European Water Mission Lifts Off

A European satellite is set to provide major new insights into how water is cycled around the Earth. The Smos spacecraft will make the first global maps of the amount of moisture held in soils and of the quantity of salts dissolved in the oceans. The data will have wide uses but should improve weather forecasts and warnings of extreme events, such as floods. Miras will measure changes in the wetness of the land and in the salinity of seawater by observing variations in the natural ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8331962.stm