Drone radar reveals buried glaciers on Earth, guiding the search for water on Mars
Understanding how to explore hidden glaciers on Mars begins not in a laboratory, but in remote field camps across Alaska and Wyoming.
Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a near-surface geophysical method that transmits high-frequency electromagnetic pulses (typically 10 MHz–2.5 GHz) into the subsurface and records the reflected signals from interfaces with contrasting dielectric permittivity and electrical conductivity. The data are acquired with a transmitting and receiving antenna, usually in common-offset or multi-offset configurations, and processed using time-zero correction, dewow filtering, gain functions, migration, and time-to-depth conversion based on estimated wave velocity. GPR is used to image stratigraphy, voids, utilities, and other subsurface structures with decimeter to centimeter resolution, with performance strongly controlled by soil moisture, clay content, and signal attenuation.
Understanding how to explore hidden glaciers on Mars begins not in a laboratory, but in remote field camps across Alaska and Wyoming.
Planetary Sciences
Apr 29, 2026
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Using self-developed drones and advanced sensors, researchers can now see both under the snow and into the ground. The scientists' goal is to reduce societal risk and environmental encroachment.
Earth Sciences
Apr 16, 2026
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The lunar south pole looks chaotic from orbit. Craters heaped upon craters, ancient basins, scarps and slopes tumbling in every direction, it is without doubt, one of the most geologically complicated terrains in the inner ...
Planetary Sciences
Apr 15, 2026
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When Jasper Baur was a freshman at New York's Binghamton University, his interests centered on earth sciences. Then he got involved in a seemingly unrelated pursuit: harnessing drone-mounted geophysical instruments to aid ...
Environment
Apr 10, 2026
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Climate change is one of the most pressing global challenges in the present times. Increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere are a major factor contributing to this phenomenon. Activities such as the ...
Environment
Mar 17, 2026
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In the forests of the southeastern United States, dense tree cover dominates most landscapes. That's why the Appalachian Trail is sometimes nicknamed "The Green Tunnel." But avid hikers know that often in the Southeast, they'll ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 2, 2026
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524
The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy—ideal to spark extreme wildfires—has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows.
Environment
Feb 22, 2026
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Volcanic activity is not unique to Earth: traces of volcanic activity, such as lava tubes, have been found on Mars and the moon. Now, the University of Trento has demonstrated the existence of an empty lava tube even in the ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 9, 2026
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As it soared past Mars in March, NASA's Europa Clipper conducted a critical radar test that had been impossible to accomplish on Earth. Now that mission scientists have studied the full stream of data, they can declare success: ...
Space Exploration
Aug 4, 2025
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The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), launched by NASA in 2005, is orbiting Mars tasked with studying its atmosphere, surface, and subsurface in unprecedented detail. Equipped with a suite of advanced instruments—including ...
Planetary Sciences
May 30, 2025
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