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Fires in California
Forest fires in Northern Cal
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8/12/08
| Description |
Forest fires in Northern California were slowly being contained in the first weeks of August 2008. Many of the fires started in the first week of summer when a rash of lightning strikes ignited hundreds of fires in the state. The image above was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite on August 10. Places where the sensor detected actively burning fire are outlined in red. According to the National Interagency Fire Center's report for August 11, the Iron and Alps Complexes had a combined acreage of 95,171 acres. Other large fires included the Siskiyou Complex (61,404 acres), the Panther Fire (21,802 acres), and the Ukonom Complex (49,929 acres). > Unlabeled larger image Image credit: NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
8/12/08 |
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Fires in Oregon and Northern
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A handful of large fires wer
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9/17/08
| Description |
A handful of large fires were burning in Oregon and Northern California as fall approached in 2008. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite shows the two states on September 15. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fires are marked with red dots. According to the National Interagency Fire Center report on September 16, the Rattle Fire was an estimated 5,733 acres and 25 percent contained, and the Lonesome Complex was 5,886 acres and 15 percent contained. Structures were threatened in both locations, and some evacuations were in effect. The Klamath Complex was an estimated 182,693 acres and 75 percent contained. Some of the fires in the Klamath Complex had been burning since the first weekend of summer. Image credit:Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of NASA's MODIS Rapid Response team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
9/17/08 |
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Fires in Queensland
Scorching temperatures and d
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11/6/08
| Description |
Scorching temperatures and dry conditions kept fire danger high across Queensland in early November 2008. This image of the central part of the state was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA's Aqua satellite on November 6, 2008, and it shows places where the sensor detected active fires outlined in red. Beneath a scattering of small clouds, the landscape varies between shades of tan (grassland) and deep green (forest and woodlands). The more tree-covered areas are generally mountainous areas, and many of them were experiencing fires. Image credit: NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
11/6/08 |
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Fires in California
Smoke from the recent outbre
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11/19/08
| Description |
Smoke from the recent outbreak of fires in Southern California can clearly be seen from NASA satellites. The top, photo-like, true-color image, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite on November 16, 2008, shows the smoke drifting to the southwest from the Los Angeles basin over the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The lower image shows measurements of aerosols -- tiny particles within smoke -- as observed by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard NASA's Aura satellite, overlaid on top of the MODIS image. In the lower image, aerosol concentrations are represented by an aerosol index, with the highest concentrations in pink, and the lowest in dark blue. The aerosol index is calculated based on the way the tiny particles absorb and scatter light. Specifically, the index is a measurement of the difference between the amount of ultraviolet light the smoke-filled atmosphere scatters back to the satellite compared to the amount of ultraviolet light that the atmosphere would scatter back if it were totally clear. The difference between these two measurements can effectively detect smoke that would otherwise be invisible in photo-like imagery. In the MODIS image, the smoke disappears when it moves over the bright surface of the low-level marine stratocumulus clouds. The OMI aerosol index measurement reveals, however, that smoke is present over the clouds. Such ultraviolet measurements from instruments like OMI are useful to scientists working to understand how aerosols affect clouds. Image credit: Colin Seftor, Aura OMI Science team Text credit: Colin Seftor and Holli Riebeek, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
11/19/08 |
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Fires in Queensland
Multiple bushfires burned ac
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11/19/08
| Description |
Multiple bushfires burned across Queensland's Cape York Peninsula on November 14, 2008, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured this image. Made from a combination of visible and infrared light, the image highlights the location of hotspots (outlined in red) and burned areas (reddish brown). Vegetation is bright green, and bare or sparsely vegetated ground is pinkish-tan. In this kind of satellite image, the intense pink glow within the fire outlines is often a sign of open flames. Image credit: NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
11/19/08 |
