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| Ocean Sensing from Space |
| 2003年09月02日15:59:49 网易教育 |
The phenomenon called El Nino brings drastic changes in the weather. No wonder nations want to know when an El Nino is coming--They have to plan, for drought OR floods. You'll hear how satellites sense an El Nino, today on Our Ocean World.
(SFX: satellite beeps, faint, under)
Dr. Antonio Busalacci (Booz-uh-LAH-kee) heads the Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. We asked him, what ocean changes herald an El Nino?
(SFX: crossfade to waves :under)
"One of the key measurements is the sea surface temperature near the Galapagos Islands in the eastern Pacific. So when that water temperature goes up by 5,6,7 degrees Fahrenheit, we know we're in the middle of a full-blow El Nino."
Dr. Busalacci says, a network of special buoys measures conditions in the ocean. But orbiting satellites also measure sea surface temperature. HOW do they do it from so far away?
"The satellite actually measures the amount of energy being radiated away. So it's just like standing in front of a radiator and putting your hand there and feeling the heat coming off. The same thing with a satellite in orbit, it's measuring infrared radiation being emitted from the surface of a warm or cold ocean."
If you' d like to see a real-time image of ocean surface temperatures collected via satellite, check the link at our web site. You'll find us at our-ocean-world-dot-com. From Washington, I'm Marilyn Cooley.
(SFX: harbor ambience, up and out)
Our Ocean World is made possible by Royal Caribbean International and the research labs onboard its new ship, Explorer of the Seas - Royal Caribbean dot com.
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