Full spectrum of terrorism's chaos

By ELEANOR BLACK

A rainbow burst of colour reveals for the first time the full devastation of the terrorist attacks on the most potent symbol of American financial might.

This computerised image of New York's World Trade Center, produced a week after the attacks, shows the elevation of the rubble using a colour spectrum ranging from mustard to teal.

It allows a comparison between the deep craters created by the towers' collapse, represented by the dark yellow and red gashes at the centre of the picture, and the existing buildings at the edge of the image, shown in shades of green.

The three-dimensional picture was produced using Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) technology, a new form of laser. A Lidar transmitter sends out pulses of electromagnetic radiation at wavelengths 10,000 to 100,000 times shorter than conventional radar, producing an image with a much sharper focus.

It can detect tiny particles of matter, such as droplets of water and dust motes, and is used to study air pollution and cloud formations.

Scientists also used Lidar to produce an image of Ground Zero, which highlighted hotspots at the centre of the rubble mass in cerise. A week after the fires were extinguished, the hot spots were stubborn red highlights on a landscape of ochre and gold.

Much of the rubble seen here has since been moved, to be further sifted by investigators trying to identify the nearly 5600 people thought to have been killed by the collapse of the towers.

Some of the collected chunks of concrete, twisted steel bars and shards of glass are being preserved for use in memorials to the victims, and others will be given to victims' families as mementoes.

Meanwhile, World Trade Center insurer Chubb Corp is expecting $600 million in claims from the banks, investment analysts, attorneys, publishers and engineers that had headquarters in the complex.

Full coverage: Terror in America

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The fatal flights

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