Blog #4 Second Trip to NASA

In the presentations by Paul Rosen and Tom Farr, I learned an incredible amount about water in California and its relationship to the drought. Mr. Rosen introduced the function of the upcoming satellite NISAR, which has a purpose of recording information about the earth’s land and ice surfaces. The satellite will send magnetic waves to the earth's surface to record its topographical features. The images will be taken on a regular cycle so that change in the earth’s surface can be closely recorded. It will measure things such as glacier melting or ground level changes, either from natural disasters, like earthquakes or sinking from water extraction.

What I learned about water from the NISAR presentation was that the Central Valley of California is sinking. NISAR, among other things will measure these areas of land in California that have subsided. The satellite also has the capability to record internal changes in the earth's surface. Mr. Rosen showed us some visual representations of the data from current satellites on this area. Seeing these visualizations got me questioning the ways in which data can be represented and how this could be an interesting question to begin a project with. Think of a way to represent data that has no existing visualizations.   

Although Tom Farr spoke directly about the Central Valley and water issues, I felt Paul Rosen gave us a nice introduction into the topic, and the explanation of NISAR helped me visualize how they would measure these surface changes. It also gave me an idea of how important NISAR will be in studying the earth on a greater scale to measure things that could help determine the effects of global warming.

I found Tom Farr’s presentation remarkable because I had often wondered how farmers in California procured water during the drought, as well as what kind of lasting effects the drought would have on California. I learned that the land in The Central Valley is subsiding at an alarming rate. In some areas it has sunk as much as two feet in one year. I think I often dissociate earthly changes from normal comprehension because the earth is so large, and it is difficult to grasp. I was particularly struck by the images he presented of land that has already subsided. For example, the post that was painted orange at the top where the ground level used to be and seeing the ground as it is today, two or three feet below where it used to be at the orange line.

Another thing that was new to me was ground pumping. I didn’t realize the scale at which farmers were pumping water from the ground nor the impact it has on the environment.The extreme amount of pumping is causing the levels in the ground to condense together and become more compact, lowering the ground level. Not only will this affect the ground ability to replenish its sources, but it is concerning that in a place with such little rainfall, the only natural means of water preservation and storage are being overused and damaged.  

This presentation made it clear on how water gets from one place to another in a big place like California. Understanding resource allocation and the impacts that humans are having on these things at this scale is really eye-opening. This topic is not in normal everyday environmental or even social concerns. I think the environment needs advocates and art is a good way to achieve this.