第1903期:NASA Offers Satellite Technology to Help Fight Amazon Deforestation

The American space agency NASA has offered its satellite technology to Brazil to help identify destruction in the Amazon rainforest.

美国宇航局向巴西提供卫星技术，以帮助确定亚马逊雨林的破坏情况。

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson made the offer during a recent trip to Brazil. The NASA chief visited the country’s space agency – the National Institute for Space Research – in the southeastern city of Jose dos Campos. Nelson’s trip to South America also included visits to Argentina and Colombia.

美国宇航局局长比尔·尼尔森在最近访问巴西时提出了这一提议。 美国宇航局局长参观了位于东南部城市何塞多斯坎波斯的国家航天局——国家空间研究所。 纳尔逊的南美洲之行还包括访问阿根廷和哥伦比亚。

Brazilian Science Minister Luciana Santos showed Nelson around the institute and explained some of the space agency’s programs.

巴西科学部长卢西亚娜·桑托斯带尼尔森参观了该研究所，并解释了该航天局的一些项目。

During a news conference, Nelson described one new NASA satellite that he said would be completed by January. He said the satellite, called NISAR, will even be able to capture images of what is happening in real time below the forest cover.

在新闻发布会上，纳尔逊描述了美国宇航局的一颗新卫星，他表示该卫星将于一月份完成。 他说，这颗名为 NISAR 的卫星甚至能够实时捕捉森林覆盖下发生的情况的图像。

"It is going to be able to look through the canopy of the jungle so that we can see if someone has burned the undergrowth and that would ultimately kill the big trees," Nelson said.

尼尔森说：“它将能够透过丛林的树冠观察，这样我们就可以看到是否有人烧毁了灌木丛，这最终会杀死大树。”

NASA says the new satellite will support a project called SERVIR Amazonia. It helps provide Earth science data to scientists and decision-makers across the Amazon area to record environmental changes in near real-time. The project helps predict climate threats like deforestation and food insecurity. It can also provide data to emergency workers during natural disasters.

NASA 表示，这颗新卫星将支持一个名为 SERVIR Amazonia 的项目。 它有助于向亚马逊地区的科学家和决策者提供地球科学数据，以近乎实时地记录环境变化。 该项目有助于预测森林砍伐和粮食不安全等气候威胁。 它还可以在自然灾害期间向应急人员提供数据。

Brazil’s space agency has launched a series of satellites in partnership with China since 1999. Those satellites aim to gather data on agricultural operations and the environment.

自 1999 年以来，巴西航天局与中国合作发射了一系列卫星。这些卫星旨在收集有关农业作业和环境的数据。

Brazil depends on satellite imagery to watch over the Amazon. But cloud cover often makes it difficult for satellites to capture clear and timely images. The NASA chief said the satellites NASA plans to place into orbit early next year will add an "extreme ability to understand what is happening" to the rainforest.

巴西依靠卫星图像来监视亚马逊。 但云层覆盖往往使卫星难以捕捉到清晰、及时的图像。 美国宇航局局长表示，美国宇航局计划明年初送入轨道的卫星将为雨林增添“了解正在发生的事情的极端能力”。

Nelson, a former U.S. senator who once flew to space, also met with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brasilia. After the meeting, he told reporters he thanked the president “for his continuous effort to save the Amazon rainforest."

曾经飞向太空的美国前参议员尼尔森也在巴西利亚会见了总统路易斯·伊纳西奥·卢拉·达席尔瓦。 会后，他告诉记者，他感谢总统“为拯救亚马逊雨林所做的持续努力”。

Nelson said that when he flew aboard NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia in 1986, he witnessed the destruction of the rainforest by the different colors he could see from his spacecraft window.

纳尔逊说，1986 年，当他乘坐美国宇航局哥伦比亚号航天飞机时，他从航天器窗口看到的不同颜色亲眼目睹了热带雨林的破坏。