Surprising Science — July 1, 2010

Soggy Soil Seen

Imaging technology has now been used to assemble the first comprehensive map of global soil moisture that covers all land areas of the world, except for frozen soils at high latitudes and in some mountain regions.

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The first satellite-derived map of global soil moisture has been unveiled. The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission has now used imaging technology to “assemble a comprehensive map of global soil moisture that covers all land areas of the world, except for frozen soils at high latitudes and in some mountain regions.”

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