WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:00.990 --> 00:00:00.980 2 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:05.240 NEW INSTRUMENT WILL MAP CARBON WORLDWIDE IN 3-D 3 00:00:05.260 --> 00:00:07.240 4 00:00:07.260 --> 00:00:11.780 In order to manage forests and mitigate climate change 5 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:12.250 6 00:00:12.270 --> 00:00:20.690 scientists need to understand where our carbon is being taken up and where it is already stored. 7 00:00:20.710 --> 00:00:21.050 8 00:00:21.070 --> 00:00:27.340 So we are building a laser to measure trees from space. 9 00:00:27.360 --> 00:00:29.340 10 00:00:29.360 --> 00:00:35.970 The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) instrument will spend two years on the ISS 11 00:00:35.990 --> 00:00:36.290 12 00:00:36.310 --> 00:00:44.830 using eight laser beams to measure every leaf, branch, tree trunk, and shrub in the ground path down on the surface. 13 00:00:44.850 --> 00:00:45.370 14 00:00:45.390 --> 00:00:49.090 Photons in the laser pulse ricochet back to GEDI 15 00:00:49.110 --> 00:00:54.370 providing an intricate 3-D map of forest canopies 16 00:00:54.390 --> 00:00:55.090 17 00:00:55.110 --> 00:01:03.230 Built by NASA and the University of Maryland, GEDI’s laser can peer inside even the densest tropical forests 18 00:01:03.250 --> 00:01:03.930 19 00:01:03.950 --> 00:01:08.930 letting scientists know how much carbon is stored in forests around the world. 20 00:01:08.950 --> 00:01:10.930 21 00:01:10.950 --> 00:01:18.292 [ beeping ]