Landsat: A Space Age Water Gauge | NASA

By NASA Headquarters, Posted 09/23/09

Link: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/Landsat.html

"Water. In the arid Western United States, it seems there's almost never enough of it. But the biggest use of water in the West isn't for drinking. It's for growing food. Agriculture consumes about 90% of the water diverted by humans in western states. As the demand for water increases, the pressures on to make sure every drop counts. It's tricky business gauging how much water farm fields are consuming, let alone how much water is seemingly evaporating into thin air. That's where water specialists Tony Morse, Rick Allen, and Bill Kramber come in. They're taking a long view of the problem - a very long view. They're stuyding farms from space." Commercial applications of valuable global water availability and use data will likely be an increasing opportunity driven by climate change.