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How space reveals hidden water

Transcript

First, NASA has flown low-frequency radar over deserts, where water-saturated layers reflect the signal and reveal aquifers hidden beneath gravel, sand, and silt. From space, GRACE and GRACE-FO read tiny gravity changes, because moving water changes Earth's mass enough to map groundwater storage and depletion across huge regions. Scientists then compare those satellite clues with well data, isotopes, and ground surveys, confirming fossil aquifers that hold ancient water from wetter climates long past.


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