|
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cov
…
| Title |
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cover, Sea Ice, Sea Surface Temperature and Biosphere |
| Abstract |
This animation is part of an NSF-funded, international project, Exploring Time. The two-hour television special, broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the spring of 2007, explores how the world changes over different timescales ... from billionths of seconds to billions of years. This animation portrays a variety of remotely sensed data elements at different temporal resolutions. Initially, the animation shows cloud cover in motion over North America in half-hour increments from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7, 2005. The temporal pace quickens to show a 5-day moving average of daily MODIS snow cover along with daily AMSR-E sea ice from Dec. 7, 2005 to Mar. 15, 2006. As the view swings south over the Gulf of Mexico, the AMSR-E Sea Surface Temperature reveals warming ocean temperatures from March through August, 2006. As it passes over the Atlantic Ocean, the biosphere fades into view, showing both chlorophyll concentration in the ocean along with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index over the land areas. The biosphere animates over time while the view pans over northern Africa and Europe, showing data collected from September 2002 through February 2006. This program was also broadcast in Japan through a partnership with the NHK international broadcasting service and in France through a partnership with the ARTE television network. |
| Completed |
2006-11-29 |
|
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cov
…
| Title |
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cover, Sea Ice, Sea Surface Temperature and Biosphere |
| Abstract |
This animation is part of an NSF-funded, international project, Exploring Time. The two-hour television special, broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the spring of 2007, explores how the world changes over different timescales ... from billionths of seconds to billions of years. This animation portrays a variety of remotely sensed data elements at different temporal resolutions. Initially, the animation shows cloud cover in motion over North America in half-hour increments from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7, 2005. The temporal pace quickens to show a 5-day moving average of daily MODIS snow cover along with daily AMSR-E sea ice from Dec. 7, 2005 to Mar. 15, 2006. As the view swings south over the Gulf of Mexico, the AMSR-E Sea Surface Temperature reveals warming ocean temperatures from March through August, 2006. As it passes over the Atlantic Ocean, the biosphere fades into view, showing both chlorophyll concentration in the ocean along with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index over the land areas. The biosphere animates over time while the view pans over northern Africa and Europe, showing data collected from September 2002 through February 2006. This program was also broadcast in Japan through a partnership with the NHK international broadcasting service and in France through a partnership with the ARTE television network. |
| Completed |
2006-11-29 |
|
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cov
…
| Title |
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cover, Sea Ice, Sea Surface Temperature and Biosphere |
| Abstract |
This animation is part of an NSF-funded, international project, Exploring Time. The two-hour television special, broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the spring of 2007, explores how the world changes over different timescales ... from billionths of seconds to billions of years. This animation portrays a variety of remotely sensed data elements at different temporal resolutions. Initially, the animation shows cloud cover in motion over North America in half-hour increments from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7, 2005. The temporal pace quickens to show a 5-day moving average of daily MODIS snow cover along with daily AMSR-E sea ice from Dec. 7, 2005 to Mar. 15, 2006. As the view swings south over the Gulf of Mexico, the AMSR-E Sea Surface Temperature reveals warming ocean temperatures from March through August, 2006. As it passes over the Atlantic Ocean, the biosphere fades into view, showing both chlorophyll concentration in the ocean along with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index over the land areas. The biosphere animates over time while the view pans over northern Africa and Europe, showing data collected from September 2002 through February 2006. This program was also broadcast in Japan through a partnership with the NHK international broadcasting service and in France through a partnership with the ARTE television network. |
| Completed |
2006-11-29 |
|
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cov
…
| Title |
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cover, Sea Ice, Sea Surface Temperature and Biosphere |
| Abstract |
This animation is part of an NSF-funded, international project, Exploring Time. The two-hour television special, broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the spring of 2007, explores how the world changes over different timescales ... from billionths of seconds to billions of years. This animation portrays a variety of remotely sensed data elements at different temporal resolutions. Initially, the animation shows cloud cover in motion over North America in half-hour increments from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7, 2005. The temporal pace quickens to show a 5-day moving average of daily MODIS snow cover along with daily AMSR-E sea ice from Dec. 7, 2005 to Mar. 15, 2006. As the view swings south over the Gulf of Mexico, the AMSR-E Sea Surface Temperature reveals warming ocean temperatures from March through August, 2006. As it passes over the Atlantic Ocean, the biosphere fades into view, showing both chlorophyll concentration in the ocean along with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index over the land areas. The biosphere animates over time while the view pans over northern Africa and Europe, showing data collected from September 2002 through February 2006. This program was also broadcast in Japan through a partnership with the NHK international broadcasting service and in France through a partnership with the ARTE television network. |
| Completed |
2006-11-29 |
|
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cov
…
| Title |
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cover, Sea Ice, Sea Surface Temperature and Biosphere |
| Abstract |
This animation is part of an NSF-funded, international project, Exploring Time. The two-hour television special, broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the spring of 2007, explores how the world changes over different timescales ... from billionths of seconds to billions of years. This animation portrays a variety of remotely sensed data elements at different temporal resolutions. Initially, the animation shows cloud cover in motion over North America in half-hour increments from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7, 2005. The temporal pace quickens to show a 5-day moving average of daily MODIS snow cover along with daily AMSR-E sea ice from Dec. 7, 2005 to Mar. 15, 2006. As the view swings south over the Gulf of Mexico, the AMSR-E Sea Surface Temperature reveals warming ocean temperatures from March through August, 2006. As it passes over the Atlantic Ocean, the biosphere fades into view, showing both chlorophyll concentration in the ocean along with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index over the land areas. The biosphere animates over time while the view pans over northern Africa and Europe, showing data collected from September 2002 through February 2006. This program was also broadcast in Japan through a partnership with the NHK international broadcasting service and in France through a partnership with the ARTE television network. |
| Completed |
2006-11-29 |
|
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cov
…
| Title |
Sequence of Clouds, Snow Cover, Sea Ice, Sea Surface Temperature and Biosphere |
| Abstract |
