Europe's new weather satellite goes into orbit 歐洲新氣象衛星進入軌道

（本節目所用的音頻資源發表於2022年12月中旬。）

近日，一顆重要的歐洲衛星已被送入預定軌道。氣象衛星 “Meteosat-12” 搭乘阿麗亞娜火箭從法屬圭亞那的庫魯航天發射中心起飛，開啟瞭天氣預報的新時代。

The value to society of satellite meteorology is immense. In terms of lives saved and infrastructure damage that’s avoided, the returns on investment run into billions annually.

衛星氣象學的社會價值是巨大的。就衛星氣象學挽救的生命和因其免遭破壞的基礎設施而言，每年相關投資的回報可達數十億美元。

Europe’s new Meteosat will replace technology that is now more than 20 years old. National forecasting agencies like the UK Met Office and Meteo France will see a big jump in the amount of data they receive. One of the major innovations on the new Meteosat is the inclusion of a camera to detect lightning.

歐洲的新氣象衛星 “Meteosat” 將取代已有20多年歷史的技術。英國氣象局和法國氣象局等國傢天氣預報機構收到的數據量將大幅增加。新氣象衛星 “Meteosat” 的主要創新之一是安裝瞭一個探測閃電的攝像頭。

The agencies believe this will be a boon to what they call nowcasting – the ability to track and forewarn of imminent hazardous events. That’s because lightning is a tracer for violent wind gusts, heavy rain and hail.

這些氣象機構認為，新衛星的運用將有利於所謂的 “臨近預報”，即追蹤並預警即將發生的危險天氣事件的能力。這是因為新衛星可以通過觀測閃電來追蹤狂風、大雨和冰雹。

詞匯表

meteorology 氣象學
immense 巨大的
infrastructure 基礎設施
forecasting 預報
innovations 創新
boon 有用的物品
nowcasting 臨近預報
forewarn 預先警告
imminent 臨近的，即將發生的
hazardous 危險的
tracer 用於追蹤某物的事物

閱讀理解：請在讀完上文後，回答下列問題。

1. What are the benefits to society of satellite meteorology?

2. How old is Europe’s current meteorology satellite technology?

3. How will this new satellite be able to detect lightning?

4. What benefit does the ability to detect lightning bring?

答案

1. What are the benefits to society of satellite meteorology?
It can save lives and helps to avoid infrastructure being damaged.

2. How old is Europe’s current meteorology satellite technology?
Europe’s new Meteosat will replace technology that is now more than 20 years old.

3. How will this new satellite be able to detect lightning?
This new Meteosat satellite includes a camera to detect lightning.

4. What benefit does the ability to detect lightning bring?
Lightning can identify where violent wind gusts, heavy rain and hail may occur.