine satellite.
I think the measuring of salinity is a very cool project that could help understand global-scale weather. But the fact that a country considered a "third world" country is building satellites (and also uranium enrichment facilities, nuclear reactors, and many other high-tech things) should be mentioned too.
It just had to. The SAC-D satellite was built in Argentina, by a government-owned company. And elections are nearby. It would be a shame to our president if the launch failed :D
It's not just the right that feels we'd be better off defaulting but over 63 percent of American's according to a recent article. The initial poll indicated that over 45 percent feel that way but after they changed the questions and run the poll again, the answers resulted in over 60 percent response saying default and be damned about it.
Yes people in this country are getting tired of the ever growing debt due to the war and funding things like NATO (10billion per quarter), Israel (several billion per year) and would rather we get our own house in order and take care of ourselves instead of everyone else.
Personally, I'd love the Feds to default and give us a reason to kick most of the damn idiots out of office for a change while going back to either a Gold or Silver standard. Yes it would hurt lots of corps and China but who gives a damn about them? I certainly don't because the only faith in the Dollar is now backed by the Military only, not something real.
Mod me up/Mod me down: I wont frown as I've no crown
The NWS is going around fucking begging for fucking GOES replacements and those are the fucking sats we use to predict the fucking weather, you know, fucking hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, etc? You know, the shit that affects our economy? And just like this, understanding how the ocean fucking works will help us understand what happens to fishing stocks and weather and a whole lot of other things so that we may FUCKING PLAN AHEAD FOR THE FUCKING FUTURE.
Fuck you and your FUCKING SHORT TERM OUTLOOK.
HOW ABOUT YOU DIRECT YOUR FUCKING RAGE AT THE FUCKING 5 OR SO UNPRODUCTIVE FUCKING WARS WE'RE FUCKING DOING (IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN, LIBYA, YEMEN, AND PROBABLY SOME SHIT THAT HASN'T HIT THE FUCKING NEWS YET), YOU FUCKING MORON?
YES, I'M FUCKING MAD. FUCK YOU AND ALL OF YOUR TYPE. WE CAN'T AFFORD NOT TO DO THIS SHIT, UNLIKE THE FUCKING WARS WHICH ARE A FUCKING WASTE. SINCE YOU'RE SO FUCKING FOND OF THE 50s, WHY DON'T YOU READ IKE'S FUCKING SPEECH?
AND WE ARE NOT FUCKING BROKE. YOU KNOW WHAT'S BROKE? THE FUCKING CUT-TAXES-AND-SPEND-MOAR-ON-FUCKING-WAR DO-NOTHING-ABOUT-REAL-PROBLEMS REPUBLICANS.
--
BMO
The last two climate satellites were lost due to "Launch Failures". One which was supposed to measure global carbon emissions at the highest resolution to date. I guess this one was not much of a threat to those who deny climate change.
You know there are medications that can help people like you, right?
>It's not just the right that feels we'd be better off defaulting but over 63 percent of American's according to a recent article
Then they're dumb. What do you think will happen to the deficit and debt after we default and the interest rates on borrowed money go up?
What, you think defaulting is going to magic it all away?
People like you want to take whatever fragile economy we've got and toss it in the dumper just to satisfy your rage at the Chinese.
>Yes it would hurt lots of corps
No, it would hurt /everyone/.
You're short-sighted and dumb.
--
BMO
You're not american, are you?
And then your cubes will be concentrated by the currents in several zones, leaving large swathes of ocean uncovered. That's the problem with autonomous floating stations. It has been tried earlier for temperature measurement - it hasn't worked much better either.
Also, salinity can change as a result of storms, weather, etc. We'd like to watch it in realtime, which these cubes won't allow to do.
$287 million. It was paid for by NASA and CONAE, the Argentine space agency. The satellite was built by Argentina and tracking and control are CONAE's responsibility, not NASA's.
But don't worry, next year Argentina will be testing their own rocket (Tronador II), so you won't have to worry about spending money for NASA next time Argentina wants to put a sat in orbit.
"Or use a satellite launched while we are bankrupt"
You are not bankrupt, sorry guv. Your government can borrow at about 2.5% rate, which certainly doesn't indicate bankruptcy.
However, your banana-republic Republican government is indeed bankrupt - their brains got eaten by zombies.
So, 60 percent of US citizens are dumb as a desk or misinformed?
Figures.
The following is a link to a blog set up by NASA scientists. It describes what the satellite will see and why it is important. http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2011/06/the-age-of-aquarius/
you are no doubt right, however there will be challenges either way. According to NASA scientist Gavin Schmidt a realclimate.org: Aquarius retrievals are based on passive microwave technology and rely on the fact that salinity affects the thermal emission properties of the ocean surface. This effects are quite subtle, and the range of variability is relatively small, so it has taken many years for the technology to catch up to the need. This is however a first attempt to do this from space, so challenges will undoubtedly remain.
This project was funded and executed largely by Argentinia. The U.S is in a sad place when Americans are chanting "he'll no we can't!" and Argentina (of all places) is picking up the slack.
If you think things are bad now just wait until the US starts defaulting on its debt. It's the quickest route I can think of to US becoming a second rate power. It will lead to a worldwide depression. If you think the 1930's were bad you haven't seen anything yet. I hope you have some sort of survivalist bolthole to retreat to if that happens.
I am. Born and raised in New England.
And I am mad as hell at what they've done to my country.
--
BMO
Is realtime ocean temperature important to you as well? No? Now think about weather forecasting.
Salinity drives ocean currents, which are important for climate. Do you want to know if a particular piece of land will have more storms in the next 20 years? Well, this satellite will help to predict such things.
The Aquarius/SAC-D salinity-sensing instrument is not exactly brand-new. It is an L-band microwave radiometer based on the same principle as the one on the SMOS satellite launched in October 2009. Still, it helps to have more satellites monitoring the oceans.
Whenever I think of a spacecraft named "Aquarius," I think of the LM that the Apollo 13 astronauts used as a lifeboat to survive the trip back to Earth after their Service Module was damaged after launch. After delivering those astronauts safely back to LEO and being heroically jettisoned into the atmosphere to meet her demise, that spacecraft deserved to have its name retired.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START
going back to either a Gold or Silver standard.
Yes, because that will magically make things better.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Not if you had Hulk Hogan at the controls....
It's as big a threat to deniers as any satellite. It's just that the connection isn't as direct as some of the others. Understanding salinity and ocean surface temperatures are essential to understanding things like density, evaporation and how currents run which in turn affect the climate. The increase understanding will allow better accuracy for inputs into climate models which should improve their accuracy.