This animation is part of an NSF-funded, international project, Exploring Time. The two-hour television special, broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the spring of 2007, explores how the world changes over different timescales ... from billionths of seconds to billions of years. This animation portrays a variety of remotely sensed data elements at different temporal resolutions. Initially, the animation shows cloud cover in motion over North America in half-hour increments from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7, 2005. The temporal pace quickens to show a 5-day moving average of daily MODIS snow cover along with daily AMSR-E sea ice from Dec. 7, 2005 to Mar. 15, 2006. As the view swings south over the Gulf of Mexico, the AMSR-E Sea Surface Temperature reveals warming ocean temperatures from March through August, 2006. As it passes over the Atlantic Ocean, the biosphere fades into view, showing both chlorophyll concentration in the ocean along with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index over the land areas. The biosphere animates over time while the view pans over northern Africa and Europe, showing data collected from September 2002 through February 2006. This program was also broadcast in Japan through a partnership with the NHK international broadcasting service and in France through a partnership with the ARTE television network. |
| Completed |
2006-11-29 |
|
2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMS
…
| Title |
2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMSR-E with Alaska 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. An image of the sea ice on September 14, 2007 is included below, along with a corresponding image from September 21, 2005 showing the previous minimum sea ice extent. |
| Completed |
2007-09-11 |
|
2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMS
…
| Title |
2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMSR-E with Alaska 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. An image of the sea ice on September 14, 2007 is included below, along with a corresponding image from September 21, 2005 showing the previous minimum sea ice extent. |
| Completed |
2007-09-11 |
|
2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMS
…
| Title |
2007 Arctic Sea Ice from AMSR-E with Alaska 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. An image of the sea ice on September 14, 2007 is included below, along with a corresponding image from September 21, 2005 showing the previous minimum sea ice extent. |
| Completed |
2007-09-11 |
|
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS
…
| Title |
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS over Central America |
| Abstract |
Associated with tropical thunderstorms are broad fields of cirrus clouds that flow out of the tops of the vigorous storm systems that form over warm tropical oceans. These clouds play a role in how much infrared energy is trapped in Earth's atmosphere. NASA's Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) mission, which runs from July 16, 2007 through August 8, 2007, aims to document the full lifecycle of these clouds. Observations from four A-Train satellites flying in formation will complement the aircraft measurements with large-scale views of many different features of the atmosphere. Observations from this mission along with previous studies will improve our understanding of what effect a warming climate with rising ocean temperatures will have on these cloud systems. These images over Central America, produced in support of the TC4 mission, show a tropical storm system over Central and South America on August 2, 2006 as measured from multiple satellite sensors, including Aqua MODIS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. In this view from the Pacific Ocean, Panama is on the left and South America is shown on the right. In the following series of still images, each satellite's measurement is shown individually and in combination with the others from the same camera viewpoint. The profile showing CloudSat and CALIPSO data is truncated at a height of twenty kilometers and exaggerated ten times. The land topography is also exaggerated by a factor of ten. |
| Completed |
2007-06-26 |
|
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS
…
| Title |
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS over Central America |
| Abstract |
Associated with tropical thunderstorms are broad fields of cirrus clouds that flow out of the tops of the vigorous storm systems that form over warm tropical oceans. These clouds play a role in how much infrared energy is trapped in Earth's atmosphere. NASA's Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) mission, which runs from July 16, 2007 through August 8, 2007, aims to document the full lifecycle of these clouds. Observations from four A-Train satellites flying in formation will complement the aircraft measurements with large-scale views of many different features of the atmosphere. Observations from this mission along with previous studies will improve our understanding of what effect a warming climate with rising ocean temperatures will have on these cloud systems. These images over Central America, produced in support of the TC4 mission, show a tropical storm system over Central and South America on August 2, 2006 as measured from multiple satellite sensors, including Aqua MODIS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. In this view from the Pacific Ocean, Panama is on the left and South America is shown on the right. In the following series of still images, each satellite's measurement is shown individually and in combination with the others from the same camera viewpoint. The profile showing CloudSat and CALIPSO data is truncated at a height of twenty kilometers and exaggerated ten times. The land topography is also exaggerated by a factor of ten. |
| Completed |
2007-06-26 |
|
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS
…
| Title |
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS over Central America |
| Abstract |
Associated with tropical thunderstorms are broad fields of cirrus clouds that flow out of the tops of the vigorous storm systems that form over warm tropical oceans. These clouds play a role in how much infrared energy is trapped in Earth's atmosphere. NASA's Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) mission, which runs from July 16, 2007 through August 8, 2007, aims to document the full lifecycle of these clouds. Observations from four A-Train satellites flying in formation will complement the aircraft measurements with large-scale views of many different features of the atmosphere. Observations from this mission along with previous studies will improve our understanding of what effect a warming climate with rising ocean temperatures will have on these cloud systems. These images over Central America, produced in support of the TC4 mission, show a tropical storm system over Central and South America on August 2, 2006 as measured from multiple satellite sensors, including Aqua MODIS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. In this view from the Pacific Ocean, Panama is on the left and South America is shown on the right. In the following series of still images, each satellite's measurement is shown individually and in combination with the others from the same camera viewpoint. The profile showing CloudSat and CALIPSO data is truncated at a height of twenty kilometers and exaggerated ten times. The land topography is also exaggerated by a factor of ten. |
| Completed |
2007-06-26 |
|
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS
…
| Title |
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS over Central America |
| Abstract |
Associated with tropical thunderstorms are broad fields of cirrus clouds that flow out of the tops of the vigorous storm systems that form over warm tropical oceans. These clouds play a role in how much infrared energy is trapped in Earth's atmosphere. NASA's Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) mission, which runs from July 16, 2007 through August 8, 2007, aims to document the full lifecycle of these clouds. Observations from four A-Train satellites flying in formation will complement the aircraft measurements with large-scale views of many different features of the atmosphere. Observations from this mission along with previous studies will improve our understanding of what effect a warming climate with rising ocean temperatures will have on these cloud systems. These images over Central America, produced in support of the TC4 mission, show a tropical storm system over Central and South America on August 2, 2006 as measured from multiple satellite sensors, including Aqua MODIS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. In this view from the Pacific Ocean, Panama is on the left and South America is shown on the right. In the following series of still images, each satellite's measurement is shown individually and in combination with the others from the same camera viewpoint. The profile showing CloudSat and CALIPSO data is truncated at a height of twenty kilometers and exaggerated ten times. The land topography is also exaggerated by a factor of ten. |
| Completed |
2007-06-26 |
|
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS
…
| Title |
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS over Central America |
| Abstract |
