1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:02,066 - WE LEARN VERY EARLY IN LIFE 2 00:00:02,066 --> 00:00:03,633 HOW THE WEATHER AFFECTS THE WAY WE DRESS 3 00:00:03,633 --> 00:00:05,333 AND EVEN WHEN SOME OF OUR FAVORITE FOODS ARE IN SEASON. 4 00:00:05,333 --> 00:00:07,300 AS WE GET OLDER, WE CAREFULLY WATCH THE WEATHER 5 00:00:07,300 --> 00:00:10,266 AND CLIMATE MODELS OR FLOOD AND DROUGHT PREDICTIONS 6 00:00:10,266 --> 00:00:12,600 TO SEE THE POTENTIAL IMPACT ON OUR WALLETS. 7 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:14,533 WHETHER IT'S KNOWING WHEN TO BRING AN UMBRELLA 8 00:00:14,533 --> 00:00:16,633 OR WHEN TO CONSERVE WATER, WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING 9 00:00:16,633 --> 00:00:18,700 FOR BETTER WAYS TO IMPROVE THESE MODELS. 10 00:00:18,700 --> 00:00:21,300 BUT HOW DO SCIENTISTS COME UP WITH THESE COMPLEX PREDICTIONS, 11 00:00:21,300 --> 00:00:23,900 AND HOW IS MATH INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS? 12 00:00:23,900 --> 00:00:25,666 THE ANSWER COULD BE BENEATH YOUR FEET. 13 00:00:25,666 --> 00:00:28,300 FIND OUT MORE NEXT ON "REAL WORLD." 14 00:00:28,300 --> 00:00:34,766 [upbeat electronic music] 15 00:00:34,766 --> 00:00:36,600 THE LAYER OF SOIL JUST BELOW YOUR FEET 16 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:38,366 AND THE MOISTURE THAT'S TRAPPED THERE 17 00:00:38,366 --> 00:00:40,066 HOLD THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE CONNECTIONS 18 00:00:40,066 --> 00:00:43,233 BETWEEN WATER, ENERGY, AND CARBON CYCLES HERE ON EARTH. 19 00:00:43,233 --> 00:00:45,766 AND NASA'S SOIL MOISTURE ACTIVE PASSIVE MISSION, 20 00:00:45,766 --> 00:00:47,366 ALSO KNOWN AS SMAP, 21 00:00:47,366 --> 00:00:49,266 WILL HELP SCIENTISTS TO FIND THAT KEY. 22 00:00:49,266 --> 00:00:52,800 SMAP WILL MEASURE SOIL MOISTURE ACROSS THE ENTIRE GLOBE 23 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,233 AND DETERMINE WHETHER THE MOISTURE IS FROZEN OR THAWED, 24 00:00:55,233 --> 00:00:58,800 BUT WHAT IS SOIL MOISTURE, AND HOW IS NASA GOING TO MEASURE IT? 25 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:03,866 - SOIL MOISTURE IS THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT'S IN THE SOILS. 26 00:01:03,866 --> 00:01:07,000 SO THINK OF SOILS AS A SPONGE. 27 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,033 SO SPONGES CAN HOLD WATER UP TO A CERTAIN POINT, 28 00:01:10,033 --> 00:01:11,233 THEN THEY SATURATE. 29 00:01:11,233 --> 00:01:12,500 SO SOILS ARE SORT OF SIMILAR. 30 00:01:12,500 --> 00:01:14,600 THEY CAN HOLD A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF WATER. 31 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,033 - NASA HAS A MISSION THAT IS GOING TO BE LAUNCHING 32 00:01:17,033 --> 00:01:18,166 CALLED SMAP. 33 00:01:18,166 --> 00:01:21,766 SMAP IS THE SOIL MOISTURE ACTIVE PASSIVE MISSION, 34 00:01:21,766 --> 00:01:24,000 AND IT WILL BE MEASURING SOIL MOISTURE FROM SPACE, 35 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,366 BECAUSE WHEN WE MEASURE SOIL FROM SPACE, 36 00:01:26,366 --> 00:01:30,600 WE CAN COVER A LOT OF AREA IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME. 37 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,733 WE WILL HAVE A GLOBAL MAP OF SOIL MOISTURE 38 00:01:33,733 --> 00:01:35,766 EVERY THREE DAYS FROM SMAP. 39 00:01:35,766 --> 00:01:39,933 - SO THAT IN ITSELF WILL FEED INTO A NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS. 40 00:01:39,933 --> 00:01:42,633 IT'LL FEED INTO WEATHER MODELS, CLIMATE MODELS. 