For release: 07/09/2003
Photo release #: N03-005
'Getting the dirt': from space, sky and ground, scientists and students dig high and low for soil moisture data
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As part of Soil Moisture Experiments in 2003, or SMEX03, teams of scientists, college students and volunteers take measurements that include soil moisture and temperature, ground cover type and plant height. From left, participants include Martine Sealy, a senior at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Ga.; SMEX03 co-investigator Dr. Charles Laymon, a hydrologist and remote sensing scientist with Universities Space Research Association at the Global Hydrology and Climate Center (GHCC) in Huntsville, Ala.; and Kinnis Gosha, a junior at Albany State University in Albany, Ga. The GHCC is one of seven research centers at the National Space Science and Technology Center in Huntsville, a partnership among NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama research universities, industry and other federal agencies. (NASA/MSFC/T. Leibold)
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For Soil Moisture Experiments in 2003, or SMEX03, students have an opportunity to get hands-on experience in field application research as well as laboratory analysis of soil samples. Taking measurements with SMEX co-investigator Dr. Charles Laymon, center, a hydrologist and remote sensing scientist with Universities Space Research Association at the Global Hydrology and Climate Center (GHCC) in Huntsville, Ala. are student volunteers Lakesha Fowler, a junior at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville and Theophilus Yebuah a junior at Tennessee State University in Nashville. (NASA/MSFC/T. Leibold)
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Scientists and students involved in the Soil Moisture Experiments in 2003, or SMEX03, pull canisters of soil from an oven that removes moisture. From left, participants include Dr. Ashutosh Limaye, a global hydrologist with Universities Space Research Association at the Global Hydrology and Climate Center (GHCC) in Huntsville, Ala.; Niclaos Almonor, a senior at Florida State University in Tallahassee; Chris Davis a senior at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville; and Ross Laymon, a senior at Catholic High School in Huntsville. What scientists hope to learn how to better gauge the amount of soil moisture has the potential to impact land-use plans, the accuracy of weather forecasts and even the quantity, quality and cost of fruits and vegetables that make it to store shelves. The GHCC is one of seven research centers at the National Space Science and Technology Center in Huntsville. (NASA/MSFC/T.
Leibold)
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NASA's P-3B, a four-engine turboprop, is one of the research aircraft used in Soil Moisture Experiments in 2003. Equipped with a suite of remote sensing technology developed for the space program, it will document patterns of surface moisture by measuring microwave energy in units of brightness temperature and power reflected off the surface. (NASA/MSFC/D. Higginbotham)
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Participants in Soil Moisture Experiments in 2003 include Dr. Tommy Coleman, director of the Center for Hydrology, Soil Climatology, and Remote Sensing (HSCaRS) of Alabama A&M University in Huntsville a NASA-sponsored Minority University Research Center that promotes minority and women student involvement in Earth science research. (NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham)
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One of the research aircraft used in Soil Moisture Experiments in 2003 is NASA's P-3B, equipped with a suite of remote sensing technology developed for the space program. Aboard the P-3B is, from left, Dr. Valery Zavorotny of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Environmental Technology Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.; Linda Cornett, manager of the field laboratory of Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Ala.; and Karnita Golson, an Alabama A&M graduate student. The experiment is a collaboration between NASA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, several academic institutions across the United States, and the Center for Hydrology, Soil Climatology, and Remote Sensing of Alabama A&M University in Huntsville a NASA-sponsored Minority University Research Center that promotes minority and women
student involvement in Earth science research. (NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham)
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