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Fires in Southeast Australia
A crippling heat wave and st
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2/6/09
| Description |
A crippling heat wave and strong winds in southeastern Australia contributed to an outbreak of forest and grassland fires in Victoria in late January 2009. By January 30, about 5,500 hectares had burned and at least 10 homes had been destroyed, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The homes were located in a small community near the town of Boolara. Nearly surrounded by wildfire, the town had also run out of water and lost power, said ABC News. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite was captured on January 30. A large plume of smoke spreads southward from a fire (outlined in red) that appears to be burning in a small area of forest west of Churchill (a larger town near Boolara) in Victoria's Gippsland region. The forest is dark green in contrast to the surrounding grass or cropland. The fire, says ABC News, started as two blazes in plantation forests in the Strzelecki Ranges. The large version of the scene shows a wider area that includes several other fires. Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
2/6/09 |
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Bushfires in Southeast Austr
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Bushfires in southeastern Au
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2/9/09
| Description |
Bushfires in southeastern Australia turned deadly over the first weekend of February 2009. Out-of-control fires raced into small communities and towns in Victoria, and more than 100 people had died as of February 9, according to news reports. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC News) reported that many of those who died had remained to protect their homes. Among the most devastated communities were those in the Kinglake area and Marysville. As of February 9, firefighters were expressing concern about the increased activity of the fire around the town of Dederang, southwest of Lake Hume. This image shows the Barry Mountains of central Victoria on February 9, 2009. The image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite,is shown in false color, using visible, near-infrared and shortwave infrared light. Places where the sensor detected active fire are outlined in red. Burned areas are brick red, and places of intense heat -- often a sign of open flame in this kind of image -- are glowing pink. Smoke turns a transparent blue, which makes it easier to see the ground. Fire is a regular occurrence in the forests and grasslands of southeastern Australia, even in the absence of people. In the hot, dry summer months, vegetation dries out, lightning triggers many natural wildfires. However, in the past decade, the area has experienced several severe droughts, and in late January and early February, parts of South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales were also paralyzed by an exceptional heatwave. Conditions were primed for devastating fires, some of which appear to have been started by lighting and others, according to news reports, by arson. The event was the worst fire disaster in Australia's history. > Labeled image > Photo-like image Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
2/9/09 |
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Bushfires in Southeast Austr
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Bushfires in Victoria, Austr
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2/23/09
| Description |
Bushfires in Victoria, Australia, flared up significantly in the last week of February 2009. The state has been battling deadly fires since late January 2009 with only brief periods of calm. According to news reports from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on February 23, new emergency evacuation warnings over the weekend had forced hundreds of residents from communities across the state into shelters. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite shows the fires on February 23. This image includes visible, shortwave-, and near-infrared light to thin the smoke and highlight the burned areas (brick red). In this type of image, areas of glowing pink often indicate open flame. Among the areas where bushfires were threatening communities were Daylesford, Warburton and Belgrave. The high-resolution images provided above are at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily images of Victoria in additional resolutions. Image credit: NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
2/23/09 |
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Fires in Eastern India and N
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Scores of active fires were
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3/12/09
| Description |
Scores of active fires were burning in eastern India and the mountainous provinces of northwest Burma (Myanmar) on March 9, 2009, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured this photo-like image. Locations where the sensor detected active fires are outlined in red. Agricultural and other land-maintenance fires are common in the area this time of year (dry season), so many of these fires were probably intentionally started by people. However, as in all parts of the world, intentional fires occasionally get out of control. Some of the larger or smokier fires in this scene could be accidental forest fires. Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
3/12/09 |
