SAC-D Satellite information on Education and Outreach

The Education and Outreach SAC-D program, included in the National Space Plan, is based on the SAC-D/Aquarius instrumental applications. This mission is included in a cooperation program between the CONAE (Spanish acronym for National Comission of Space Activities) and several NASA units. The scientific goal is to obtain new climate information from ocean salinity measurements, circulation and mixing processes, detect high temperature spots on the Earth's surface and soil moisture to prepare early floods warnings. This will be achieved through the use of thermal infrared and microwave passive sensors. The launch is scheduled for March 2009. The educational program is aimed at intermediate and senior high school levels. Among the basic topics is the electromagnetic spectrum previously introduced in the visible region with the program “SAC-C en las escuelas” (SAC-C in schools). This will be extended to include thermal infrared and microwave regions according to the SAC-D sensors. The basics on general ocean circulation will be included to explain its causes and effects in a simple way, and applying these concepts to image interpretation. Moreover, global climate basics and its possible changes will also be included. With all the knowledge included, teachers will be able to help and guide students to carry out climate simulations with simple models prepared by the US project counterparts