Associated with tropical thunderstorms are broad fields of cirrus clouds that flow out of the tops of the vigorous storm systems that form over warm tropical oceans. These clouds play a role in how much infrared energy is trapped in Earth's atmosphere. NASA's Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) mission, which runs from July 16, 2007 through August 8, 2007, aims to document the full lifecycle of these clouds. Observations from four A-Train satellites flying in formation will complement the aircraft measurements with large-scale views of many different features of the atmosphere. Observations from this mission along with previous studies will improve our understanding of what effect a warming climate with rising ocean temperatures will have on these cloud systems. These images over Central America, produced in support of the TC4 mission, show a tropical storm system over Central and South America on August 2, 2006 as measured from multiple satellite sensors, including Aqua MODIS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. In this view from the Pacific Ocean, Panama is on the left and South America is shown on the right. In the following series of still images, each satellite's measurement is shown individually and in combination with the others from the same camera viewpoint. The profile showing CloudSat and CALIPSO data is truncated at a height of twenty kilometers and exaggerated ten times. The land topography is also exaggerated by a factor of ten. |
| Completed |
2007-06-26 |
|
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS
…
| Title |
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS over Central America |
| Abstract |
Associated with tropical thunderstorms are broad fields of cirrus clouds that flow out of the tops of the vigorous storm systems that form over warm tropical oceans. These clouds play a role in how much infrared energy is trapped in Earth's atmosphere. NASA's Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) mission, which runs from July 16, 2007 through August 8, 2007, aims to document the full lifecycle of these clouds. Observations from four A-Train satellites flying in formation will complement the aircraft measurements with large-scale views of many different features of the atmosphere. Observations from this mission along with previous studies will improve our understanding of what effect a warming climate with rising ocean temperatures will have on these cloud systems. These images over Central America, produced in support of the TC4 mission, show a tropical storm system over Central and South America on August 2, 2006 as measured from multiple satellite sensors, including Aqua MODIS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. In this view from the Pacific Ocean, Panama is on the left and South America is shown on the right. In the following series of still images, each satellite's measurement is shown individually and in combination with the others from the same camera viewpoint. The profile showing CloudSat and CALIPSO data is truncated at a height of twenty kilometers and exaggerated ten times. The land topography is also exaggerated by a factor of ten. |
| Completed |
2007-06-26 |
|
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS
…
| Title |
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS over Central America |
| Abstract |
Associated with tropical thunderstorms are broad fields of cirrus clouds that flow out of the tops of the vigorous storm systems that form over warm tropical oceans. These clouds play a role in how much infrared energy is trapped in Earth's atmosphere. NASA's Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) mission, which runs from July 16, 2007 through August 8, 2007, aims to document the full lifecycle of these clouds. Observations from four A-Train satellites flying in formation will complement the aircraft measurements with large-scale views of many different features of the atmosphere. Observations from this mission along with previous studies will improve our understanding of what effect a warming climate with rising ocean temperatures will have on these cloud systems. These images over Central America, produced in support of the TC4 mission, show a tropical storm system over Central and South America on August 2, 2006 as measured from multiple satellite sensors, including Aqua MODIS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. In this view from the Pacific Ocean, Panama is on the left and South America is shown on the right. In the following series of still images, each satellite's measurement is shown individually and in combination with the others from the same camera viewpoint. The profile showing CloudSat and CALIPSO data is truncated at a height of twenty kilometers and exaggerated ten times. The land topography is also exaggerated by a factor of ten. |
| Completed |
2007-06-26 |
|
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS
…
| Title |
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS over Central America |
| Abstract |
Associated with tropical thunderstorms are broad fields of cirrus clouds that flow out of the tops of the vigorous storm systems that form over warm tropical oceans. These clouds play a role in how much infrared energy is trapped in Earth's atmosphere. NASA's Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) mission, which runs from July 16, 2007 through August 8, 2007, aims to document the full lifecycle of these clouds. Observations from four A-Train satellites flying in formation will complement the aircraft measurements with large-scale views of many different features of the atmosphere. Observations from this mission along with previous studies will improve our understanding of what effect a warming climate with rising ocean temperatures will have on these cloud systems. These images over Central America, produced in support of the TC4 mission, show a tropical storm system over Central and South America on August 2, 2006 as measured from multiple satellite sensors, including Aqua MODIS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. In this view from the Pacific Ocean, Panama is on the left and South America is shown on the right. In the following series of still images, each satellite's measurement is shown individually and in combination with the others from the same camera viewpoint. The profile showing CloudSat and CALIPSO data is truncated at a height of twenty kilometers and exaggerated ten times. The land topography is also exaggerated by a factor of ten. |
| Completed |
2007-06-26 |
|
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS
…
| Title |
CloudSat, Calipso and MODIS over Central America |
| Abstract |
Associated with tropical thunderstorms are broad fields of cirrus clouds that flow out of the tops of the vigorous storm systems that form over warm tropical oceans. These clouds play a role in how much infrared energy is trapped in Earth's atmosphere. NASA's Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) mission, which runs from July 16, 2007 through August 8, 2007, aims to document the full lifecycle of these clouds. Observations from four A-Train satellites flying in formation will complement the aircraft measurements with large-scale views of many different features of the atmosphere. Observations from this mission along with previous studies will improve our understanding of what effect a warming climate with rising ocean temperatures will have on these cloud systems. These images over Central America, produced in support of the TC4 mission, show a tropical storm system over Central and South America on August 2, 2006 as measured from multiple satellite sensors, including Aqua MODIS, CloudSat and CALIPSO. In this view from the Pacific Ocean, Panama is on the left and South America is shown on the right. In the following series of still images, each satellite's measurement is shown individually and in combination with the others from the same camera viewpoint. The profile showing CloudSat and CALIPSO data is truncated at a height of twenty kilometers and exaggerated ten times. The land topography is also exaggerated by a factor of ten. |
| Completed |
2007-06-26 |
|
AMSR-E Sea Surface Temperatu
…
| Title |
AMSR-E Sea Surface Temperature |
| Abstract |
This animation is part of an NSF-funded, international project, Exploring Time. The two-hour television special, broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the spring of 2007, explores how the world changes over different timescales ... from billionths of seconds to billions of years. This animation portrays a 3-day moving average of AMSR-E sea surface temperature (SST) over the western hemisphere from the beginning of 2005 to early December, 2006. In addition, seasonal MODIS landcover shows the advance and retreat of snow over the northern hemisphere. This program was also broadcast in Japan through a partnership with the NHK international broadcasting service and in France through a partnership with the ARTE television network. |
| Completed |
2006-12-06 |
|
Fires in Greece as seen by A
…
| Title |