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Fires in Burma, Thailand, La
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Thick smoke hung over the ea
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3/12/09
| Description |
Thick smoke hung over the eastern Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, and Laos on March 9, 2009, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite passed over head and captured this image. Scores of active fires (red outlines) were detected. During the winter dry season, intentional fires for agriculture, brush clearing, and trash disposal are common in Southeast Asia. Intentional fires also get out of control, however, and some of these fires could be accidental forest fires. Although agricultural burning is not necessarily immediately hazardous, it can have a major impact on air quality and human health, climate, and natural resources. Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
3/12/09 |
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Forest Fires in Nepal
On March 12, 2009, the Moder
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3/16/09
| Description |
On March 12, 2009, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite caught a glimpse of a relatively rare event: largeÔò__É__scale forest fires in the Himalaya Mountains of Nepal. Places where the sensor detected active fires are outlined in red. The numerous small fires in southern Nepal may not be wildfires, but rather agricultural or other land-management fires. The image is centered on Nepal, and it shows the towering Himalaya Mountains arcing through the small country. Many national parks and conservation areas are located along the northern border of the country, and the fires appear to be burning in or very near some of them. Five people were killed by the forest fire southwest of Annapurna in early March, according to a news report they were overtaken while in the forest gathering firewood. According to that report, Nepal commonly experiences some small forest fires each spring, which is the end of the dry season there. However, conditions during the fall and winter of 2008 and 2009 were unusually dry, and fires set by poachers to flush game may have gotten out of control. Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
3/16/09 |
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Fires in West Africa
Agricultural and other land-
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3/18/09
| Description |
Agricultural and other land-management or trash-burning fires are widespread across West Africa in the dry season. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite on March 17, 2009, shows scores of fires (locations marked in red) burning in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Although agricultural burning such as this is not necessarily immediately hazardous, it can have a major impact on air quality and human health, climate, and natural resources. Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
3/18/09 |
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Fires in Texas and Oklahoma
Severe weather in the second
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4/15/09
| Description |
Severe weather in the second week of April 2009 fanned wildfires in northern Texas and southern Oklahoma. This image of the area was captured on April 9, 2009, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite. Places where the sensor detected active fires are outlined in red. A line of fires stretched across the plains west of Dallas-Forth Worth, and strong winds were driving smoke plumes from the fires toward the cities. Several people died, and hundreds of homes were destroyed according to the Texas Forest Service. Image credit: NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
4/15/09 |
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Far East Russian Fires
Large fires were burning in
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5/28/09
| Description |
Large fires were burning in the forests of Siberia between the Amur River (known as Heilong Jiang in China) and the Bureya River on May 24, 2009, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image. Places where the sensor detected actively burning fires are marked in red. Dark brownish-purple patches on the landscape are burn scars from previous fires. Thick smoke in the eastern part of the image may be from these fires as well as fires farth er west, south of Lake Baikal. Both accidental and natural forest fires are common in spring and summer in Russia. The large image provided above is at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides a georeferenced version of this image for use in Google Earth. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey. |
| Date |
5/28/09 |
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Fires in Kasai Region, Democ
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Widespread agricultural burn
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7/24/09
| Description |
