All articles tagged with #remote sensing
Mexico City is sinking at as much as 14 inches (35 cm) per year due to groundwater pumping and the weight of its sprawling urban area atop an ancient lakebed. NASA–ISRO’s NISAR satellite—a dual-frequency radar mission launched in 2025—now monitors surface changes with centimeter precision, revealing subsidence patterns across the city and demonstrating the mission’s capability to track ground movement globally.
German researchers found oak trees delay leaf-out by about three days after heavy caterpillar outbreaks, tracked with Sentinel-1 radar data over five years across 60 forests (137,500 observations). The delay reduces caterpillar survival and tree damage by about 55%, is more energy-efficient than producing extra tannins, and is reversible—showing trees actively adapt to biotic threats in a warming world.
New data from NASA-ISRO's NISAR radar show parts of the Mexico City region sinking by a few centimeters per month (Oct 2025–Jan 2026) due to long-running groundwater pumping and compaction of an ancient lakebed; the subsidence has damaged infrastructure and landmarks, and NISAR’s all-weather, dual-band radar enables persistent monitoring of land motion in densely populated or vegetated regions.
Australian physicist Enbang Li has built a compact, three‑foot device that uses gravity to bend light via spiraled fiber-optic coils, detecting tiny picosecond time delays to sense gravitational changes. The approach could enable high‑precision gravity sensing for mapping underground features, monitoring magma, and improving sensing on moving platforms like planes and submarines. While still in early lab stages, the work suggests photons can interact with Earth’s gravitational field in new ways and may prompt fresh thinking about light’s behavior, with findings published in Scientific Reports.
A new high-resolution topographic analysis suggests the Zhamanshin impact crater in Kazakhstan is about 26.5 km in diameter—roughly double previous estimates—meaning the energy released could be 7–10 times greater and potentially linked to abrupt environmental changes around 900,000 years ago; erosion and loess conceal outer rings, so further regional climate records are needed to assess any biological or climate effects, with implications for planetary protection and future planetary exploration.
A global analysis using daily NASA Black Marble night-time lights and continuous change detection (2014–2022) shows that artificial illumination is highly volatile, with locations undergoing multiple abrupt or gradual changes. The study finds 2.05 million km2 of abrupt ALAN changes and 19.04 million km2 of gradual changes, totaling far more area affected by changes than previously thought. Net radiance rose about 16% since 2014, driven by brightening (34% of the 2014 baseline) that outpaced dimming (−18%). Regions experience both directions of change, driven by factors such as urban expansion, rural electrification, gas-flaring reductions, and energy access disruptions. Asia (notably China and India) accounts for the largest cumulative change, Europe shows pronounced dimming linked to regulations, and some regions (e.g., Venezuela) dim due to economic collapse. The work challenges the view that night-time lights only steadily intensify and highlights the need to consider bidirectional, high-frequency dynamics for policy, energy transitions, and ecological implications. Open datasets and code accompany the work for global ALAN change mapping and analysis.
NASA-ISRO’s NISAR satellite captured cloud-covered imagery of the Pacific Northwest on Nov. 10, 2025 using L-band radar to see through clouds, highlighting Seattle, Portland, Mount Rainier, and Mount Saint Helens. With dual SAR instruments and a large 39-foot antenna, NISAR revisits areas roughly every 12 days to monitor changes in forests, wetlands, urban areas, and infrastructure, and to detect subtle ground movements associated with natural hazards such as volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, and floods. The data aid resource management, hazard monitoring, and environmental decision‑making.
DARPA-backed researchers are developing radiovoltaic micro-batteries that directly convert nuclear radiation into electricity, enabling maintenance-free, long-duration power for buoys, spacecraft, and remote sensors, with gallium oxide boosting radiation tolerance and power density.
Scientists in Canada are using drone technology and the presence of specific lichens to efficiently locate dinosaur fossils in rugged terrain, marking a significant advancement in paleontological fieldwork by enabling large-scale, non-invasive fossil hunting from the air.
ESA's Biomass satellite has released its first stunning images of Earth's forests, deserts, and glaciers, demonstrating its advanced radar capabilities to measure forest biomass and monitor ecosystems, which is crucial for understanding carbon storage and climate change impacts.
Landsat 7, a satellite that provided 25 years of Earth imaging, has been decommissioned, marking the end of an era in Earth observation. Its data contributed significantly to environmental monitoring and scientific research, and it will now drift in orbit for decades before reentry, while newer Landsat satellites continue to monitor the planet.
Researchers have developed a high-resolution laser device using intensity interferometry that can read millimeter-scale text from over a mile away, demonstrating super-resolution imaging at 1.36 km in an outdoor environment, with potential applications in remote sensing and surveillance.
NASA's Curiosity rover completed a fully loaded first sol, conducting a drill to expose a fresh surface on a bedrock target, followed by remote sensing activities including ChemCam LIBS and long distance RMI mosaics to assess the stratigraphy at Gediz Vallis ridge and the distant butte Kukenan. The plan also includes monitoring of rover deck movement, search for dust devils, and atmospheric dust. The second sol involves untargeted activities and post-drive imaging in preparation for the next plan, as the rover continues to make progress along the margin of upper Gediz Vallis ridge on Mars.
Scientists are using lidar technology, traditionally used for archaeological sites, to identify tiny ants in Kenya's acacia trees with over 80% accuracy, significantly reducing the time and effort required for field surveys. This efficient technology has the potential to track tree pests and invasive species, offering a faster and more cost-effective method for biodiversity sampling and conservation efforts.
A significant portion of the world's mining activities, including their environmental and community impacts, remains undocumented due to data gaps and lack of comprehensive inventories. Researchers face challenges in assessing the sector's global impact due to incomplete databases, such as the S&P Capital IQ Pro, and the prevalence of illegal operations. The article advocates for improved data collection and sharing, transparency, and the use of remote sensing and AI to fill information gaps. This is crucial as the demand for minerals, especially for clean technologies, is expected to increase, necessitating better data to assess future impacts and risks.