Fires in Greece as seen by Aqua/AIRS |
| Abstract |
A series of fires across Greece in August of 2007 burned 469,000 acres and claimed the lives of 65 people. The fires, in which an estimated 4,000 people lost their homes, mostly occurred in the southern part of of the country. In this visualization, the carbon monoxide signature from the fires in Greece is revealed in data retrieved by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua spacecraft. Forest fires create large amounts of carbon monoxide. AIRS provides daily global maps of carbon monoxide from space, allowing scientists to follow the global transport of this gas day-to-day. This visualization shows the amount of Carbon monoxide that has risen 2 to 8 kilometers (6,500 ft to 26,200 ft altitude) from August 24-28, 2007. More carbon monoxide generally means more pollution, either natural from wildfires or from industrial and domestic sources. Beginning August 24, a significant plume emanates from the extensive fires burning in Greece. This plume moves southeast across the Mediterranean Sea and over North Africa from August 24 to 28. It crosses to Africa and arcs westward over the Sahara Desert and continues to curl around over the Eastern Mediterranean toward Sardinia and Corsica. |
| Completed |
2007-08-30 |
|
Activity on Chikurachki
| Title |
Activity on Chikurachki |
| Description |
In the northern Kurile Islands, off the coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, Chikurachki Volcano released a plume of ash and/or steam on September 8, 2007. At the time of the event, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite captured this image of the plume blowing over the Pacific Ocean, toward the southeast. In this image, the volcanic plume appears similar in color and thickness to some wispy clouds to the immediate north.Chikurachki [ http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0900-36= ] is a stratovolcanoa steep-sloped cone composed of alternating layers of hardened lava, solidified ash, and volcanic rocks. This stratovolcano is actually a relatively small cone sitting atop an older structure that was built by volcanic activity in the Pleistocene. The underlying edifice makes Chikurachki, with a summit elevation of 1,816 meters (5,958 feet) the highest volcano on Paramushir Island. You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of Chikurachki [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Sep2007/chikurachki_amo_2007251.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Goddard Land Processes data archives (LAADS). [ http://ladsweb.nascom.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Floods in Jakarta
| Title |
Floods in Jakarta |
| Description |
Torrential rains pounded Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, starting in late January 2007, causing floods that buried parts of the city under as much as five meters (16 feet) of water, said the World Health Organization (WHO [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWFiles2007.nsf/FilesByRWDocUnidFilename/A9B2CF04E0DE2A4C49257283001DEA61-Full_Report.pdf/$File/Full_Report.pdf ]). When the clouds finally cleared enough for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite to capture the top image on February 11, most of the water had receded, but East Jakarta was still flooded. The city of Jakarta is tan compared to the bright green of the surrounding plant-covered land in these images, made from both visible and infrared light. In this type of image, water is black, or dark blue when tinged with sediment, which makes it stand out from other features in the image. Clouds, which are light blue and white, obscure some of the flood region. The city of Jakarta was built on a marsh, much of which is below sea level. The web of blue and green around the city in the lower image, taken on January 26, reveals that some of the marshland may still exist, though some of the water may be early floods, since the rains started a few days before the image was taken. By February 11, the extent of land covered in water had expanded to include sections of East Jakarta. As of February 15, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EGUA-6YFSCZ?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=FL-2007-000023-IDN ]) reported that 80 people had died in the floods, and 16,030 remained displaced. Though water levels were receding [except in East Jakarta where as much as 100 centimeters (3 feet) of water remained], the effects of the floods were still being felt, said OCHA. Water-related diseases such as diarrhea, dengue fever, and leptospirosis [ http://0-www.cdc.gov.mill1.sjlibrary.org/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/leptospirosis_g.htm ] had been reported in hospitals throughout Jakarta. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
|
Floods in Jakarta
| Title |
Floods in Jakarta |
| Description |
Torrential rains pounded Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, starting in late January 2007, causing floods that buried parts of the city under as much as five meters (16 feet) of water, said the World Health Organization (WHO [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWFiles2007.nsf/FilesByRWDocUnidFilename/A9B2CF04E0DE2A4C49257283001DEA61-Full_Report.pdf/$File/Full_Report.pdf ]). When the clouds finally cleared enough for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite to capture the top image on February 11, most of the water had receded, but East Jakarta was still flooded. The city of Jakarta is tan compared to the bright green of the surrounding plant-covered land in these images, made from both visible and infrared light. In this type of image, water is black, or dark blue when tinged with sediment, which makes it stand out from other features in the image. Clouds, which are light blue and white, obscure some of the flood region. The city of Jakarta was built on a marsh, much of which is below sea level. The web of blue and green around the city in the lower image, taken on January 26, reveals that some of the marshland may still exist, though some of the water may be early floods, since the rains started a few days before the image was taken. By February 11, the extent of land covered in water had expanded to include sections of East Jakarta. As of February 15, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EGUA-6YFSCZ?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=FL-2007-000023-IDN ]) reported that 80 people had died in the floods, and 16,030 remained displaced. Though water levels were receding [except in East Jakarta where as much as 100 centimeters (3 feet) of water remained], the effects of the floods were still being felt, said OCHA. Water-related diseases such as diarrhea, dengue fever, and leptospirosis [ http://0-www.cdc.gov.mill1.sjlibrary.org/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/leptospirosis_g.htm ] had been reported in hospitals throughout Jakarta. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
|
Floods in Kansas and Missour
…
| Title |
Floods in Kansas and Missouri |
| Description |
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, [ http://water.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/wwdp?region_cd=ks ] the Marais des Cygnes River was 10 feet above flood stage in Ottawa, Kansas, on July 4, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image. The river is not normally visible in MODIS images. In the lower image, taken on June 8, 2007, by Terra MODIS, the river's course is defined only by the tan, plant-free land that surrounds it. But on July 4, the dark blue water of the swollen river is clearly visible. The floods along the Marais des Cygnes forced 2,000 people from their homes in Osawatomie, Kansas, reported the Kansas City Star, but by July 4, water levels on the river had started to drop. Additional flooding along the Neosho and Verdigris Rivers can be seen in the large image. These images were made with visible and infrared light to highlight the presence of water on the ground. In this type of image, water is black, though sediment may color it dark blue. Clouds are light blue and white, and plant-covered land is bright green. Bare earth is tan-pink. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA7/2007185 ] of Kansas are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in both false color, as shown here, and photo-like true color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Kansas and Missour
…
| Title |
Floods in Kansas and Missouri |
| Description |
