Satellite Data Shows Striking Loss Of Soil Moisture Across UK, EU - BBC

[hatrack]

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13338174

As much as we all enjoy the warm weather, some rain would be welcome. The scale of just how dry the start of 2011 has been is evident in some fascinating data from one of Europe's latest Earth observation satellites.

Smos senses the moisture in the top layers of soil, and it is very clear in these maps that the ground across the UK and much of Europe is now gasping for water. Last month was the warmest April on record in Britain.

It was also the 11th driest month (since 1910), with on average just half the usual rainfall. And in parts of south-east England, there was less than 10% of normal precipitation.

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Some studies that were completed after the great European heatwave of summer 2003 showed that if more had been known about the relative dryness of soils in the springtime, meteorologists might have been in a much better position to predict the extreme conditions that followed a few months later. It is an area for ongoing research. Smos was launched in October 2009. Its radiometer instrument will also measure variations in the saltiness of seawater, a capability which is reflected in the mission's full name: Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (Smos) satellite.

EDIT

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13338174