(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) In cooperation with the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), NASA successfully launched its first Earth satellite designed to collect global observations of the vital soil moisture, the KFAS said.
The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory, a mission with broad applications for science and society, had lifted from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, KFAS Director-General Adnan Shehab Eddin said in a statement here on Wednesday.
This satellite is a joint project between Kuwait, represented by the KFAS, and NASA, he said, adding that "this world project was financed by the KFAS".
The SMAP revolves around the Earth and returns to the same position once every eight days, the KFAS pointed out.
SMAP's combined radar and radiometer instruments will peer into the top 2 inches (5 centimeters) of soil, through clouds and moderate vegetation cover, day and night, to produce the highest-resolution, most accurate soil moisture maps ever obtained from space, he said.
SMAP begins a three-year mission that will figuratively scratch below Earth's surface to expand understanding of a key component of the Earth system that links the water, energy and carbon cycles driving our living planet.
The mission will help improve climate and weather forecasts and allow scientists to monitor droughts and better predict flooding caused by severe rainfall or snowmelt - information that can save lives and property.
In addition, since plant growth depends on the amount of water in the soil, SMAP data will allow nations to better forecast crop yields and assist in global famine early-warning systems.
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