Two Minutes

European Space Agency tabs ISU scientist for soil-satellite project

When he's not teaching in the classroom, or grading his students' work, you may find Brian Hornbuckle checking the results of the European Space Agency.

Soil, by satellite: Hornbuckle, an assistant professor in agronomy, has been working for years on ways to measure Iowa's soil moisture. The Europeans are now trying to measure the earth's soil moisture using a satellite. Trouble is, they can't tell how accurate their readings are.

Down to earth verification: When the ESA launches its satellite in November, Hornbuckle will get the readings that the satellite collects and compare them to the real results that he is collecting here on terra firma. Then the ESA will adjust their models to make their measurements more accurate.

You're all wet: So why should we care how much water is in the soil?

"Weather prediction isn't as good as it could be," says Hornbuckle without a hint of irony. "One of the missing pieces in weather prediction is soil moisture and the way it influences how water moves among the atmosphere, the ground and vegetation."