Widespread agricultural burning is common in the dry season in Africa. As the rainy season migrates north and south across the continent each year, a wave of widespread fires precedes its arrival. This image of the Kasai region of Democratic Republic of the Congo shows hundreds of active fires (marked in red) burning on July 20, 2009. The tan and light green landscapes are likely a mixture of agricultural land, grassland, and savanna, while the deep green areas between the Sankuru and Kasai Rivers are tropical forest. Although many of the fires that occur each year during Africa's dry season occur in landscapes where people have been living and farming for generations, the growing population is also using fire to clear new agricultural land out of Africa's tropical forests. Many of the fires in the image have only small smoke plumes, and some appear to be making no smoke. Dry grass or crop residue would generate less smoke than live or recently cut trees. The large amount of smoke coming from the fires along the margins of the forests, however, may indicate that forest is being cleared. The large version of the image shows fires are burning across a wider area, including parts of Angola (southwest), Zambia (southeast), and Tanzania (east). The image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite. Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
7/24/09 |
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Spring Bloom in New Zealand
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Off the east coast of New Ze
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11/5/09
| Description |
Off the east coast of New Zealand, cold rivers of water that have branched off from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current flow north past the South Island and converge with warmer waters flowing south past the North Island. The surface waters of this meeting place are New Zealand's most biologically productive. This image of the area on October 25, 2009, from the MODIS sensor on NASAÎÿ_Îÿ_Îÿ__Îÿ__Îÿ_s Aqua satellite shows the basis for that productivity: large blooms of plantlike organisms called phytoplankton. Phytoplankton use chlorophyll and other pigments to absorb sunlight for photosynthesis, and when they grow in large numbers, they change the way the ocean surface reflects sunlight. Caught up in eddies and currents, the blooms create intricate patterns of blues and greens that spread across thousands of square kilometers of the sea surface. Especially bright blue areas may indicate the presence of phytoplankton called coccolithophores, which are coated with calcium-carbonate (chalk) scales that are very reflective. The duller greenish-brown areas of the bloom may be diatoms, which have a silica-based covering. In addition to their importance as the foundation of the ocean food web, phytoplankton play a key role in the climate because, like plants on land, they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When they die, they sink to the ocean floor where the carbon they took from the atmosphere is stored for thousands of years. Photo Credit: NASA/MODIS Rapid Response/Jeff Schmaltz. Caption Credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA Earth Observatory. |
| Date |
11/5/09 |
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The Sword of Orion
| Title |
The Sword of Orion |
| Description |
This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Orion nebula, our closest massive star-making factory, 1,450 light-years from Earth. The nebula is close enough to appear to the naked eye as a fuzzy star in the sword of the popular hunter constellation. The nebula itself is located on the lower half of the image, surrounded by a ring of dust. It formed in a cold cloud of gas and dust and contains about 1,000 young stars. These stars illuminate the cloud, creating the beautiful nebulosity, or swirls of material, seen here in infrared. In the center of the nebula (bottom inset) are four monstrously massive stars, up to 100,000 times as luminous as our sun, called the Trapezium (tiny yellow smudge to the lower left of green splotches). Radiation and winds from these stars are blasting gas and dust away, excavating a cavity walled in by the large ring of dust. Behind the Trapezium, still buried deeply in the cloud, a second generation of massive stars is forming (in the area with green splotches). The speckled green fuzz in this bright region is created when bullets of gas shoot out from the juvenile stars and ram into the surrounding cloud. Above this region of intense activity are networks of cold material that appear as dark veins against the pinkish nebulosity (upper inset). These dark veins contain embryonic stars. Some of the natal stars illuminate the cloud, creating small, aqua-colored wisps. In addition, jets of gas from the stars ram into the cloud, resulting in the green horseshoe-shaped globs. Spitzer surveyed a significant swath of the Orion constellation, beyond what is highlighted in this image. Within that region, called the Orion cloud complex, the telescope found 2,300 stars circled by disks of planet-forming dust and 200 stellar embryos too young to have developed disks. This image shows infrared light captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Light with wavelengths of 8 and 5.8 microns (red and orange) comes mainly from dust that has been heated by starlight. Light of 4.5 microns (green) shows hot gas and dust, and light of 3.6 microns (blue) is from starlight. |
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The Sword of Orion
| Title |
The Sword of Orion |
| Description |
