Douglas Isbell

Headquarters, Washington, DC November 6, 1995

(Phone: 202/358-1753)

Mary Hardin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone: 818/354-5011)

RELEASE: 95-201

FROM ANCIENT EARTH TO MODERN FLOODS, SPACE RADAR FINDINGS

OFFER NEW INSIGHTS ON THE CHANGING FACE OF OUR HOME PLANET

Findings from two flights of a spaceborne imaging radar

aboard the Space Shuttle have given scientists insights into
flooding in the American midwest in 1993, the course of the
Nile River, and collisions between ancient supercontinents
eons ago.

The findings are being presented this week at the

annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in New
Orleans. The space radar data were taken by the Spaceborne
Imaging Radar C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-
SAR) during two flights of the Space Shuttle Endeavour in
April and October 1994.

NASA launched its first Earth-observing synthetic

aperture radar on Seasat in 1978. Two later versions of the
instrument flew on the Space Shuttle in 1981 and 1984, each
an improvement on its predecessor. X-SAR is a follow-on to
the Microwave Remote Sensing Experiment, a German payload
that was flown on the first Shuttle Spacelab mission in
1983.

One of the most astonishing results of the 1981 mission

was the discovery of ancient river beds under the sands of
the Sahara Desert in North Africa. The 1984 mission enabled
explorers to find the Lost City of Ubar in Oman. The
Magellan mission to Venus was equipped with an imaging radar
that provided the first comprehensive look at the surface of
that cloud-shrouded planet.

Following are highlights of the 1994 findings.

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RADAR LOOKS BACK IN TIME AT ANCIENT EARTH

Hundreds of millions of years before the first humans

were born, and even millions of years before the dinosaurs
reigned, the Earth was dominated by one giant landmass that
formed when all of the present-day continents crashed
together. Now, scientists using spaceborne radar to look
beneath the sands of Africa's Sahara Desert have discovered
where these ancient continents collided more than 650
million years ago.

"The formation of this 'supercontinent' resulted in a

massive ice age that covered the land with glaciers and set
the stage for the evolution of the first complex animals.
Finding the location of this collision zone is fundamental
to understanding how this ancient supercontinent was
formed," said Dr. Robert Stern, a member of the radar team
from the University of Texas at Dallas. "This discovery
also helps unravel the mystery of what controls the course
of the Nile, a question that has perplexed geologists for
more than a century."

"These data reveal geologic structures buried beneath

the thin skin of desert sands in a manner that is
reminiscent of an x-ray's ability to study the inside of a
human body," Stern said. "If you're standing on the surface
there is little to be seen. The geologic structures we are
seeing are obscured by a few inches to a few feet of sand."

The recent discovery beneath the sands of the Sahara

has helped scientists look back in time to the era of so-
called supercontinents, including an exotic landscape
scientists call Greater Gondwana. This landmass formed when
fragments of east Gondwana (present-day Australia,
Antarctica and India) crashed into west Gondwana (present-
day Africa and the continents of North and South America).

"The collision zone between east and west Gondwana is

buried beneath the sands of the Sahara Desert and cannot be
detected using conventional field work or other types of
remote sensing imagery," Stern said. "We knew from the
results of the first Shuttle imaging radar experiment in
1981 that spaceborne radar could reveal amazing things
beneath the Sahara. A team from the U.S. Geological Survey
had discovered ancient rivers buried elsewhere in the
Sahara. We thought that we could use the capability of the
SIR-C/X-SAR system to penetrate ultra-dry sand and reveal
the faults and folds of this collision zone, in a region of
northern Sudan called the Keraf Suture. Now that we know
where it is, we can move on to studying how and when the
collision occurred."

BENEATH THE SANDS, CLUES ON THE COURSE OF THE NILE

The radar data also have revealed the faults and

fractures in the rocks that control the course of the Nile
River in the northern Sudan.

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 "In this region, the Nile makes a big lazy 'S', first
north, then southwest, then north again," Stern said. "We
can see on the radar images the structures that control the
northward stretches of the Nile. We're trying to use the
radar images to explain why the Nile turns southwest instead
of continuing north to the Mediterranean. Understanding
what controls the course of the Nile is a critical part of
understanding the history of the river that is essential to
millions of people in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia."

In addition to helping answer questions related to the

collision zone and the course of the Nile, Stern said the
SIR-C/X-SAR radar data would be invaluable to developing
nations in the area and private companies in their searches
for oil, gold and water beneath the Sahara Desert.

RADAR DATA REVEAL POTENTIAL FOR FUTURE FLOODING

Scientists investigating the damage caused in the

midwestern United States by the so-called "Great Flood of
1993" have developed a new technique -- using these
spaceborne and imaging radar systems -- to understand the
potential for future flooding and how that might impact
neighboring communities.

A team of scientists used data from the spaceborne

radar, along with data from two airborne radar systems, to
map the Lisbon Bottoms and Jameson Island flood plains of
the Missouri River in central Missouri. The flood plain was
ravaged by the severe floods of 1993 and, more recently, by
floods occurring this year.

The team, led by Dr. Raymond E. Arvidson, chair of

Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University in St.
Louis, analyzed SIR-C/X-SAR data and airborne radar data
obtained during two flights of a NASA DC-8 aircraft in the
summers of 1994 and 1995.

From this database, the team estimated that the 1993

flood added at least 5 million metric tons of sand to the
flood plains study area and eroded about 3 million metric
tons of soil.

"These all-weather radar systems are very sensitive to

the presence of vegetation and can also be used to acquire
very detailed topographical data -- the shape of the flood
plain, the presence or absence of levees, the presence or
absence of vegetation," Arvidson said. "These parameters
are very important for damage inventory. Radar is a natural
for flood-monitoring and damage assessment. It is a new way
to assess flood damage because monitoring can be done during
the flood and damage assessment can be done using post-flood
data."

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The radar systems are capable of distinguishing between

soil moisture and standing bodies of water. Unlike other
remote sensing systems, the radar can penetrate a forest
canopy and bounce off the water, sending data back to the
aircraft or spacecraft. A study of the flooded area over
time allowed Arvidson and his group to look at the natural
recovery of vegetation as the flood plain returned to
normal.

Arvidson and his team hope the information gained from

their study will provide new ways for environmentalists to
manage wetlands in flood-prone areas, such as the Missouri
River flood plain they are currently analyzing.

"The long-term objective is to use this area as a

demonstration site for using radar to map wetlands
characteristics," Arvidson said. "We're trying to use the
information to predict the extent to which these wetlands
alleviate flooding downstream, where there are thousands of
acres of rich farm land. The management of wetlands
requires periodic detailed mapping, and radar systems such
as these provide the needed coverage and quantitative
information."

SIR-C/X-SAR is a joint mission of the United States,

German and Italian space agencies. NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, built and manages the SIR-C
portion of the mission and also manages the airborne radar
missions for NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth,
Washington, DC.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: The radar images are available from JPL's

public access computer site, via Internet by World Wide Web
at the address http://www.jpl.nasa.gov, by anonymous file
transfer protocol (ftp) at the address jplinfo.jpl.nasa.gov,
or by dialup modem to the telephone number (818) 354-1333.

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