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Human Dimensions News

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Periodic flooding in the Mississippi Valley can affect residents as far north as Minnesota and as far south as Louisiana. In May 2001, the Mississippi River flooded this house south of Red Wing, Minnesota.

The Flood Hunters

A new long-term archive of satellite data will help hydrologists monitor floods, allow aid agencies to pinpoint flood-prone regions, and provide information for modeling Earth's complex hydrologic cycles.
Feature Article
July 28, 2020
The image above shows measurements of the boreal forest taken through a flux tower.

The Dirt on Carbon

The quiet forests of Canada may slowly be losing carbon, not from the trees themselves, but from the frozen soils underneath, where deep pools of carbon are locked within permafrost.
Feature Article
July 28, 2020
CZCS image of the southwest African coast, showing the high productivity of the Benguela upwelling zone and associated features of the Benguela current, 1980.

The Color of Disease

Harmful algal blooms appear to increase in intensity, duration, and extent.
Feature Article
July 28, 2020
In this QuikSCAT image, ocean colors indicate wind speed (blue is low, yellow is high), and white streamlines indicate wind direction.

Teaching Old Data New Tricks

20 years after NASA launched a new radar remote sensing instrument called a scatterometer on the Seasat satellite, data from that first scatterometer and its descendants have opened up new possibilities for scientists who study climate change.
Feature Article
July 28, 2020
Tai Lue farmers construct a traditional diversion dam in Sipsongpanna, Yunnan Province, Muang Long. (Images courtesy of John Hartmann).

Tais that Bind

Migrating populations tend to cling to historical language patterns acquired from their homelands.
Feature Article
July 28, 2020
Damage from a category 5 typhoon completely wiped out a coconut and breadfruit plantation in the Caroline Islands, located east of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean.

Stirring up Life

Using data from three satellite instruments, researchers find that a tropical cyclone had a significant effect on phytoplankton production in the South China Sea.
Feature Article
July 28, 2020
These cracks in the ground surface north of Chobari, India were caused by liquefaction induced during the Bhuj earthquake.

Squeezing Water from Rock

Studying modern earthquakes that produce liquefaction can help better interpret the geologic record of liquefaction during past events.
Feature Article
July 28, 2020
Glaciologists used MAMM radar data to clock the movement of glaciers feeding the enormous Ross Ice Shelf.

Space-Based Ice Sight

After a century of exploration and research, much remains unknown about the so-called seventh continent of Antarctica.
Feature Article
July 28, 2020
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