This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Orion nebula, our closest massive star-making factory, 1,450 light-years from Earth. The nebula is close enough to appear to the naked eye as a fuzzy star in the sword of the popular hunter constellation. The nebula itself is located on the lower half of the image, surrounded by a ring of dust. It formed in a cold cloud of gas and dust and contains about 1,000 young stars. These stars illuminate the cloud, creating the beautiful nebulosity, or swirls of material, seen here in infrared. In the center of the nebula (bottom inset) are four monstrously massive stars, up to 100,000 times as luminous as our sun, called the Trapezium (tiny yellow smudge to the lower left of green splotches). Radiation and winds from these stars are blasting gas and dust away, excavating a cavity walled in by the large ring of dust. Behind the Trapezium, still buried deeply in the cloud, a second generation of massive stars is forming (in the area with green splotches). The speckled green fuzz in this bright region is created when bullets of gas shoot out from the juvenile stars and ram into the surrounding cloud. Above this region of intense activity are networks of cold material that appear as dark veins against the pinkish nebulosity (upper inset). These dark veins contain embryonic stars. Some of the natal stars illuminate the cloud, creating small, aqua-colored wisps. In addition, jets of gas from the stars ram into the cloud, resulting in the green horseshoe-shaped globs. Spitzer surveyed a significant swath of the Orion constellation, beyond what is highlighted in this image. Within that region, called the Orion cloud complex, the telescope found 2,300 stars circled by disks of planet-forming dust and 200 stellar embryos too young to have developed disks. This image shows infrared light captured by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Light with wavelengths of 8 and 5.8 microns (red and orange) comes mainly from dust that has been heated by starlight. Light of 4.5 microns (green) shows hot gas and dust, and light of 3.6 microns (blue) is from starlight. |
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A 3-D View of Saturn's Cloud
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| Description |
A 3-D View of Saturn's Clouds and Hazes |
| Full Description |
Saturn's clouds and hazes at three different levels in the atmosphere are depicted in the image on the right, as observed by the visual infrared mapping spectrometer on the Cassini spacecraft. In the image, red represents the deepest clouds yet found on Saturn. They are at an altitude where pressure is nearly double Earth's sea-level air pressure. The spectrometer saw these clouds using a 5.1 micron wavelength. Brightness levels in the original image were inverted to show cloud as bright features. Green is an image taken simultaneously at 1.6 micron wavelength, showing upper-level clouds near and above the altitude where atmospheric pressure equals Earth's sea-level air pressure, a pressure expressed as 1 bar. Blue is an image taken at 2.05 micron, a wavelength which is limited to showing only higher cloud level due to absorption of light by the hydrogen gas comprising the bulk of Saturn's atmosphere. Blue indicated clouds of an altitude where atmospheric pressure is only about 70 percent of Earth's sea-level air pressure. Thus, the aqua-colored feature over the equator is high-altitude haze residing 10 kilometers (6 miles) altitude above the typical zonal features seen in reflected sunlight over the planet (green). The image on the left shows only the upperatmosphere above the 1-bar level, and is the view seen in reflected sunlight as observed by cameras not capable of seeing the thermal radiation of Saturn. Red in this image was taken at 2.79 micron, a wavelength that absorbs ammonia. The greenish appearance of the south pole indicates that ammonia gas is enhanced there. As opposed to the uniform bands of hazes and clouds seen over the planet at pressures near and less than 1 bar, clouds at the 2-bar level (red, in right-hand image) are distinct, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. These images were acquired by Cassini's visual infrared mapping spectrometer on June 28, 2005, from a distance of 1.2 million kilometers (745,645 miles), and at a solar phase angle of 102 degrees. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team homepage is at http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona |
| Date |
September 5, 2005 |
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Hurricane Isidore
| Description |
Hurricane Isidore |
| Full Description |
A view of Hurricane Isidore from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounding System (AIRS) on Aqua. At the time Aqua passed over Isidore, it was classified as a Category 3 (possibly 4) hurricane, with minimum pressure of 934 mbar, maximum sustained wind speeds of 110 knots (gusting to 135) and an eye diameter of 20 nautical miles. Isidore was later downgraded to a Tropical Storm before gathering strength again. This is a visible/near-infrared image, made with the AIRS instrument. Its 2 km resolution shows fine details of the cloud structure, and can be used to help interpret the other images. For example, some relatively cloud-free regions in the eye of the hurricane can be distinguished. This image was made with wavelengths slightly different than those seen by the human eye, causing plants to appear very red. In the near future, weather data derived from these images will allow us to improve our forecasts and track the paths of hurricanes more accurately. The AIRS sounding system provides 2400 such images, or channels, continuously. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Experiment, with its visible, infrared, and microwave detectors, provides a three-dimensional look at Earth's weather. Working in tandem, the three instruments can make simultaneous observations all the way down to the Earth's surface, even in the presence of heavy clouds. With more than 2,000 channels sensing different regions of the atmosphere, the system creates a global, 3-D map of atmospheric temperature and humidity and provides information on clouds, greenhouse gases, and many other atmospheric phenomena. The AIRS Infrared Sounder Experiment flies onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. *Image Credit:* NASA/JPL |