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, [ http://water.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/wwdp?region_cd=ks ] the Marais des Cygnes River was 10 feet above flood stage in Ottawa, Kansas, on July 4, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image. The river is not normally visible in MODIS images. In the lower image, taken on June 8, 2007, by Terra MODIS, the river's course is defined only by the tan, plant-free land that surrounds it. But on July 4, the dark blue water of the swollen river is clearly visible. The floods along the Marais des Cygnes forced 2,000 people from their homes in Osawatomie, Kansas, reported the Kansas City Star, but by July 4, water levels on the river had started to drop. Additional flooding along the Neosho and Verdigris Rivers can be seen in the large image. These images were made with visible and infrared light to highlight the presence of water on the ground. In this type of image, water is black, though sediment may color it dark blue. Clouds are light blue and white, and plant-covered land is bright green. Bare earth is tan-pink. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA7/2007185 ] of Kansas are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in both false color, as shown here, and photo-like true color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Myanmar
| Title |
Floods in Myanmar |
| Description |
Myanmar's Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River was several times larger than its dry-season extent when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on September 26, 2007. Like many large rivers, the Ayeyarwady splits into multiple small branches (distributaries) in its delta before draining into the Andaman Sea. This image shows at least three such distributaries. Water in this false-color image is black, though the water in the river channels is colored blue by sediment. Towering rain clouds, turquoise blue in this image, still hang over the river. Lower, warmer clouds are white, and the plant-covered land is bright green. The lower image shows the river on May 28, 2007, during the dry season. Unusually heavy seasonal rains from early July through September brought flooding along the length of the Ayeyarwady. By August 29, more than 97,500 people had been affected by floods in Myanmar, said the International Federation of Red and Red Crescent Societies. [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/JOPA-76JBTT?OpenDocument ] Of those affected, 61,689 were in the Ayeyarwady Division, which encompasses the area shown in this image. The river was still flooded on September 26, as this image shows. According to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology [ http://www.dmh.gov.mm/w_flood.cfm?id=115 ] in the government of Myanmar, some stretches of the Ayeryarwady River were above their "danger levels" on September 24. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC, which provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Myanmar/2007269 ] of Myanmar. |
|
Floods in Myanmar
| Title |
Floods in Myanmar |
| Description |
Myanmar's Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River was several times larger than its dry-season extent when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on September 26, 2007. Like many large rivers, the Ayeyarwady splits into multiple small branches (distributaries) in its delta before draining into the Andaman Sea. This image shows at least three such distributaries. Water in this false-color image is black, though the water in the river channels is colored blue by sediment. Towering rain clouds, turquoise blue in this image, still hang over the river. Lower, warmer clouds are white, and the plant-covered land is bright green. The lower image shows the river on May 28, 2007, during the dry season. Unusually heavy seasonal rains from early July through September brought flooding along the length of the Ayeyarwady. By August 29, more than 97,500 people had been affected by floods in Myanmar, said the International Federation of Red and Red Crescent Societies. [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/JOPA-76JBTT?OpenDocument ] Of those affected, 61,689 were in the Ayeyarwady Division, which encompasses the area shown in this image. The river was still flooded on September 26, as this image shows. According to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology [ http://www.dmh.gov.mm/w_flood.cfm?id=115 ] in the government of Myanmar, some stretches of the Ayeryarwady River were above their "danger levels" on September 24. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC, which provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Myanmar/2007269 ] of Myanmar. |
|
Angora Fire
| Title |
Angora Fire |
| Description |
South of Lake Tahoe, which straddles the Nevada-California state line, a large fire destroyed at least 165 homes over the weekend of June 23, 2007. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite shows the Angora Fire on June 24. The area in which MODIS detected actively burning fire is outlined in red. A plume of brownish-gray smoke spreads northeast. According to the June 25 report from the National Interagency Fire Center, the Angora Fire was burning in timber and grass, was about 1,800 acres, and was zero percent contained. The large image provided above has a spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] images of the region in additional resolutions and formats, including an infrared-enhanced version that makes the burned area stand out from the surrounding, unburned vegetation. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Angora Fire
| Title |
Angora Fire |
| Description |
South of Lake Tahoe, the Angora Fire continued to threaten residences, recreation areas, and cultural resources in California on June 27, 2007. According to the morning report from the National Interagency Fire Center, the 3,100-acre fire was 44 percent contained. This image of the fire was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite on June 26 at 2:35 p.m. local time. The area in which the sensor detected actively burning fire is outlined in red. Smoke drifts northeast. The large image provided above has a spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] images of the region in additional resolution and formats. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Floods in Southeastern Mexic
…
| Title |
Floods in Southeastern Mexico |
| Description |
It doesn't always take a hurricane to cause devastating, widespread floods in coastal regions surrounding the Gulf of Mexico. Starting on October 28 and lasting several days, a low pressure system unleashed steady, heavy rain on southeastern Mexico. The rains pushed rivers over their banks and left about 80 percent of the state of Tabasco under water. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image of the floods on November 3, 2007. Aqua MODIS took the lower image on October 18, before the rain started. Both images use a combination of infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and earth. Dark blue and black water covers much of the bright green, plant-covered land in the top image. The most extensive flooding appears to be concentrated around the city of Villahermosa, Tabasco's capital. The city's man-made surfaces give it a cement-gray color in these images. To the north and west of the city, the Grijalva River is swollen. Smaller rivers and wetlands around the city are overflowing with water so that the city appears to be entirely surrounded. Blue tints over the city itself point to urban flooding, though scattered clouds (light blue and white in this type of image) hide the full extent of the flooding within the city. Beyond Villahermosa, the wetlands and lagoons that span the space between the Grijalva and Usumacinta Rivers are also clearly inundated. The floods were so extensive that the governor of Tabasco estimated that half of the state's 2.1 million people were affected, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/RMOI-78MMQ9?OpenDocument&rc=2&emid=FL-2007-000154-MEX ]) on November 3. At least 69,000 people had been evacuated to emergency shelters and another 350,000 remained trapped in their homes, said OCHA. Many of those forced from their homes lived in Villahermosa, 519 neighborhoods of which were flooded with water rising as high as the second floor of many homes. The rains and floods damaged roads and destroyed all crops throughout Tabasco. Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, numbered the floods among the worst natural disasters in the country's history, said OCHA. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?CAmerica_2_03/2007307 ] of southeastern Mexico are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in both false color, as shown here, and photo-like true color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
