Hidden geography.

Using advanced sensors, a sophisticated aircraft operated by U.S. space agency NASA, spent six weeks earlier this year measuring the physical and chemical properties of Costa Rica's soil, water and air. The initiative, called CARTA 2005, was a first for Latin America. "When the images are processed, Costa Rican researchers will have in their hands more complete information than perhaps any other Latin American country about its own territory," says Dr. Jorge Andres Diaz, CARTA's scientific designer.

NASA selected Costa Rica for its political stability and its capacity to develop its own advanced technologies. Costa Rica also agreed to invest US$600,000 to build a hangar at the San Jose airport to house the aircraft. "NASA considered carrying out these studies in Brazil but finally decided on Costa Rica," says Dominic del Rosso, a crewmember on the aircraft.

The sensors on board the WB57-F airplane, some of which were developed in part by scientists from Costa Rica's National High Technology Center (CENAT), included high-definition infrared cameras, subterranean sensors, a radar laser used to detect the thickness of the rainforest and spectrometers to analyze the air.

Costa Rican scientists are still digesting the flood of information, which will help govern policy related to geology, the environment, urban planning, disaster prevention and archeology. "The images will be used to implement new urban planning policies and a new territory registry, and we're already seeing benefits in agricultural and soil studies," says Dr. Pedro Leon, the director of CENAT.