Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Perspective View, Mt. Etna, Italy
Original Caption Released with Image:
Italy's Mount Etna is the focus of this perspective view made from an Advanced Spaceborne Thermal and Emission Radiometer (ASTER) image from NASA's Terra spacecraft overlaid on Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) topography. The image is looking south with dark lava flows from the 1600's (center) to 1981 (long flow at lower right) visible in the foreground and the summit of Etna above. The city of Catania is barely visible behind Etna on the bay at the upper left. In late October 2002, Etna erupted again, sending lava flows down the north and south sides of the volcano. The north flows are near the center of this view, but the ASTER image is from before the eruption.

In addition to the terrestrial applications of these data for understanding active volcanoes and hazards associated with them such as lava flows and explosive eruptions, geologists studying Mars find these data useful as an analog to martian landforms and geologic processes. In late September 2002, a field conference with the theme of Terrestrial Analogs to Mars focused on Mount Etna, allowing Mars geologists to see in person the types of features they can only sample remotely.

Elevation data used in this image was acquired by SRTM aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on Feb. 11, 2000. SRTM used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect 3-D measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter (approximately 200-foot) mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between NASA, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) of the U.S. Department of Defense and the German and Italian space agencies. It is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, D.C.

Size: Varies across scene
Location: 38 degrees North latitude, 15.5 degrees East longitude
Orientation: Looking south
Image Data: ASTER bands 2, 3, 1 as red, green, blue, respectively.
Original Data Resolution: SRTM 1 arc-second (30 meters or 98 feet)
Date Acquired: February 2000 (SRTM), July 29, 2001 (ASTER)
Produced By:
JPL
Mission:
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)
Mission:
Earth Observing System (EOS)
Spacecraft:
Space Shuttle
Spacecraft:
Terra
Target Name:
Earth
Is a satellite of:
Sol (our sun)
Instrument:
C-Band Interferometric Radar
Instrument:
ASTER
Product Size:
1152 samples x 870 lines
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Mars
facet_what:
Terra
facet_what:
Earth Observing System
facet_what:
EOS
facet_what:
C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
facet_what:
Spaceborne Imaging Radar
facet_what:
Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
facet_what:
Space Shuttle Endeavour
facet_what:
ASTER
facet_what:
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission
facet_what:
SRTM
facet_what:
C-Band Interferometric Radar
facet_what:
Space Shuttle Orbiter
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where:
Mars
facet_where:
Washington
facet_where:
Italy
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where:
Washington, D.C.
facet_when:
1994
facet_when:
October 2002
facet_when:
February 2000
facet_when:
September 2002
facet_when:
July 29, 2001
facet_when_year:
1994
facet_when_year:
2002
facet_when_year:
2001
facet_when_year:
2000
Image #:
PIA03371
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA03371
orignial url:

Perspective View, Mt. Etna, Italy