Widespread floods were evident in central Mozambique when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on January 23, 2007. Water, black against the bright green vegetation in these infrared-enhanced images, spreads in a wide line parallel to the coast. A week earlier, when MODIS on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired the lower image, the water was isolated to the wetlands around the river. According to local news reports, [ http://allafrica.com/stories/200701220205.html ] parts of the provincial capital, Quelimane, were under water after 339.2 millimeters of rain fell in 24 hours on January 21, more rain than the region typically receives during the entire month of January. The floods forced at least 400 families from their homes in the city. Though Quelimane was visible on January 16 as a pale brown-gray patch on the north bank of the river, it was covered by clouds on January 23. The clouds are pale blue and white in these false-color images. The silvery color of the Indian Ocean in the lower image is caused by sunlight reflecting off the water's surface. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Mozambique/2007023 ] of Mozambique are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
Widespread floods were evident in central Mozambique when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on January 23, 2007. Water, black against the bright green vegetation in these infrared-enhanced images, spreads in a wide line parallel to the coast. A week earlier, when MODIS on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired the lower image, the water was isolated to the wetlands around the river. According to local news reports, [ http://allafrica.com/stories/200701220205.html ] parts of the provincial capital, Quelimane, were under water after 339.2 millimeters of rain fell in 24 hours on January 21, more rain than the region typically receives during the entire month of January. The floods forced at least 400 families from their homes in the city. Though Quelimane was visible on January 16 as a pale brown-gray patch on the north bank of the river, it was covered by clouds on January 23. The clouds are pale blue and white in these false-color images. The silvery color of the Indian Ocean in the lower image is caused by sunlight reflecting off the water's surface. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Mozambique/2007023 ] of Mozambique are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired these two images of the Zambezi River in central Mozambique in February 2007 just four days apart. Over the course of a weekend, floods along the lower Zambezi River in Mozambique spread to a nearby branch, the Cuecue River. According to local news reports released by the Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, the floods along the Zambezi started to drop on February 20, though water levels on the lower Zambezi, shown here, remained high. As the top image shows, some of the water is draining into smaller offshoots along the river valley and into the Indian Ocean. These images use both visible and infrared light to increase the contrast between water and land. In this color combination, water is black or dark blue, while bare ground is tan and plant-covered land is green. Clouds are blue and white. The Sun's reflection off the surface of the water turns the river pale blue in the top image, and a web of flood water surrounds the dark line cut by the Zambezi River across the center of both images. South of the fresh floods on the Cuecue River, several dark spots along the Zambezi indicate additional flooding. To see daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Mozambique/2007051 ] of the flood area in central Mozambique, please visit the MODIS Rapid Response web site. The floods started when unusually early and heavy rain pounded southern Africa in January and February 2007. The rains triggered floods that affected nearly 170,000 people in Angola, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YSAR-6YLNES?OpenDocument ]). In Mozambique, the United Nations and other organizations were providing food to more than 120,000 evacuees as of February 20, said OCHA. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired these two images of the Zambezi River in central Mozambique in February 2007 just four days apart. Over the course of a weekend, floods along the lower Zambezi River in Mozambique spread to a nearby branch, the Cuecue River. According to local news reports released by the Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, the floods along the Zambezi started to drop on February 20, though water levels on the lower Zambezi, shown here, remained high. As the top image shows, some of the water is draining into smaller offshoots along the river valley and into the Indian Ocean. These images use both visible and infrared light to increase the contrast between water and land. In this color combination, water is black or dark blue, while bare ground is tan and plant-covered land is green. Clouds are blue and white. The Sun's reflection off the surface of the water turns the river pale blue in the top image, and a web of flood water surrounds the dark line cut by the Zambezi River across the center of both images. South of the fresh floods on the Cuecue River, several dark spots along the Zambezi indicate additional flooding. To see daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Mozambique/2007051 ] of the flood area in central Mozambique, please visit the MODIS Rapid Response web site. The floods started when unusually early and heavy rain pounded southern Africa in January and February 2007. The rains triggered floods that affected nearly 170,000 people in Angola, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YSAR-6YLNES?OpenDocument ]). In Mozambique, the United Nations and other organizations were providing food to more than 120,000 evacuees as of February 20, said OCHA. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern China
| Title |
Floods in Southern China |
| Description |
Three days of heavy rain caused widespread flooding across China's Jiangxi Province in early June 2007. The floods destroyed about 2,000 houses, and caused an economic loss of approximately $13 million, reported Reuters. [ http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSPEK67549._CH_.2400 ] The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image of flooding around Poyang Lake, a reservoir in northern Jiangxi, on June 6, 2007. Compared to conditions a few weeks earlier, on May 19 (lower image), the reservoir is swollen, and its shores have been pushed out by several kilometres. Both images were made with a combination of infrared and visible light, which makes water appear black or dark blue. Plant-covered land is bright green, bare earth is tan, and clouds are light blue and white. Similar images as well as photo-like images of southeast China [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_China6/2007157 ] are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System on a daily basis. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern China
| Title |
Floods in Southern China |
| Description |
Three days of heavy rain caused widespread flooding across China's Jiangxi Province in early June 2007. The floods destroyed about 2,000 houses, and caused an economic loss of approximately $13 million, reported Reuters. [ http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSPEK67549._CH_.2400 ] The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image of flooding around Poyang Lake, a reservoir in northern Jiangxi, on June 6, 2007. Compared to conditions a few weeks earlier, on May 19 (lower image), the reservoir is swollen, and its shores have been pushed out by several kilometres. Both images were made with a combination of infrared and visible light, which makes water appear black or dark blue. Plant-covered land is bright green, bare earth is tan, and clouds are light blue and white. Similar images as well as photo-like images of southeast China [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_China6/2007157 ] are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System on a daily basis. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Sudan
| Title |
Floods in Sudan |
| Description |
The rainy season of 2007 brought what the Sudanese government called the worst floods in living memory to Sudan. From the start of the rains in early July to September 4, 122 people died and at least 200,000 were made homeless in floods throughout the country, reported Reuters. [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/LRON-76QHSR?OpenDocument&rc=1&emid=FL-2007-000093-SDN ] With the September end of the rainy season in sight, Sudan was still flooded on September 6, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image. The image shows the confluence of the Atbara and Nile Rivers in northeastern Sudan. The lower image, taken on July 27, shows the region before the two rivers flooded, though flooding in other parts of Sudan are visible in the large version of the image. Both images were made with a combination of visible and infrared light to increase the contrast between water and earth. Water is dark blue or black, sediment-filled water or wet ground is light blue, clouds are pale turquoise and white, and the bare or sparsely vegetated Nubian Desert is tan-pink. Strips of vegetation along the banks of the rivers are bright green. On September 6, the Atbara River had spread wide over its banks. The two branches of the river in the center of the image were so flooded that the two channels merged in a broad, shallow lake of muddy water. On the left side of the image, the Nile River is also wider than it was in July. The wider view provided in the large image from September 6 reveals that the Nile and its tributaries, the Blue and White Nile Rivers, were all swollen. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC, which provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?NAfrica_2_07/2007249 ] of Sudan. |
