May 27, 2014
A NASA-developed airborne imager called a synthetic aperture radar took a detailed look at volcanoes in Central and South America during an Earth science study in late April and early May 2014.
The Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar, or UAVSAR, developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, was flown on NASA's C-20A. The 29-day deployment ended May 6 when the aircraft returned to its base in Palmdale, California, after 19 flights totaling 97 hours in the air.
This is the second consecutive year the UAVSAR team has conducted a campaign to study sites in Central and South America. Many of the flights imaged the Andean volcanic belt located in western South America.
'By combining images acquired in 2013 with the 2014 images, researchers will produce detailed surface motion measurements to improve volcanic deformation models,' said Naiara Pinto, JPL's UAVSAR science coordinator.
NASA's C-20A features a high-precision autopilot designed and developed by engineers at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, allowing the aircraft to fly the same flight lines this spring as those flown in 2013 within 15 feet (4.5 meters) or closer. With the autopilot engaged, the synthetic aperture radar is able to acquire repeat-pass data that can measure land-surface changes within fractions of an inch (centimeters).
In coordination with the volcano studies, the agency's C-20A gathered data over Amazonian forests in Peru, agricultural sites in Chile and glaciers on the Chilean/Argentinian border. All of these research projects involve Latin American institutions, including universities and hazard monitoring agencies.
More information on the mission is available at:
http://ift.tt/SORjJC
For more information on the UAVSAR, visit:
http://ift.tt/1f6lJza
NASA and its partners monitor Earth's vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.
To learn more about NASA's Earth science activities in 2014, visit:
http://ift.tt/1eA0lAs
Alan Buis 818-354-0474 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Alan.Buis@jpl.nasa.gov Beth Hagenauer 661-276-7960 NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. beth.hagenauer-1@nasa.gov 2014-165
Entities 0 Name: NASA Count: 7 1 Name: Earth Count: 4 2 Name: South America Count: 3 3 Name: California Count: 3 4 Name: UAVSAR Count: 3 5 Name: Calif. Count: 2 6 Name: Edwards Count: 2 7 Name: Pasadena Count: 2 8 Name: Alan Buis Count: 1 9 Name: Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar Count: 1 10 Name: JPL Count: 1 11 Name: Chile Count: 1 12 Name: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Count: 1 13 Name: United States Count: 1 14 Name: Peru Count: 1 15 Name: Beth Hagenauer Count: 1 16 Name: Naiara Pinto Count: 1 17 Name: Armstrong Flight Research Center Count: 1 18 Name: Palmdale Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1nvMmyG Title: The Making of NASA's Global Selfie: 100+ Countries, Thousands of Photos Description: The 3.2 gigapixel Global Selfie mosaic, hosted by GigaPan, was made with 36,422 individual images that were posted to social media sites on or around Earth Day, April 22, 2014. When viewing on GigaPan's website, clicking on the "Snapshots" icon in the lower-left corner will display a row of highlighted images.
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