Question

“satellite monitors rain that triggers landslides” by nasa earth observatory 1. on february 17, 2006, the village of guinsaugon on leyte island in the philippines disappeared. after several days of unusually heavy rain, a massive landslide swallowed more than 350 houses and an elementary school, burying more than 1,100 people. residents of the village, situated at the foot of a mountain, had no warning. 2. landslides occur everywhere in the world, but the danger of rainfall - induced slides tends to be much greater in tropical mountainous regions like those in the philippines, central and south america, and southeastern asia. steep terrain and heavy tropical rains put dense populations at risk. monitoring landslide - producing conditions typically requires extensive networks of ground - based rain gauges and weather instruments. but many of the developing countries in high - risk areas lack the resources to maintain such systems; heavy rains and flooding often wash away ground - based instruments. 3. robert adler, a senior scientist in the laboratory for atmospheres at goddard space flight center, and yang hong, a research scientist at goddard earth sciences technology center, are combating the problem by developing a satellite - based system for predicting landslides. the system makes data available on the internet just a few hours after the satellite makes its observations. adler said, “if we can complete this ‘real - time’ product and make it available on the web, then almost any government or organization in the world can access this information.” mapping landslide susceptibility 4. rainfall is the key factor in adler and hong’s product, but first, they needed to piece together a global landslide susceptibility map, which would help reveal terrain and ground properties. hong said, “rainfall can be a trigger for landslides, but ground conditions are also very important.” part a what claim does the author make about satellites? satellites provide a consistent predictor of changes in future rainfall patterns. satellites provide a comprehensive analysis of the potential threat of rainfall accumulation. satellites provide a precise estimation of the rainfall amounts that could cause damage. satellites provide a practical tool for governments to study trends in rainfall globally.

Explanation:

The passage focuses on the development of a satellite - based system for predicting landslides. It mentions that satellites can make data available on the Internet quickly and almost any government or organization can access this information. This implies that satellites provide a practical tool for governments to study trends in rainfall globally. There is no mention of satellites predicting future rainfall patterns consistently, comprehensively analyzing rainfall - induced threats, or precisely estimating damaging rainfall amounts.

Answer:

Satellites provide a practical tool for governments to study trends in rainfall globally.