Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
New NASA Imagery Sheds Additional Perspectives on Tsunami
Original Caption Released with Image:
The island of Phuket on the Indian Ocean coast of Thailand is a major tourist destination and was also in the path of the tsunami that washed ashore on December 26, 2004, resulting in a heavy loss of life. These simulated natural color ASTER images show a 27 kilometer (17-mile) long stretch of coast north of the Phuket airport on December 31 (right), along with an image acquired two years earlier (left). The changes along the coast are obvious where the vegetation has been stripped away.

These images are being used to create damage assessment maps for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.

With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet.

ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products.

The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.

The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

Size: 9.8 by 27.6 kilometers (6.1 by 17.1 miles)
Location: 8.6 degrees North latitude, 98.2 degrees East longitude
Orientation: North at top
Image Data: ASTER bands 3,2, and 1
Original Data Resolution: 15 meters (49.2 feet)
Dates Acquired: November 15, 2002, and December 31, 2004
Image Credit:
NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDA C/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
Produced By:
JPL
Mission:
Earth Observing System (EOS)
Spacecraft:
Terra
Target Name:
Earth
Is a satellite of:
Sol (our sun)
Instrument:
ASTER
Product Size:
1320 samples x 1840 lines
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Terra
facet_what:
Earth Observing System
facet_what:
EOS
facet_what:
ASTER
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where:
Japan
facet_where:
Thailand
facet_where:
Indian Ocean
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_when:
December 18, 1999
facet_when:
December 26, 2004
facet_when:
November 15, 2002
facet_when:
December 31, 2004
facet_when_year:
1999
facet_when_year:
2002
facet_when_year:
2004
Image #:
PIA07227
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA07227
orignial url:

New NASA Imagery Sheds Additional Perspectives on Tsunami