NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA technology is helping state and federal governments reclaim 15,100 acres of salt evaporation ponds in South San Francisco Bay, during one of the nation's largest restoration projects.

A small group of NASA scientists and technicians is studying salt evaporation ponds by using sensors on satellites and airplanes in addition to surface sampling, to learn how restoring the ponds to nearly their natural state may affect local ecology. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game recently bought many salt ponds from the Cargill Salt Company for $100 million. Scientists think the project will continue for more than 20 years.

Some NASA scientific instruments scientists are using in the south San Francisco Bay salt pond recovery effort include the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on the Terra satellite; the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on the Terra and Aqua satellites; and the thematic mapper on the Landsat 5 satellite. More information about the salt ponds project is on the World Wide Web at: http://geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/wetlands

Images credited to NASA photographer, Mr. Tom Trower

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