Fly-bys warn of water shortages

• Autores: Paul Marks
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2921, 2013, págs. 22-23
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Marks talks about measuring supplies of meltwater could help farmers battle a changing climate. Tom Painter and a team of engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab have equipped a light aircraft with two sensors that can precisely measure the volume of snow present while flying over mountain ranges. A laser-based radar measures the depth and density of the snow, so the amount of water present can be determined, while a spectrometer measures how much sunlight the snow is reflecting and absorbing. This can predict how fast it will melt and run down into the valleys in the summer.