(FOX 5/KUSI) — A sensor on the International Space Station that helps map minerals was able to help track water contaminants off the San Diego coast.
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, researchers involved in a study of the instrument’s capabilities found that it could potentially help track some water contaminants faster than traditional means.
The instrument is called the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) and it observes sunlight reflecting off the Earth.
Recently, EMIT was used to examine the wastewater from the Tijuana River as it emptied into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Imperial Beach. The wastewater has been emptying into the ocean for decades and has harmed ocean and river ecosystems, humans and wildlife.
Researchers examined EMIT’s images pixel by pixel and were able to identify signs that indicated certain molecules present in specific areas of the image.
When they cross-referenced their findings with water testing done on those same areas of the Pacific Ocean, the findings lined up, helping detect phycocyanin, a pigment in cyanobacteria, which can make humans and animals sick.
“From orbit, you are able to look down and see that a wastewater plume is extending into places you haven’t sampled,” JPL scientist Christine Lee said in a news release. “It’s like a diagnostic at the doctor’s office that tells you, ‘Hey, let’s take a closer look at this.’”
Eva Scrivner, the lead author of the study, said that EMIT could help fill data gaps about polluted sites where traditional water testing could take too much time or money.
EMIT was launched in July 2022 and was dedicated to mapping minerals and dust across Earth’s deserts, but now researchers have found that it can provide insights about water too.
“The fact that EMIT’s findings over the coast are consistent with measurements in the field is compelling to water scientists…It’s really exciting,” Scrivner said.
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