| Date |
September 14, 2002 |
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Hubble Spots Northern Hemisp
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| title |
Hubble Spots Northern Hemispheric Clouds on Uranus |
| date |
07.31.1997 |
| description |
Using visible light, astronomers for the first time this century have detected clouds in the northern hemisphere of Uranus. The newest images, taken July 31 and Aug. 1, 1997 with NASA Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, show banded structure and multiple clouds. Using these images, Dr. Heidi Hammel (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and colleagues Wes Lockwood (Lowell Observatory) and Kathy Rages (NASA Ames Research Center) plan to measure the wind speeds in the northern hemisphere for the first time. Uranus is sometimes called the "sideways" planet, because its rotation axis tipped more than 90 degrees from the planet's orbit around the Sun. The "year" on Uranus lasts 84 Earth years, which creates extremely long seasons - winter in the northern hemisphere has lasted for nearly 20 years. Uranus has also been called bland and boring, because no clouds have been detectable in ground-based images of the planet. Even to the cameras of the Voyager spacecraft in 1986, Uranus presented a nearly uniform blank disk, and discrete clouds were detectable only in the southern hemisphere. Voyager flew over the planet's cloud tops near the dead of northern winter (when the northern hemisphere was completely shrouded in darkness). Spring has finally come to the northern hemisphere of Uranus. The newest images, both the visible-wavelength ones described here and those taken a few days earlier with the Near Infrared and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) by Erich Karkoschka (University of Arizona), show a planet with banded structure and detectable clouds. Two images are shown here. The "aqua" image (on the left) is taken at 5,470 Angstroms, which is near the human eye's peak response to wavelength. Color has been added to the image to show what a person on a spacecraft near Uranus might see. Little structure is evident at this wavelength, though with image-processing techniques, a small cloud can be seen near the planet's northern limb (rightmost edge). The "red" image (on the right) is taken at 6,190 Angstroms, and is sensitive to absorption by methane molecules in the planet's atmosphere. The banded structure of Uranus is evident, and the small cloud near the northern limb is now visible. Scientists are expecting that the discrete clouds and banded structure may become even more pronounced as Uranus continues in its slow pace around the Sun. "Some parts of Uranus haven't seen the Sun in decades," says Dr. Hammel, "and historical records suggest that we may see the development of more banded structure and patchy clouds as the planet's year progresses." Some scientists have speculated that the winds of Uranus are not symmetric around the planet's equator, but no clouds were visible to test those theories. The new data will provide the opportunity to measure the northern winds. Hammel and colleagues expect to have results soon. The Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2 was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and managed by, the Goddard Spaced Flight Center for NASA's Office of Space Science. This image and other images and data received from the Hubble Space Telescope are posted on the World Wide Web on the Space Telescope Science Institute home page at URL http://oposite.stsci.edu *Image Credit*: Heidi Hammel (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), NASA |
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Hubble Discovers New Dark Sp
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| Title |
Hubble Discovers New Dark Spot on Neptune |
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Hubble Watches Uranus
| Title |
Hubble Watches Uranus |
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2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMS
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| Title |
2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMSR-E with Greenland in Foreground |
| Abstract |
Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is semi-permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. The sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent at the end of each summer and the remaining ice is called the perennial ice cover. The 2007 Arctic summer sea ice has reached the lowest extent of perennial ice cover on record - nearly 25% less than the previous low set in 2005. The area of the perennial ice has been steadily decreasing since the satellite record began in 1979, at a rate of about 10% per decade. But the 2007 minimum, reached on September 14, is far below the previous record made in 2005 and is about 38% lower than the climatological average. Such a dramatic loss has implications for ecology, climate and industry. The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite acquires high resolution measurements of the 89 GHz brightness temperature near the poles. Because