At present no ground or satellite based global network infrastructure exists for monitoring soil moisture on a local level. The Soil Moisture Active Passive SMAP satellite mission to be launched in October 2014 as part of NASA’s fall launch schedule will collect local data agriculture and water managers needed globally.
Like scars that remain on the skin long after a wound has healed, earthquake fault lines can be traced on Earth's surface long after their initial rupture. Typically, this line of intersection between the area where the fault slips and the ground is more complicated at the surface than at depth. But a new study of the April 4, 2010, El Mayor–Cucapah earthquake in Mexico reveals a reversal of this trend. While the fault involved in the event appeared to be superficially straight, the fault zone is warped and complicated at depth.