March 13, 2009
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmLaser Mapping Reveals New Details of Earth's Surface
Scientists get a three-dimensional Google Earth on steroids, which can penetrate forest canopies, chart sand dune movement, and more, thanks to radarlike lasers
By Katherine Harmon
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Laser technology mounted on airplanes can map Earth's surface with uncanny precision and detail. The systems have been used to study floods, landslides, snowpacks and just about anything else under the sun that can enhance understanding of the natural processes happening around us. Employed by the military, meteorologists, astronomers, conservationists and even automotive engineers, it can spit out three-dimensional models of a distant surface and is accurate within an inch or two (three to five centimeters).
First used by NASA in the mid-1980s, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), aka airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM), is now commercially available. And in 2003, the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping was created (with funding from the National Science Foundation) in partnership with the University of Florida and the University of California, Berkeley to promote the use of ALSM in ongoing research—and so far it has even pinpointed at least one previously unknown fault line (near Puget Sound, WA).
Slide Show: Laser Mapping Reveals New Details of Earth's Surface
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
