Looks like a new tool for ridgewalking:
Practicing on Earth
Called the Earth-Mars Cave Detection Program, the project is preparing to
enter phase 2, during which scientists will test their approach in "Mars
analogue" sites, terrestrial environments with similarities to Martian
landscapes. These sites will include dry, blistering deserts, such as the
Mojave in California and the Atacama in Chile, as well as frigid
environments like Iceland and Antarctica.
During the first phase of the project, the researchers acquired the thermal
signatures of a dozen caves in Arizona and New Mexico using an experimental
infrared detector, called the Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector (QWIP),
flown aboard an airplane.
Cave detection using QWIP works by spotting regions in the landscape where
temperatures are different from the surroundings. Inside a cave,
temperatures are nearly constant due to lack of sunlight. Outside,
temperatures fluctuate with the rising and setting of the Sun. At a cave
entrance, these two temperature regimes mix together to create a unique
thermal signature that, depending on the time of day, can be either warmer
or cooler than the surrounding environment.
"The caves show up as hotspots in a sea of cold, or as cold spots in a sea
of warmth," said study team member Murzy Jhabvala, chief engineer of NASA's
Instrument Systems and Technology Center.
The data, still being analyzed, look promising. In one series of images, the
researchers snapped thermal images of Xenolith Cave in New Mexico over a
24-hour period. The cave opening can be seen clearly in some of the images.
"It jumps out at you," said Jut Wynne, a biospeleologist (cave biologist)
with the U.S. Geological Survey and Northern Arizona University. "It
lights up like a Christmas tree in the predawn and in the late-night shots.
It's a bit more ephemeral during the day shots."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070402/sc_space/possiblenewmarscavestargetsinsearchforlife
Happy cave spotting.... Bro Bob
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