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Satellite snap puts Monash into history books

4 June 2008

Science Centre staff and students hop into the history books with their giant kangaroo snapped by a NASA satellite as part of a global warming experiment.

Monash University 's Science Centre has constructed a giant cardboard kangaroo that was captured in a photo by two NASA satellites as part of an experiment on global warming.

The satellites took images of the kangaroo at 10am and 10.27am on Tuesday 20 May as they passed above the Clayton campus.

The centre was one of only two locations in Australia to be selected for the worldwide study.

The kangaroo, larger in size than a netball court, was laid out in parkland adjacent to the Science Centre and Sustainability Institute.

The experiment aimed to highlight the effect of the 'albedo' on Earth's climate. The albedo effect is light reflected off the earth's surface. The more white or light areas there are on earth, the more light is reflected.

Darker areas reflect less light creating a heating of the surface -- or global warming. A reduction in white surfaces on earth, such as polar ice caps or cloud cover represents the extent to which global warming is having an effect.

NASA satellites captured the white image of the kangaroo to measure the reflectivity of these mock ice caps.

Science Centre Director Professor Pat Rich said the experiment was a fantastic opportunity to promote an awareness of the factors driving climate change.

"Students participated in an exciting and fascinating global experiment to highlight an issue that is very important -- global warming," Professor Rich said.

The event was made possible by a partnership between NASA and IGLO -- International Action on Global Warming.

More information can be found at the International Action on Global Warming website.