this is a passive microwave sensor which is not so sensitive to atmospheric effects, this sensor is able to observe the entire polar region every day, even through clouds and snowfall. This animation progresses at a rate of six frames per day from January 1, 2007 through the minimum extent which occurred on September 14, 2007. The false color of the sea ice, derived from the AMSR-E 6.25 km 89 GHz brightness temperature, highlights the fissures or divergence areas in the sea ice cover by warm brightness temperatures (in blue) while cold brightness temperatures, shown in brighter white, represent consolidated sea ice. The sea ice edge is defined by the 15% ice concentration contour in the three-day moving average of the AMSR-E 12.5 km sea ice concentration data while ice extent is the sum of all pixels with at least 15% ice. |
| Completed |
2007-09-25 |
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2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMS
…
| Title |
2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMSR-E with Greenland in Foreground |
| Abstract |
Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is semi-permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. The sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent at the end of each summer and the remaining ice is called the perennial ice cover. The 2007 Arctic summer sea ice has reached the lowest extent of perennial ice cover on record - nearly 25% less than the previous low set in 2005. The area of the perennial ice has been steadily decreasing since the satellite record began in 1979, at a rate of about 10% per decade. But the 2007 minimum, reached on September 14, is far below the previous record made in 2005 and is about 38% lower than the climatological average. Such a dramatic loss has implications for ecology, climate and industry. The AMSR-E instrument on the Aqua satellite acquires high resolution measurements of the 89 GHz brightness temperature near the poles. Because this is a passive microwave sensor which is not so sensitive to atmospheric effects, this sensor is able to observe the entire polar region every day, even through clouds and snowfall. This animation progresses at a rate of six frames per day from January 1, 2007 through the minimum extent which occurred on September 14, 2007. The false color of the sea ice, derived from the AMSR-E 6.25 km 89 GHz brightness temperature, highlights the fissures or divergence areas in the sea ice cover by warm brightness temperatures (in blue) while cold brightness temperatures, shown in brighter white, represent consolidated sea ice. The sea ice edge is defined by the 15% ice concentration contour in the three-day moving average of the AMSR-E 12.5 km sea ice concentration data while ice extent is the sum of all pixels with at least 15% ice. |
| Completed |
2007-09-25 |
|
Montana and Alberta (Canada)
…
| Title |
Montana and Alberta (Canada) fires - July 29, 2003 |
| Abstract |
Push-in to the fires in Montana (US) and Alberta (Canada). |
| Completed |
2003-07-30 |
|
Montana and Alberta (Canada)
…
| Title |
Montana and Alberta (Canada) fires - July 29, 2003 |
| Abstract |
Push-in to the fires in Montana (US) and Alberta (Canada). |
| Completed |
2003-07-30 |
|
Montana and Alberta (Canada)
…
| Title |
Montana and Alberta (Canada) fires - July 29, 2003 |
| Abstract |
Push-in to the fires in Montana (US) and Alberta (Canada). |
| Completed |
2003-07-30 |
|
GPM Nile River Animation
| Title |
GPM Nile River Animation |
| Abstract |
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is to improve ongoing efforts to predict climate, improve the accuracy of weather and precipitation forecasts, and to provide more frequent and complete sampling of the Earth's precipitation. |
| Completed |
2003-07-01 |
|
GPM Nile River Animation
| Title |
GPM Nile River Animation |
| Abstract |
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is to improve ongoing efforts to predict climate, improve the accuracy of weather and precipitation forecasts, and to provide more frequent and complete sampling of the Earth's precipitation. |
| Completed |
2003-07-01 |
|
GPM Nile River Animation
| Title |
GPM Nile River Animation |
| Abstract |
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is to improve ongoing efforts to predict climate, improve the accuracy of weather and precipitation forecasts, and to provide more frequent and complete sampling of the Earth's precipitation. |
| Completed |
2003-07-01 |
|
GPM Nile River Animation
| Title |
GPM Nile River Animation |
| Abstract |
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is to improve ongoing efforts to predict climate, improve the accuracy of weather and precipitation forecasts, and to provide more frequent and complete sampling of the Earth's precipitation. |
| Completed |
2003-07-01 |
|
GPM Nile River Animation
| Title |
GPM Nile River Animation |
| Abstract |
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is to improve ongoing efforts to predict climate, improve the accuracy of weather and precipitation forecasts, and to provide more frequent and complete sampling of the Earth's precipitation. |
| Completed |
2003-07-01 |
|
Washington Fawn Peak Complex
…
| Title |
Washington Fawn Peak Complex Fire - July 29, 2003 |
| Abstract |
Push-in to the Fawn Peak Complex fire in Washington. |
| Completed |
2003-07-30 |
|
Washington Fawn Peak Complex
…
| Title |
Washington Fawn Peak Complex Fire - July 29, 2003 |
| Abstract |
Push-in to the Fawn Peak Complex fire in Washington. |
| Completed |
