Launch of satellite to track sea levels set for June 20

The launch of a US-French satellite that will track rising sea levels and ocean currents has been rescheduled for next Friday, US space agency NASA said.

The California launch of Jason 2 had been set for June 15 but was delayed.

NASA said Jason 2 will take off at 1946 GMT from Vandenberg air force base aboard a Delta 2 rocket and go into orbit some 10 kilometres (six miles) above its predecessor Jason 1, which circles Earth at a distance of 1,335 kilometres (830 miles).

The new satellite will then use its own engines to maneuver into the same orbit as Jason 1.

Rising sea levels is one of the most serious consequences of global warming, threatening dozens of island nations and massively populated delta regions, especially in Asia and Africa.

Data from previous missions showed that sea levels have risen on average by 0.3 centimeters since 1993, or twice as much as they did in whole of the 20th century, according to marine measurements.

But 15 years of data is not enough to draw accurate long term conclusions, say scientists.

The three-year Jason 2 mission will help create the first multi-decade global record of the role of the ocean in climate change, according to scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

It will also provide more accurate forecasts of seasonal weather patterns, and near real-time data on ocean conditions.

The Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/Jason 2 mission is a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the French National Center of Space Studies (CNES) and the European satellite agency EUMETSAT.

Jason 2's most powerful onboard instrument is CNES's Poseidon 3 radar altimeter, which can measure the height of ocean surfaces in relation to Earth's centre with a margin of error of 3.3 centimetres (1.3 inches).

© 2008 AFP

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