歐空局的土壤水分和海洋鹽度衛星（SMOS）使命致力於對陸地和海洋上的土壤水分進行全球觀測。
通過在水循環中不斷繪製這兩個重要組成部分，SMOS正在推動我們對地球表面和大氣之間的交換過程的理解，並且有助於改善天氣和氣候模式。
SMOS衛星於2009年11月2日發射，雖然設計為五年任務，但已延長至2017年，反映了其多功能性和新的協同增效機會。
SMOS是ESA的Earth Explorer任務之一，構成了“活星行動計畫”的科學和研究要素。這個衛星任務家庭解決了科學界確定的關鍵科學挑戰，並展示了觀察技術的突破性技術。
基本介紹
- 中文名：土壤水分和海洋鹽度衛星
- 外文名：Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS)
SMOS is one of ESA’s Earth Explorer missions, which form the science and research element of the Living Planet Programme. This family of satellite missions address key scientific challenges identified by the science community and demonstrate breakthrough technology in observing techniques.
The SMOS satellite carries a novel interferometric radiometer that operates in the L-band microwave range to capture ‘brightness temperature’ images.
These images are used to derive global maps of soil moisture every three days, achieving an accuracy of 4% at a spatial resolution of about 50 km. Over oceans, SMOS maps salinity down to 0.1 practical salinity units (psu, averaged over 10–30 days in areas measuring 200 × 200 km).
Going way beyond its original scientific brief of delivering critical information to understand Earth’s water cycle, SMOS continues to demonstrate its suitability for new uses.
The most recent examples from this multi-talented mission include, for example, being able to provide information to measure thin ice floating in the polar seas accurately enough for forecasting and ship routing.
