Above: The Soil Moisture and Salinity (SMOS) probe, launched
yesterday by the European Space Agency. (Getty Images).

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Tuesday, November 3, 2009

New York (Tadias) – What if countries such as Ethiopia are able to precisely predict future drought and avoid the repeat of catastrophic past famines?

The answer may lie in a new technology embedded inside a European Space Agency satellite launched yesterday from northern Russia.

The 460 million dollar Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) probe is designed to measure the moisture in soil and collect other data about the earth’s water cycle to help indicate in advance potential drought, flood and other extreme weather changes around the world.

The new probe, which is now orbiting 470 miles above earth, is part of the European Space Agency’s Earth Explorer program – designed to gather scientific data on matters of grave environmental concerns.

Learn more about the probe from the following video:

Related Video: Famine eclipses Ethiopia’s beauty and rich history