NASA’s CASALS Instrument Bridges Gaps in 3D Maps of Earth’s Surface – NASA Science0

• 3D Resources, Earth Surface & Interior, SCIENCE, Science / Health, Science Instruments, Science Mission Directorate, scientists, Space, Space Communications & Navigation Program, Space Launch System (SLS), Space Telescope, space-x-ipo, SpaceX, Technology Highlights
• October 21, 2026

From orbit, today’s space-based laser instruments measure Earth’s forests and terrain one narrow line at a time. Between those lines are enormous gaps that include millions of acres of land scientists never directly measure. NASA’s CASALS instrument will blend machine learning with an ultra-compact lidar instrument to adaptively ‘sweep’ large swaths of Earth’s surface. This