NASA launches satellite that will help predict droughts and floods around the world

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The new Swot satellite took off this Friday (16) in California, in the United States, marking the beginning of a mission that will make it possible to observe the movements of water on Earth with unprecedented precision, especially to predict droughts and floods around the world. .

The satellite represents “a revolution in the field of hydrology”, according to Selma Chercali of the French National Center for Space Studies (CNES).

The observations will be “ten times more precise than those made by current technology”, he pointed out.

The takeoff took place at 11:46 GMT (08:46 GMT) from the American base in Vandenberg, with the satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Swot (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) begins its scientific mission after six months of testing and calibration. The collected data will be available online and accessible to everyone.

The new satellite, which will reach an altitude of 890 kilometers, will allow live observation of the water cycle —lakes, rivers and oceans—on a global scale.

It will also register the exchanges between the immense reservoirs that are the oceans and the water that flows on Earth, through the atmosphere.

While only a few thousand lakes could be seen from space until now, Swot will be able to see millions of these reservoirs, just 250 meters away.

The satellite will also be able to observe almost all rivers over a hundred meters wide, as well as the volume of water flowing through them.

In the oceans, it will be possible to detect hitherto invisible currents and eddies. On the coasts, observe the changes caused by the rising waters.

From a scientific point of view, the SWOT should help to better understand climate change.

“We know that with climate change, the water cycle is accelerating,” said NASA scientist Benjamin Hamlington.

“That means some places have too much water and some places don’t have enough. We see more extreme droughts or floods. (…) So it’s important to understand exactly what’s going on.”

From a practical point of view, the data collected will allow local communities to better prepare for these events and others, such as coastal erosion.

The mission should initially last three and a half years, but it is quite possible that it will extend to five years or even “many more years”, according to Thierry Lafon, head of the CNES Swot project.

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