NASA launches tool that measures Western water loss

By BRITTANY PETERSON and SUMAN NAISHADHAM
The Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — NASA launched an online platform Thursday with data on how much water evaporates into the atmosphere from plants, soils and other surfaces in the U.S. West. It says that information could help water managers, farmers and state officials better manage resources in the parched region. The platform uses satellite imagery from the Landsat program, a decades-long project of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey that records human and natural impacts on Earth’s surface.