NASA'S NEW RADAR TO DETECT CHANGES IN THE EARTH'S LCRUST AND OTHER OBSERVABLE PHENOMENA

photo: Nasa

A new program by NASA that uses an airborne radar imaging system, is being employed to showcase its ability to capture even the deepest secrets of the Earth, in its month long expedition.  

The new radar system, called UAVSAR, stands for Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar.  The remotely controlled aircraft is sweeping over the US and South America.  

The mission was engineered to try to understand some of the deepest mysteries of the Earth's crust, and the geology of glaciers and carbon cycles.  Also on the program, the investigation of patterns of ancient archeology like ancient Peruvian civilizations.  

The technique used by UAVSAR is interferometry.  It sends microwave energy pulses from the sensor in the aircraft to the ground.  The technique is able to detect the slightest changes in the Earth's surface, such as when earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and glacier movements occur.  

It can also penetrate clouds and the forest's canopy in ways never possible before.  It is therefore the most versatile instrument yet, and could have a wide range of applications for many branches of science and for metereology among others.

Volcano scientists can use the images created by the instruments to produce graphics that enable them to see changes as minute as sub-centimeter shifts in the surface, which is a tell tale sign of magma movement below the Earth's mantle. This could help in predicting volcanic eruptions and also earthquakes. 

The glacier images can also help climatologists track changes and monitor climatic shifts more accurately.

One of the most fragile ecosystems in the world are coastal regions.  The new technology could also help with mapping the changes wrought by human impact and climate change. 

The study also can be useful for commercial enterprises.  It can in fact, monitor changes in areas of cultivation, helping with the prediction of climatic conditions, rain patterns and drought, that could enable better planning.

Another benefit of the program is the mapping of underground or unseen archeaological formations in the Americas.  

A very important application of the program however, is the observation of land subsidence and uplift in groundwater basins in Arizona's Cochise County and other observed areas.  Other subsidence observed is in New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta.  This can in turn help with the maintenance and construction of levees.  

Source : Nasa/Jet Propulsion Laboratory 4.4.13