As part of the search for the legendary and elusive Ivory-billed woodpecker, a NASA research plane is flying over the bird's possible hiding place of the Mississippi Delta and collecting data of the ground below. The "grail bird" has been thought to be extinct for the last sixty years but was reportedly spotted two years ago in Arkansas by a kayaker and possibly caught on a few seconds of grainy video captured last year. (Previous BB posts about the Ivory-bill here and here.) As the quest continues to confirm the existence of the bird, scientists from NASA and the University Maryland are using an airborne instrument to take precise measurements of the forest canopy. From Reuters (watercolor by John James Audubon, 1826):
(The device) sends pulses of energy to Earth's surface, where light particles from the lasers bounce off leaves, branches and the ground and reflect back to the instrument.These signals give scientists a direct measurement of the height of the forest's leaf-covered treetops, the ground level below and everything in between, NASA said in a statement….
Knowing the thickness of ground vegetation, the density of tree leaves and other factors including closeness to water and age of the forest might help in the search, he said.
Link (Thanks, Ken Goldberg!)
UPDATE: My pal Thau writes, "Given the historic NASA/Woodpecker hostilities, I question the motivations behind NASA's Woodpecker Watch. :) " Link
