In much the same way satellites have become key to forecasting the weather and issuing various storm warnings, recent research suggests satellites could be used to predict flooding. With interior flooding in the United States causing nearly $4 billion in damages annually, the finding is no small matter. Details about NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) twin satellites and the recently published study can be found in the links below:
(NASA News Release, July 10, 2014)
(Nature Geoscience, July 6, 2014)
Comment: Great stuff - but there's a problem. The Nature Geoscience paper requires a fee to read. I take strong exception with any study which uses data from government satellites, and is of benefit to the taxpayers who paid for those satellites, being published in a way that requires a fee to read.
Graphic credit: NASA
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