UAF Geophysical Institute.

• Author: Slaten, Russ
• Position: INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS

As NASA's newest satellite made its first orbit in January, the University of Alaska Fairbanks was ready to track it, receive data from it, and send commands to it.

Ground-station support is one of two critical roles the UAF Alaska Satellite Facility is playing in the new mission, which will measure the planet's soil moisture every three days for three years. The mission is called SMAP, for Soil Moisture Active Passive.

The Alaska Satellite Facility's second role is distributing SMAP data to scientists. They will use it to understand, and improve forecasting of, all things related to soil moisture, including floods, drought...