AFP photo-Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity Satellite (SMOS)

The European Space Agency has launched a satellite designed to help measure climate change by better predicting droughts and floods. 

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) Satellite is the first designed to map sea surface salinity and to monitor soil moisture on a global scale.

The $460 million  probe will measure the moisture in soil by collecting radio signals emitted by water cells on the Earth's surface,  allowing climate scientists and weather forecasters to better predict droughts and floods.

The mission will also measure plant growth and the salt content of the oceans.

(Measuring soil water content to a depth of 1-2m across the planet every three days will help forecast drought and flood risk)

The SMOS Satellite was launched earlier today from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

The European Space Agency and researchers in France and Spain developed the satellite and have planned future missions that will measure the thickness of the ice sheets, study atmospheric dynamics and measure the weakening of the earth's magnetic field.

(Note: While the most violent weather events have been down significantly- including tornadoes and hurricanes this year, flooding and or flash flooding events have been on the rise and have dominated the weather headlines across the country so far including the Southeast Floods in September -including the city of Atlanta )

 (The SMOS Satellite launch)

(The purpose of the SMOS Satellite launch)