NASA's Water-observing Satellite Sends First Images back to Earth
2023-04-03
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1A recently launched satellite designed to study all water across the world has begun sending its first images back to Earth.
2The American space agency NASA says the satellite is expected to measure the elevation of nearly all water on Earth's surface.
3It is the largest and most detailed effort yet to map the world's water.
4The satellite is called SWOT, which stands for Surface Water and Ocean Topography.
5SWOT is a joint project between NASA and the French space agency, CNES.
6The satellite uses radar technology and other instruments to collect detailed height and surface measurements of water in oceans, lakes and rivers.
7Oceans cover more than 70 percent of Earth's surface.
8Researchers say the information can help them learn more about how the world's water supply influences climate change.
9One major goal of the project is to research how oceans take in atmospheric heat and carbon dioxide.
10The natural process moderates temperatures and climate change.
11Data will be recorded from radar readings on about 90 percent of Earth's surface.
12Such data can support efforts to learn about ocean currents, predict the weather and control freshwater supplies in areas with little rain, NASA says.
13The information is also expected to assist communities as they seek to improve and manage their water resources and prepare for floods and other disasters, the researchers said.
14NASA Administrator Bill Nelson spoke about SWOT's activities as the first observations of the world's water supply arrived to Earth.
15"SWOT's advanced imagery will empower researchers and advance the way we manage fresh water and the effects of sea level rise" across the world, Nelson said in a statement.
16He added that water is one of the planet's most important resources and is threatened by elements of climate change.
17"SWOT will provide critical information that communities can use to prepare for the impacts of a warming climate," Nelson added.
18The images use colors to identify elevation levels in different bodies of water.
19In one example of its first work, SWOT measured sea levels off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia.
20A radar instrument on the satellite collected data on an ocean area about 120 kilometers across.
21NASA said red and orange areas in the images represented sea levels that were higher than the worldwide average.
22On the other hand, areas shown in blue represented sea levels that were lower than average.
23The research team involved in the project said SWOT provides big improvements over measurements captured by other space-based instruments called altimeters.
24Those instruments are only able to look at a narrow area of Earth directly beneath them.
25But NASA says SWOT's instruments are designed to observe sea levels across much wider areas.
26SWOT's radar instrument can also collect data through clouds and darkness.
27This will permit scientists to map observations under different weather conditions and cover large areas at any time of day.
28Philippe Baptiste is the chairman and chief executive of CNES.
29He said in a statement, "Our ability to measure freshwater resources on a global scale through satellite data is of prime importance as we seek to adjust to a changing climate."
30He added: "The first views from SWOT give us a clearer picture than ever before.
31These data will prove highly valuable for the international community in the fields of hydrology, oceanography, and coastal studies."
32Parag Vaze is a SWOT project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
33He said he hopes researchers, policymakers and water resource managers around the world will examine the data collected by SWOT.
34"(The satellite) took years to develop and build," Vaze said, "and it will collect information on bodies of water across the globe - data that will be freely and openly available to everybody who needs it."
35I'm Bryan Lynn.
1A recently launched satellite designed to study all water across the world has begun sending its first images back to Earth. 2The American space agency NASA says the satellite is expected to measure the elevation of nearly all water on Earth's surface. It is the largest and most detailed effort yet to map the world's water. 3The satellite is called SWOT, which stands for Surface Water and Ocean Topography. SWOT is a joint project between NASA and the French space agency, CNES. 4The satellite uses radar technology and other instruments to collect detailed height and surface measurements of water in oceans, lakes and rivers. Oceans cover more than 70 percent of Earth's surface. 5Researchers say the information can help them learn more about how the world's water supply influences climate change. 6One major goal of the project is to research how oceans take in atmospheric heat and carbon dioxide. The natural process moderates temperatures and climate change. 7Data will be recorded from radar readings on about 90 percent of Earth's surface. Such data can support efforts to learn about ocean currents, predict the weather and control freshwater supplies in areas with little rain, NASA says. 8The information is also expected to assist communities as they seek to improve and manage their water resources and prepare for floods and other disasters, the researchers said. 9NASA Administrator Bill Nelson spoke about SWOT's activities as the first observations of the world's water supply arrived to Earth. 10"SWOT's advanced imagery will empower researchers and advance the way we manage fresh water and the effects of sea level rise" across the world, Nelson said in a statement. He added that water is one of the planet's most important resources and is threatened by elements of climate change. 11"SWOT will provide critical information that communities can use to prepare for the impacts of a warming climate," Nelson added. 12The images use colors to identify elevation levels in different bodies of water. In one example of its first work, SWOT measured sea levels off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia. A radar instrument on the satellite collected data on an ocean area about 120 kilometers across. 13NASA said red and orange areas in the images represented sea levels that were higher than the worldwide average. On the other hand, areas shown in blue represented sea levels that were lower than average. 14The research team involved in the project said SWOT provides big improvements over measurements captured by other space-based instruments called altimeters. Those instruments are only able to look at a narrow area of Earth directly beneath them. But NASA says SWOT's instruments are designed to observe sea levels across much wider areas. 15SWOT's radar instrument can also collect data through clouds and darkness. This will permit scientists to map observations under different weather conditions and cover large areas at any time of day. 16Philippe Baptiste is the chairman and chief executive of CNES. He said in a statement, "Our ability to measure freshwater resources on a global scale through satellite data is of prime importance as we seek to adjust to a changing climate." 17He added: "The first views from SWOT give us a clearer picture than ever before. These data will prove highly valuable for the international community in the fields of hydrology, oceanography, and coastal studies." 18Parag Vaze is a SWOT project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. He said he hopes researchers, policymakers and water resource managers around the world will examine the data collected by SWOT. 19"(The satellite) took years to develop and build," Vaze said, "and it will collect information on bodies of water across the globe - data that will be freely and openly available to everybody who needs it." 20I'm Bryan Lynn. 21Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA and France's National Center for Scientific Research. 22_________________________________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24elevation - n. the height of a place above sea level 25manage - v. to do something or deal with something successfully 26advanced - adj. having developed or progressed to a late stage 27impact - n. the effect a person, event or situation has on someone or something 28prime - adj. main or most important 29adjust - v. to change something slightly to get it to work better 30hydrology - n. the study of Earth's water supply 31__________________________________________________________________ 32What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 33Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.