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the power of c stopped
presented
by science at nasa
on friday june
delta two rocket blasted off help spending bertha thanks
rumbling into a morning whose column of weitzman
son on longer spelled begins now into the soft among the rockets exhaust
was spray from the nearby pacific ocean
or something to do with the payload itself
that rocket was carrying a sensor named aquarius on a mission to map the salt of
our planet sees
researchers suspect at the southern india protestations has far reaching the
facts on file
much as the salt levels with in our own bodies influence our on delicate
internal pallets
this is why he aquarius mission he is so important
based on decades of historical data gathered by ships in buoys
we know the salinity of earth solutions has changed over the last forty years
says aquarius principal investigator gary like a lot
a scientist seattle-based independent laboratory earth and space research
something fundamental must be happening to the water cycle
in some regions like the sub tropical atlantic
salinity is increasing which means more fresh water is being lost through
evaporation at the sea surface
but no one knows why this is happening nor can anyone pinpoint white other
areas are experiencing more rainfall
and lowers the lindy
to solve the mystery scientists need pic comprehensive look at the notions salt
content
within a few months aquarius will collect as many sea surface salinity
measurements has the entire one hundred and twenty five year history record from
ships in two weeks
circling earth onboard argentina's sakti satellite aquarius is one of the most
sensitive microwave radiometer is ever built
and the first nasa sensor two-track motion salinity from space
it can detect as little as point to part soft to one thousand parts water i
thought the same as attach of salt an account of water
a human couldn't taste such a low concentration of salt yet aquarius
manages to detective what orbiting four hundred and eight miles above the her
says later love
salinity
along with temperature governs the density of seawater
the salt here the water the denser it becomes
density and turn tribes the currents that move heat around the planet
for example says like a lot the gulfstream carries heat to higher
latitudes and moderates the client
when these currents are diverted by density variations weather patterns such
as rainfall and temperature change
could salinity p prompting such changes
for answers researchers look to the sky
aquarius they hope will soon reveal the power of sea salt
for more salty tales of earth science please visit science dot nasa dot gov