41 00:01:42,633 --> 00:01:46,600 IT'LL FEED INTO FLOOD MODELING, DROUGHT MONITORING MODELS. 42 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:48,400 IT DOES HAVE A LOT OF APPLICATIONS. 43 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:51,100 - SO SOIL MOISTURE IS SIMPLY THE QUANTITY OR AMOUNT OF WATER 44 00:01:51,100 --> 00:01:53,000 CONTAINED IN A GIVEN SAMPLE OF SOIL. 45 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,733 HOW WILL SMAP BE MAKING THESE EARTH MEASUREMENTS FROM SPACE? 46 00:01:55,733 --> 00:01:57,533 - SMAP HAS TWO SENSORS. 47 00:01:57,533 --> 00:01:59,400 THEY'RE BOTH IN THE MICROWAVE RANGE. 48 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:01,633 IT ALLOWS US TO SEE THROUGH CLOUDS, 49 00:02:01,633 --> 00:02:04,300 SO REGARDLESS OF DAY OR NIGHT CONDITIONS 50 00:02:04,300 --> 00:02:05,866 OR ANY KIND OF WEATHER CONDITIONS, 51 00:02:05,866 --> 00:02:09,100 WE CAN STILL SEE THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH. 52 00:02:09,100 --> 00:02:10,833 - SMAP IS AN ACTIVE PASSIVE MISSION. 53 00:02:10,833 --> 00:02:12,433 THE ACTIVE, OR THE RADAR, 54 00:02:12,433 --> 00:02:14,833 IS GOING TO GIVE YOU HIGH RESOLUTION. 55 00:02:14,833 --> 00:02:16,366 SO IT'S GOING TO GIVE YOU A LOT OF DETAIL 56 00:02:16,366 --> 00:02:19,066 WITHIN A 3-KILOMETER RESOLUTION, 57 00:02:19,066 --> 00:02:21,800 AND THEN THE PASSIVE, WHICH IS THE RADIOMETER, 58 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:23,900 IS GOING TO GIVE YOU HIGH ACCURACY, 59 00:02:23,900 --> 00:02:25,600 AND THAT IS GOING TO GIVE IT TO YOU 60 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,133 WITHIN A 40-KILOMETER RESOLUTION. 61 00:02:28,133 --> 00:02:30,233 WHAT THE SMAP SCIENTISTS ARE GOING TO DO IS, 62 00:02:30,233 --> 00:02:32,166 THEY'RE GOING TO USE MATH-- 63 00:02:32,166 --> 00:02:33,700 THEY'RE GOING TO WRITE AN ALGORITHM-- 64 00:02:33,700 --> 00:02:36,133 TO ESSENTIALLY COMBINE THE 3-KILOMETER 65 00:02:36,133 --> 00:02:38,200 AND THE 40-KILOMETER TO GIVE YOU 66 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,000 A 9-KILOMETER HIGH-ACCURACY RESOLUTION. 67 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,600 SO WITHIN THAT 9-KILOMETER GRID SPACE, 68 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:46,233 YOU WILL HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING 69 00:02:46,233 --> 00:02:49,433 OF HOW WET OR HOW DRY THE SOIL IS. 70 00:02:49,433 --> 00:02:51,233 - TO HELP YOU THINK LIKE SMAP SCIENTISTS, 71 00:02:51,233 --> 00:02:52,733 TRY MEASURING THE CHANGES 72 00:02:52,733 --> 00:02:54,800 IN SOIL MOISTURE IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD. 73 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,433 BECAUSE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SOILS HOLD DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF WATER, 74 00:02:57,433 --> 00:02:59,566 YOU MAY WISH TO TAKE SEVERAL SOIL SAMPLES 75 00:02:59,566 --> 00:03:01,066 FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS. 76 00:03:01,066 --> 00:03:04,433 TAKE A SAMPLE OF SOIL FROM A DEPTH OF 10 CENTIMETERS. 77 00:03:04,433 --> 00:03:07,366 MEASURE 100 GRAMS OF SOIL USING A BALANCED SCALE. 78 00:03:07,366 --> 00:03:09,533 BE SURE TO REMOVE ANY ROCKS AND PEBBLES 79 00:03:09,533 --> 00:03:12,300 AS WELL AS ANY WORMS OR INSECTS FROM YOUR SAMPLE 80 00:03:12,300 --> 00:03:13,400 BEFORE YOUR MEASURE IT. 81 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,766 PLACE THE SAMPLE IN A LOCATION TO DRY. 82 00:03:15,766 --> 00:03:18,566 EACH DAY FOR TEN DAYS, RECORD THE MASS OF THE SOIL 83 00:03:18,566 --> 00:03:19,933 TO THE NEAREST TENTH OF A GRAM. 84 00:03:19,933 --> 00:03:21,200 GRAPH YOUR RESULTS. 