|
Floods in Sudan
| Title |
Floods in Sudan |
| Description |
The rainy season of 2007 brought what the Sudanese government called the worst floods in living memory to Sudan. From the start of the rains in early July to September 4, 122 people died and at least 200,000 were made homeless in floods throughout the country, reported Reuters. [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/LRON-76QHSR?OpenDocument&rc=1&emid=FL-2007-000093-SDN ] With the September end of the rainy season in sight, Sudan was still flooded on September 6, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image. The image shows the confluence of the Atbara and Nile Rivers in northeastern Sudan. The lower image, taken on July 27, shows the region before the two rivers flooded, though flooding in other parts of Sudan are visible in the large version of the image. Both images were made with a combination of visible and infrared light to increase the contrast between water and earth. Water is dark blue or black, sediment-filled water or wet ground is light blue, clouds are pale turquoise and white, and the bare or sparsely vegetated Nubian Desert is tan-pink. Strips of vegetation along the banks of the rivers are bright green. On September 6, the Atbara River had spread wide over its banks. The two branches of the river in the center of the image were so flooded that the two channels merged in a broad, shallow lake of muddy water. On the left side of the image, the Nile River is also wider than it was in July. The wider view provided in the large image from September 6 reveals that the Nile and its tributaries, the Blue and White Nile Rivers, were all swollen. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC, which provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?NAfrica_2_07/2007249 ] of Sudan. |
|
Floods in Texas and Oklahoma
| Title |
Floods in Texas and Oklahoma |
| Description |
Though most of the rest of the Midwest was shrouded with clouds on July 1, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite collected the top image, small sections of the Red River were visible under partly cloudy skies. Compared to June 19, when Aqua MODIS took the lower image, the river was swollen on July 1, after heavy rain [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14339 ] inundated Texas and Oklahoma. According to the National Weather Service, [ http://www.weather.gov/ahps/ ] minor flooding was occurring along the Red River on July 1, and moderate to major flooding swamped its tributaries, Deep Red Creek and East Cache Creek, the two rivers flowing into the Red in this image. The images were created with a combination of visible and infrared light to highlight the presence of water on the ground. In this type of image, water is black, though thick sediment colors the water blue. Clouds are pale blue and white. Plant-covered land is green, and bare earth is tan-pink. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/fas/?USA6/2007182 ] of Texas and Oklahoma are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in both false color, such as these images, and photo-like true color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Texas and Oklahoma
| Title |
Floods in Texas and Oklahoma |
| Description |
Though most of the rest of the Midwest was shrouded with clouds on July 1, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite collected the top image, small sections of the Red River were visible under partly cloudy skies. Compared to June 19, when Aqua MODIS took the lower image, the river was swollen on July 1, after heavy rain [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14339 ] inundated Texas and Oklahoma. According to the National Weather Service, [ http://www.weather.gov/ahps/ ] minor flooding was occurring along the Red River on July 1, and moderate to major flooding swamped its tributaries, Deep Red Creek and East Cache Creek, the two rivers flowing into the Red in this image. The images were created with a combination of visible and infrared light to highlight the presence of water on the ground. In this type of image, water is black, though thick sediment colors the water blue. Clouds are pale blue and white. Plant-covered land is green, and bare earth is tan-pink. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/fas/?USA6/2007182 ] of Texas and Oklahoma are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in both false color, such as these images, and photo-like true color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Bodele Depression Dust Storm
| Title |
Bodele Depression Dust Storm |
| Description |
On January 6, 2007, another dust storm blew out of the Bodele Depression in northern Africa. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture the same day. This image shows the typical pale beige, dual dust plumes blowing out of the Bodele Depression toward the southwest. In the southwest, bigger plumes of dust appear. The gap between the plume pairs, showing relatively clear skies over Lake Chad, suggests a break in dust storm activity. The larger plumes in the southwest likely blew out of the Bodele Depression a day or so earlier. In the south, the African landscape changes from arid tan to a darker green, due to more vegetation. Smoke from numerous fires [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14060 ] burning in this region may be mingling with the Bodele Depression dust. The Aqua satellite orbits the Earth multiple times per day, crossing over the poles with each pass. Closer to the Equator, the satellite views mostbut not allof the planet each day. The white swath running diagonally through this image is a gap between satellite passes. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in the Midwestern Uni
…
| Title |
Floods in the Midwestern United States |
| Description |
The rivers of northwestern Missouri were still swollen in the wake of intense spring storms when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on May 10, 2007. The image is made from a combination of infrared and visible light to make the floods more visible than they would be in a photo-like image. In this type of image, water is dark blue or black, clouds are light blue and white, plant-covered land is bright green, and bare earth is pink-tinted tan. Fires are outlined with red boxes. The Missouri River runs along the left edge of the image, then curves east along the bottom of the image. Though the most flooded regions were covered in clouds, a few breaks reveal that the Missouri was swollen far beyond its banks. Nestled in a bend in the river near the Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri border is the town of Big Lake. The image shows that the river's curve has turned into a broad lake. The town was completely submerged in the flood when levees along the river broke, reported the Associated Press. [ http://www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/05/11/missouri.flooding.ap/index.html ] Beyond Big Lake, many communities along the Grand and the Platte Rivers and their tributaries have also been flooded or threatened by floods. All of these rivers are clearly running high in the image. MODIS captured the lower image on April 29, 2007, not quite a week before the rains began. By providing a clear view of normal water levels, the image illustrates just how extensively the rivers were flooded on May 10. Photo-like versions of both the April 29 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3/2007119/USA3.2007119.aqua ] and May 10 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3/2007130/USA3.2007130.terra ] images are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in the Midwestern Uni
…
| Title |
Floods in the Midwestern United States |
| Description |
