For decades, Iowa State University researchers have studied the cycling of water among soil, vegetation and the atmosphere that is vital to production agriculture. Now a team of Iowa State and University of Iowa researchers is beginning a new project to perfect the use of remote sensing technology to monitor the water cycle.
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Eventually microwave remote sensing instruments on satellites will take pictures of the earth’s surface and produce maps of soil moisture.
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The ultimate goal would be to someday use this type of information in conjunction with models to forecast soil moisture conditions, the weather and to detect climate change.
Nice to see one of the fine universities in Iowa showcased. Too bad about the following sentence fragment on their page:
“Remote sensing equipment will be taken to the field once a year, probably during each of the four seasons,…”
um…. Doh!