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Collection:
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NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Collection
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Collection
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Title:
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Colored Height and Shaded Relief, Central America
Title
Colored Height and Shaded Relief, Central America
Title
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Original Caption Released with Image:
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Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, southern Mexico and parts of Cuba and Jamaica are all seen in this image from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. The dominant feature of the northern part of Central America is the Sierra Madre Range, spreading east from Mexico between the narrow Pacific coastal plain and the limestone lowland of the Yucatan Peninsula. Parallel hill ranges sweep across Honduras and extend south, past the Caribbean Mosquito Coast to lakes Managua and Nicaragua. The Cordillera Central rises to the south, gradually descending to Lake Gatun and the Isthmus of Panama. A highly active volcanic belt runs along the Pacific seaboard from Mexico to Costa Rica.
High-quality satellite imagery of Central America has, until now, been difficult to obtain due to persistent cloud cover in this region of the world. The ability of SRTM to penetrate clouds and make three-dimensional measurements has allowed the generation of the first complete high-resolution topographic map of the entire region. This map was used to generate the image.
Two visualization methods were combined to produce the image: shading and color coding of topographic height. The shade image was derived by computing topographic slope in the north-south direction. Color coding is directly related to topographic height, with green at the lower elevations, rising through yellow, red, and magenta, to white at the highest elevations.
For an annotated version of this image, please select Figure 1, below:
(Large image: ~9 mB jpeg)
Elevation data used in this image were acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on February 11, 2000. The mission used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission was designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter (200-foot)-long 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 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: 1720 by 1670 kilometers (1068 by 1036 miles)
Location: 14.5 degrees North latitude, 85.0 degrees West longitude
Orientation: North toward the top
Image Data: Shaded and colored SRTM elevation model
Date Acquired: February 2000
Original_Caption_Rel eased_with_Image
Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, southern Mexico and parts of Cuba and Jamaica are all seen in this image from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. The dominant feature of the northern part of Central America is the Sierra Madre Range, spreading east from Mexico between the narrow Pacific coastal plain and the limestone lowland of the Yucatan Peninsula. Parallel hill ranges sweep across Honduras and extend south, past the Caribbean Mosquito Coast to lakes Managua and Nicaragua. The Cordillera Central rises to the south, gradually descending to Lake Gatun and the Isthmus of Panama. A highly active volcanic belt runs along the Pacific seaboard from Mexico to Costa Rica.
High-quality satellite imagery of Central America has, until now, been difficult to obtain due to persistent cloud cover in this region of the world. The ability of SRTM to penetrate clouds and make three-dimensional measurements has allowed the generation of the first complete high-resolution topographic map of the entire region. This map was used to generate the image.
Two visualization methods were combined to produce the image: shading and color coding of topographic height. The shade image was derived by computing topographic slope in the north-south direction. Color coding is directly related to topographic height, with green at the lower elevations, rising through yellow, red, and magenta, to white at the highest elevations.
For an annotated version of this image, please select Figure 1, below:
(Large image: ~9 mB jpeg)
Elevation data used in this image were acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on February 11, 2000. The mission used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission was designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter (200-foot)-long 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 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: 1720 by 1670 kilometers (1068 by 1036 miles)
Location: 14.5 degrees North latitude, 85.0 degrees West longitude
Orientation: North toward the top
Image Data: Shaded and colored SRTM elevation model
Date Acquired: February 2000
Original Caption Released with Image
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Image Credit:
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NASA/JPL/NIMA
Image_Credit
NASA/JPL/NIMA
Image Credit
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Produced By:
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JPL
Produced_By
JPL
Produced By
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Mission:
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Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)
Mission
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)
Mission
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Spacecraft:
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Space Shuttle Endeavour
Spacecraft
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Spacecraft
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Target Name:
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Earth
Target_Name
Earth
Target Name
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Is a satellite of:
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Sol (our sun)
Is_a_satellite_of
Sol (our sun)
Is a satellite of
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Instrument:
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C-Band Interferometric Radar
Instrument
C-Band Interferometric Radar
Instrument
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Product Size:
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9600 samples x 9000 lines
Product_Size
9600 samples x 9000 lines
Product Size
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facet_what:
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Sun
facet_what
Sun
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Earth
facet_what
Earth
facet_what
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facet_what:
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C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
facet_what
C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Spaceborne Imaging Radar
facet_what
Spaceborne Imaging Radar
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
facet_what
Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Space Shuttle Endeavour
facet_what
Space Shuttle Endeavour
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Shuttle Radar Topography Mission
facet_what
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission
facet_what
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facet_what:
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SRTM
facet_what
SRTM
facet_what
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facet_what:
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C-Band Interferometric Radar
facet_what
C-Band Interferometric Radar
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Space Shuttle Orbiter
facet_what
Space Shuttle Orbiter
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Washington
facet_where
Washington
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Cuba
facet_where
Cuba
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jamaica
facet_where
Jamaica
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Belize
facet_where
Belize
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Costa Rica
facet_where
Costa Rica
facet_where
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facet_where:
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El Salvador
facet_where
El Salvador
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Guatemala
facet_where
Guatemala
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Honduras
facet_where
Honduras
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Managua
facet_where
Managua
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Nicaragua
facet_where
Nicaragua
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Panama
facet_where
Panama
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Salvador
facet_where
Salvador
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Washington, D.C.
facet_where
Washington, D.C.
facet_where
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facet_when:
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1994
facet_when
1994
facet_when
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|
facet_when:
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1670
facet_when
1670
facet_when
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facet_when:
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1036
facet_when
1036
facet_when
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facet_when:
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February 2000
facet_when
February 2000
facet_when
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facet_when:
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February 11, 2000
facet_when
February 11, 2000
facet_when
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|
facet_when_year:
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1994
facet_when_year
1994
facet_when_year
|
|
facet_when_year:
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2000
facet_when_year
2000
facet_when_year
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facet_when_year:
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1670
facet_when_year
1670
facet_when_year
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facet_when_year:
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1036
facet_when_year
1036
facet_when_year
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Image #:
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PIA03364
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UID:
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SPD-PHOTJ-PIA03364
UID
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA03364
UID
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orignial url:
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orignial_url
orignial url
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