Nasa's IceSat space laser makes height maps of Earth
One of the most powerful Earth observation tools ever put in orbit is now gathering data about the planet.IceSat-2 was launched just under three months ago to measure the shape of the ice sheets to a precision of 2cm.But the Nasa spacecraft's laser instrument is also now returning a whole raft of other information.It is mapping the height of the land, of rivers, lakes, forests; and in a remarkable demonstration of capability - even the depth of the seafloor."We can see down to 30m in really clear waters," said Lori Magruder, the science team leader on the IceSat mission. "We saw one IceSat track just recently that covers 300km in the Caribbean and you see the ocean floor the entire way," the University of Texas researcher told BB...
