The mountain is in the South China Sea, a leading focus of the US Navy. We learn something about the state of underwater mapping from the fact that even in the South China Sea a mountain wasn't mapped.
Why can't satellites map the topology using something like RADAR (though likely using other frequencies), which I believe is done on land? Is there no technology that will penetrate water sufficiently? Is it a physical limit of electromagnetic energy and water?
I assume it hasn't been done by satellite because otherwise we wouldn't have unmapped mountains, and because the same technology could help find submarines, taking away their stealth and eliminating a nuclear deterrent.
Why can't satellites map the topology using something like RADAR (though likely using other frequencies), which I believe is done on land? Is there no technology that will penetrate water sufficiently? Is it a physical limit of electromagnetic energy and water?
I assume it hasn't been done by satellite because otherwise we wouldn't have unmapped mountains, and because the same technology could help find submarines, taking away their stealth and eliminating a nuclear deterrent.