2003-07-30 |
|
Washington Fawn Peak Complex
…
| Title |
Washington Fawn Peak Complex Fire - July 29, 2003 |
| Abstract |
Push-in to the Fawn Peak Complex fire in Washington. |
| Completed |
2003-07-30 |
|
Aspen Fire, Arizona
| Title |
Aspen Fire, Arizona |
| Abstract |
Images from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites have become a regular part of the National Interagency Fire Center's firefighting toolkit. The images help the center track fires on a daily basis and are used in allocating precious firefighting resources. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
Aspen Fire, Arizona
| Title |
Aspen Fire, Arizona |
| Abstract |
Images from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites have become a regular part of the National Interagency Fire Center's firefighting toolkit. The images help the center track fires on a daily basis and are used in allocating precious firefighting resources. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
Aspen Fire, Arizona
| Title |
Aspen Fire, Arizona |
| Abstract |
Images from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites have become a regular part of the National Interagency Fire Center's firefighting toolkit. The images help the center track fires on a daily basis and are used in allocating precious firefighting resources. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
Aspen Fire, Arizona
| Title |
Aspen Fire, Arizona |
| Abstract |
Images from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites have become a regular part of the National Interagency Fire Center's firefighting toolkit. The images help the center track fires on a daily basis and are used in allocating precious firefighting resources. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
Aspen Fire, Arizona
| Title |
Aspen Fire, Arizona |
| Abstract |
Images from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites have become a regular part of the National Interagency Fire Center's firefighting toolkit. The images help the center track fires on a daily basis and are used in allocating precious firefighting resources. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
Aspen Fire, Arizona
| Title |
Aspen Fire, Arizona |
| Abstract |
Images from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites have become a regular part of the National Interagency Fire Center's firefighting toolkit. The images help the center track fires on a daily basis and are used in allocating precious firefighting resources. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
Aspen Fire, Arizona
| Title |
Aspen Fire, Arizona |
| Abstract |
Images from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites have become a regular part of the National Interagency Fire Center's firefighting toolkit. The images help the center track fires on a daily basis and are used in allocating precious firefighting resources. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
Aspen Fire, Arizona
| Title |
Aspen Fire, Arizona |
| Abstract |
Images from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites have become a regular part of the National Interagency Fire Center's firefighting toolkit. The images help the center track fires on a daily basis and are used in allocating precious firefighting resources. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
Aspen Fire, Arizona
| Title |
Aspen Fire, Arizona |
| Abstract |
Images from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites have become a regular part of the National Interagency Fire Center's firefighting toolkit. The images help the center track fires on a daily basis and are used in allocating precious firefighting resources. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
A Time Series of the Aspen F
…
| Title |
A Time Series of the Aspen Fire North of Tucson, Arizona from June 19 - 24, 2003 |
| Abstract |
Twenty miles north of Tucson, Arizona, the Aspen Fire rages through the Coronado National Forest. This time series shows the growth of the Aspen fire over the weekend of June 19-24, 2003. |
| Completed |
2003-06-26 |
|
A Time Series of the Aspen F
…
| Title |
A Time Series of the Aspen Fire North of Tucson, Arizona from June 19 - 24, 2003 |
| Abstract |
Twenty miles north of Tucson, Arizona, the Aspen Fire rages through the Coronado National Forest. This time series shows the growth of the Aspen fire over the weekend of June 19-24, 2003. |
| Completed |
2003-06-26 |
|
A Time Series of the Aspen F
…
| Title |
A Time Series of the Aspen Fire North of Tucson, Arizona from June 19 - 24, 2003 |
| Abstract |
Twenty miles north of Tucson, Arizona, the Aspen Fire rages through the Coronado National Forest. This time series shows the growth of the Aspen fire over the weekend of June 19-24, 2003. |
| Completed |
2003-06-26 |
|
GPM Earth Spin Animation
| Title |
GPM Earth Spin Animation |
| Abstract |
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is to improve ongoing efforts to predict climate, improve the accuracy of weather and precipitation forecasts, and to provide more frequent and complete sampling of the Earth's precipitation. |
| Completed |
2003-07-01 |
|
GPM Earth Spin Animation
| Title |
GPM Earth Spin Animation |
| Abstract |
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is to improve ongoing efforts to predict climate, improve the accuracy of weather and precipitation forecasts, and to provide more frequent and complete sampling of the Earth's precipitation. |
| Completed |
2003-07-01 |
|
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