NASA Radar Studies Keep On In Central America, Hispaniola

NASA radar imaging flights over Central America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic are in the 2nd week of a 3-week campaign.

The JPL-developed Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) is presently in the 2nd week of a 3-week campaign in Central America, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Flying below the belly of a modified Gulfstream III aircraft from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center and the sophisticated radar can spot tiny changes in Earth's surface by flying precise repeat passes over targeted areas.

The Central American survey flights are focusing on computing biomass in Central American rain forests, imaging volcanoes from Guatemala to Costa Rica, and imaging Mayan ruins. The flights above Haiti and the Dominican Republic are targeting earthquake faults on the island of Hispaniola. The scientists have collected the data over Central American nations again on February 2, and then flew a 2nd set of data tracks over Haiti on February 3 before returning to Costa Rica on February 4.