NASA is set to launch a satellite to help better understand climate change. NASA will launch the Aquarius/SAC-D Sea Surface Salinity satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
For the next three years, the Aquarius satellite will look back at Earth and generate monthly maps of sea salt movement, data that are crucial to the understanding of global climate change and ocean currents. This long-term project, which began in 2001, is a joint effort with Argentine space agency.
The project will give scientists the information they need to better predict El Nino and La Nina tropical climate patterns in the Pacific. Until now, such research has been limited to ship and buoy instrumentation.
The Delta II rocket will carry an Argentine-built satellite with American data-gathering instruments. The mission will also serve as an environmental data-gathering project for Brazil, France, Italy and Canada.
The $287 million satellite will provide insights into water circulation and changes around the globe by measuring the microwave energy emitted from the ocean during weekly scans. Aquarius will be the 14th NASA Earth Science satellite in space.