The rivers of northwestern Missouri were still swollen in the wake of intense spring storms when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on May 10, 2007. The image is made from a combination of infrared and visible light to make the floods more visible than they would be in a photo-like image. In this type of image, water is dark blue or black, clouds are light blue and white, plant-covered land is bright green, and bare earth is pink-tinted tan. Fires are outlined with red boxes. The Missouri River runs along the left edge of the image, then curves east along the bottom of the image. Though the most flooded regions were covered in clouds, a few breaks reveal that the Missouri was swollen far beyond its banks. Nestled in a bend in the river near the Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri border is the town of Big Lake. The image shows that the river's curve has turned into a broad lake. The town was completely submerged in the flood when levees along the river broke, reported the Associated Press. [ http://www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/05/11/missouri.flooding.ap/index.html ] Beyond Big Lake, many communities along the Grand and the Platte Rivers and their tributaries have also been flooded or threatened by floods. All of these rivers are clearly running high in the image. MODIS captured the lower image on April 29, 2007, not quite a week before the rains began. By providing a clear view of normal water levels, the image illustrates just how extensively the rivers were flooded on May 10. Photo-like versions of both the April 29 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3/2007119/USA3.2007119.aqua ] and May 10 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3/2007130/USA3.2007130.terra ] images are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Bodele Depression Dust Storm
| Title |
Bodele Depression Dust Storm |
| Description |
Though wind-scoured and virtually barren, the southern Sahara Desert turns out to be a surprising sustainer of life an ocean awayin South America's Amazon Rainforest. By studying NASA satellite data of the spread of dust across the globe, scientists discovered that more than half of the mineral dust that fertilizes the Amazon soil comes from a single spot in the southern Sahara, a large mountain-rimmed valley called the Bodele Depression. This photo-like image from NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite on January 2, 2007, shows a dust storm brewing in the valley. A bright streak of dust arcs southwest across the Bodele Depression toward Lake Chad. Dust veils the lower elevations, with the higher elevations of the Jos Plateau and the Adamaoua Mountains peaking out as if through fog. During the Northern Hemisphere winter months, northeasterly winds (Harmattan winds) routinely blow across this part of northern Africa. A gap between the Tibesti and Ennedi Mountains creates a natural wind tunnel that focuses and intensifies the winds across the Bodele Depression. The dust spreads westward across the Atlantic on the easterly trade winds to the Amazon, where it replenishes mineral nutrients that are continually depleted from the soil by the heavy, tropical rains. Based on satellite data and models, scientists estimate that dust storms such as the one pictured here generate about 0.7 million tons of dust on average during winter days. About half of the 40 million tons of dust that are swept across the Atlantic from the Sahara to the Amazon each year come from the Bodele Depression, a small valley that accounts for only 0.2 percent of the entire Sahara and is only 0.5 percent the size of the Amazon itself. The discovery of this surprisingly large single source of mineral dust raises many fascinating questions about how far-flung parts of the Earth system are connected, including how large the dust reservoir in the Bodele depression is, how long it has been emitting such a huge amount of dust, and how long will it continue to fertilize the Amazon. The large image provided above has a spatial resolution (level of detail) of 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily subsets [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/ ] of northern Africa in additional resolutions via a clickable map. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Bodele Depression Dust Storm
| Title |
Bodele Depression Dust Storm |
| Description |
Resting between two mountain ranges in Chad, downwind from a natural wind tunnel, the Bodele Depression provides a steady supply of Saharan dust plumes. On September 17, 2007, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite captured one such plume blowing toward the southwest. In this image, the dust appears as an off-white blur that expands as it approaches the border with Niger. To the south of the plume, partially hidden by clouds, lies Lake Chad. Barren and lifeless as the Bodele Depression may appear, it actually helps sustain life half a world away. Minerals in Bodele dust plumes play a crucial role [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17512 ] in fertilizing soils in the Amazon Rainforest. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. The Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?NAfrica_2_05/ ] of this region. |
|
Floods in the Midwestern Uni
…
| Title |
Floods in the Midwestern United States |
| Description |
Early May 2007 brought torrential spring rains to the Midwestern United States, and by May 9, the National Weather Service [ http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hic/ ] had recorded flooding at 111 locations from North Dakota to Texas. At 15 locations, many of which were in Missouri, gauges measured major flooding. Thousands of people fled as the Missouri burst through levees in Missouri and Kansas, reported the Associated Press [ http://www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/05/09/missouri.flooding.ap/index.html ] on May 9. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image of floods along the Missouri River and its tributaries on May 8. Though clouds still covered much of the Midwest on May 8, a few breaks revealed the flood-swollen Missouri, Grand, and Thompson Rivers. The large image shows additional flooding in Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas. Both this and the lower image, taken on April 29 before the rains began to fall, were made with a combination of visible and infrared light to highlight the presence of water on the ground. In this type of image, clouds are pale blue and white, water is dark blue or black, plant-covered land is green, and bare earth is tan pink. The tan and green speckled appearance of the landscape seen in the lower image is typical of agricultural land. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3 ] of the Midwest are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in the Midwestern Uni
…
| Title |
Floods in the Midwestern United States |
| Description |
Early May 2007 brought torrential spring rains to the Midwestern United States, and by May 9, the National Weather Service [ http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hic/ ] had recorded flooding at 111 locations from North Dakota to Texas. At 15 locations, many of which were in Missouri, gauges measured major flooding. Thousands of people fled as the Missouri burst through levees in Missouri and Kansas, reported the Associated Press [ http://www.cnn.com/2007/WEATHER/05/09/missouri.flooding.ap/index.html ] on May 9. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image of floods along the Missouri River and its tributaries on May 8. Though clouds still covered much of the Midwest on May 8, a few breaks revealed the flood-swollen Missouri, Grand, and Thompson Rivers. The large image shows additional flooding in Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas. Both this and the lower image, taken on April 29 before the rains began to fall, were made with a combination of visible and infrared light to highlight the presence of water on the ground. In this type of image, clouds are pale blue and white, water is dark blue or black, plant-covered land is green, and bare earth is tan pink. The tan and green speckled appearance of the landscape seen in the lower image is typical of agricultural land. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3 ] of the Midwest are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Bodele Depression Dust Storm
…
| Title |
Bodele Depression Dust Storm, Lake Chad Fires |
| Description |
On March 5, 2007, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured two events in northern Africa: a dust storm from the mountain-rimmed Bodele Depression, and fires around the fringes of Lake Chad. This image shows the typical pale beige dual dust plumes blowing out of the valley, as well as hotspots around the lake. Despite the irritation the dust may cause near its origin, it plays an important role in sustaining life in the Amazon. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17512 ] Most of the mineral dust fertilizing Amazonian soil originates in the Bodele Depression. Lake Chad has been steadily shrinking [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=4714 ] for decades, the latest fires simply providing more evidence of how dry the area has become. MODIS detects fires like these by finding areas of anomalously warm surface temperatures. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. The Rapid Response Team offers daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?NAfrica_2_05 ] of this area. |
|
|
