NASA scientists have established a new way to use satellites
to measure what's occurring inside plants at a cellular level.
Plants grow and thrive through photosynthesis, a process
that converts sunlight into energy. During photosynthesis, plants emit what is
called fluorescence – light invisible to the naked eye but detectable by
satellites orbiting hundreds of miles above Earth. NASA scientists have now
established a method to turn this satellite data into global maps of the subtle
phenomenon in more detail than ever before.