85 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:22,666 HOW DID YOUR SAMPLE CHANGE OVER TIME? 86 00:03:22,666 --> 00:03:24,333 DID YOU NOTICE ANY PATTERNS? 87 00:03:24,333 --> 00:03:26,933 TO CALCULATE THE PERCENTAGE OF SOIL WATER IN YOUR SAMPLE, 88 00:03:26,933 --> 00:03:28,066 USE THIS FORMULA: 89 00:03:37,966 --> 00:03:40,300 SIMILAR TO THE MEASUREMENTS YOU MADE, 90 00:03:40,300 --> 00:03:42,500 SMAP WILL COLLECT GLOBAL MEASUREMENTS 91 00:03:42,500 --> 00:03:45,066 OF SOIL MOISTURE RESULTING IN A GLOBAL MAP 92 00:03:45,066 --> 00:03:47,166 WITH SOIL MOISTURE EVERY THREE DAYS. 93 00:03:47,166 --> 00:03:49,800 HAVING THAT CONSTANT STREAM OF DATA WILL ALLOW SCIENTISTS 94 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,500 TO ACCURATELY TRACK HOW SOIL MOISTURE CHANGES 95 00:03:52,500 --> 00:03:53,966 IN A PARTICULAR LOCATION. 96 00:03:53,966 --> 00:03:57,200 AND JUST WHAT WILL THESE MEASUREMENTS HELP US UNDERSTAND? 97 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:58,600 - THE SOIL MOISTURE, KNOWING THAT, 98 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,933 IT WILL ACTUALLY TELL US A NUMBER OF THINGS, SO-- 99 00:04:01,933 --> 00:04:04,066 DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT. 100 00:04:04,066 --> 00:04:06,700 AND IF WE WERE TO LOOK AT FLOOD MODELING, 101 00:04:06,700 --> 00:04:10,133 HOW FAR OUT THE FLOODING WATERS COULD ESSENTIALLY GO 102 00:04:10,133 --> 00:04:12,433 DEPENDING ON HOW WET THE SOIL IS BEFORE THE STORM, 103 00:04:12,433 --> 00:04:14,266 RIGHT BEFORE THE FLOOD REALLY PICKS UP. 104 00:04:14,266 --> 00:04:17,400 - SMAP WILL ADVANCE OUR ABILITY TO MONITOR DROUGHTS 105 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:18,666 AND PREDICT FLOODS, 106 00:04:18,666 --> 00:04:21,700 AND THIS HELPS TO MITIGATE THE IMPACTS 107 00:04:21,700 --> 00:04:24,966 THAT THIS MIGHT HAVE ON HUMAN LIVES. 108 00:04:24,966 --> 00:04:28,933 - FOR CROP PRODUCTION, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY, 109 00:04:28,933 --> 00:04:31,933 CROP PRODUCTIVITY, EVEN CROP FORECASTING 110 00:04:31,933 --> 00:04:35,233 AND HAVING AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHEN TO PLANT 111 00:04:35,233 --> 00:04:38,200 AND WHEN TO ESSENTIALLY HARVEST YOUR CROP. 112 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,266 - BEING ABLE TO HAVE AN ASSESSMENT 113 00:04:40,266 --> 00:04:43,933 ON WHETHER THERE'S A DROUGHT COMING ON 114 00:04:43,933 --> 00:04:46,900 WILL HELP BETTER MANAGE CROPS 115 00:04:46,900 --> 00:04:50,333 AND BETTER ESTIMATE WHAT CROP YIELDS MIGHT BE LIKE. 116 00:04:50,333 --> 00:04:51,733 - IT'S CRITICAL FOR AGRICULTURE. 117 00:04:51,733 --> 00:04:53,833 IT'S CRITICAL FOR HEALTH, SO IT DOES PLAY 118 00:04:53,833 --> 00:04:56,800 AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN OUR DAY-TO-DAY LIVES. 119 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,333 - WITH SMAP RETURNING GLOBAL MEASUREMENTS OF SOIL MOISTURE 120 00:05:00,333 --> 00:05:03,000 EVERY THREE DAYS FOR AT LEAST THREE YEARS, 121 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,200 SCIENTISTS WILL HAVE A GINORMOUS AMOUNT OF DATA, 122 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,033 DATA THAT HAS REAL APPLICATIONS 123 00:05:07,033 --> 00:05:09,166 FOR EACH ONE OF US HERE ON PLANET EARTH. 124 00:05:09,166 --> 00:05:11,066 SEE YOU NEXT TIME ON "REAL WORLD."