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Fires in the Alaskan Interio
…
Forest fires produced hazy s
…
7/9/09
| Description |
Forest fires produced hazy skies over interior Alaska in the first week of July 2009. This natural-color (photo-like) image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite shows several lightning-triggered fires (outlined in red) southwest of Fairbanks, Alaska, on July 7. The largest was the combined Bear Lake/Minto Flats South Fire, according to the situation summary report from the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center on July 7, the fire was estimated to be just over 79,000 acres. The Bear Creek Fire is just inside the northern perimeter of Denali National Park. Dark brown patches mark the locations of old fires. Most fires in interior Alaska are triggered by lightning. According to observations from the Alaska Fire Service's automated lightning-detection network, interior Alaska's "lightning season" peaks in late June or early July. Most strikes occur between 4 and 6 p.m. as a result of severe storms, a severe storm may be accompanied by anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 lightning strikes. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey. |
| Date |
7/9/09 |
|
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 |
|
Fires Ravage Parts of Alaska
…
| Title |
Fires Ravage Parts of Alaska and Canada |
| Abstract |
Alaska and Canada both suffered multi-fire damage. On June 29, 2004, these smoke plumes were detected from space by the Aqua satellite. |
| Completed |
2004-08-19 |
|
Fires Ravage Parts of Alaska
…
| Title |
Fires Ravage Parts of Alaska and Canada |
| Abstract |
Alaska and Canada both suffered multi-fire damage. On June 29, 2004, these smoke plumes were detected from space by the Aqua satellite. |
| Completed |
2004-08-19 |
|
Fires and Smoke Across Alask
…
| Title |
Fires and Smoke Across Alaska and Canada |
| Abstract |
Alaska suffered from fire and smoke that can be seen from space. The Aqua satellite captured this breathtaking image on 29 June 2004. |
| Completed |
2004-07-01 |
|
Fires and Smoke Across Alask
…
| Title |
Fires and Smoke Across Alaska and Canada |
| Abstract |
Alaska suffered from fire and smoke that can be seen from space. The Aqua satellite captured this breathtaking image on 29 June 2004. |
| Completed |
2004-07-01 |
|
Fires and Smoke Across Alask
…
| Title |
Fires and Smoke Across Alaska and Canada |
| Abstract |
Alaska suffered from fire and smoke that can be seen from space. The Aqua satellite captured this breathtaking image on 29 June 2004. |
| Completed |
2004-07-01 |
|
Fires and Smoke Across Alask
…
| Title |
Fires and Smoke Across Alaska and Canada |
| Abstract |
Alaska suffered from fire and smoke that can be seen from space. The Aqua satellite captured this breathtaking image on 29 June 2004. |
| Completed |
2004-07-01 |
|
Ash Plume from Cleveland Vol
…
| Title |
Ash Plume from Cleveland Volcano |
| Description |
On May 23, 2006, the Cleveland Volcano in the Aleutian Islands emitted an ash plume. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13597 ] By the time the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture, on May 24, the ash cloud had already moved away from the volcano. In this image, the ash cloud appears as a gray-beige puffball near the bottom of the image. No discernible trail of ash extends back to the snow-capped volcano that produced the ash plume the day before. The Cleveland Volcano occupies the western end of Chuginadak Island, a dumbbell-shaped, uninhabited island in the Aleutian archipelago. The eruption on May 23, 2006, was reported to the Alaskan Volcano Observatory [ http://www.avo.alaska.edu/ ] by Jeff Williams, a flight engineer on the International Space Station. [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/ ] NASA image courtesy of Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ], NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Augustine Island Volcano, Al
…
| Title |
Augustine Island Volcano, Alaska |
| Description |
On December 12, 2005, a plume of volcanic gas and steam billowed from Augustine Volcano in the Gulf of Alaska and spread approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) toward the southeast. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image the same day. In this image, the volcanic plume streams from the tiny, snow-capped volcanic island and dissipates over the ocean. Augustine Volcano is closely monitored using geodetic equipment that records ground movement, and the volcano had shown seismic activity earlier in December 2005. Authorities had raised its alert level to yellow, or "restless" by the time the plume exploded from the mountain. As activity ramped up in early December, researchers at the Alaska Volcano Observatory made a live view [ http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/monitoring.php ] of the volcano available on the Web. Augustine Volcano is regarded as the most active volcano in the eastern Aleutian arc. Its biggest historical eruption occurred in 1883 when the volcano's dome collapsed. Dome growth since that time has restored the volcano's height to what it was prior to 1883. The volcano erupted again in 1986, producing an avalanche of ash, rock fragments, and gas. Augustine's activity reaches much further back in time than historical records cover. Its oldest dated volcanic rocks are more than 40,000 years old. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. |
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Forest Fires Across Central
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| Title |
Forest Fires Across Central Siberian Plateau |
| Description |
On the Central Siberian Plateau, the northeastward direction of the Lena River is turned sharply northward as the river encounters the Verkhoyanskiy Mountains. The river flows northward along the base of the range for several hundreds more miles before emptying into the Arctic Ocean via the Laptev Sea. In the area where the Lena rounds this sharp corner, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite detected numerous fires (marked in red) burning in the region's boreal forests on July 7, 2005. As in Alaska, summertime thunderstorms in the northern forests often bring lightning that starts forest fires. Fires also start through carelessness or accidents of people visiting forests. In Russia's boreal forests, another major source of forest fires is arson. People set fires to acquire salvage logging permits, which are far cheaper than permits for other forests. The arsonists set fires that may only disturb underbrush and small trees, while leaving the bigger, more lucrative trees unscathed. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Dust Storm off Alaska
| Title |
Dust Storm off Alaska |
| Description |
A massive dust storm of glacial sediments swept off the coast of Alaska on November 5, 2005. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture of the storm as it dispersed over the Gulf of Alaska. In this image, the dust appears as a pale beige plume, standing out from both the snowy landscape and ocean water underneath it. The plume comes from the Copper River Valley. Although sandy deserts or parched plains often come to mind as the sources of dust storms, these storms can form at high latitudes, too. Over time, the movement of glaciers grinds the rocks below them to fine silt. This glacial silt, also known as loess, provides the fodder for high-latitude dust storms. In some cases, glacial sediments even form dunes along Alaskan river valleys, providing plenty of material for dust storms. Glacial silt is one component of high-latitude dust storms. Wind is another. Chinook winds, sometimes called foehn winds, push the glacial sediment toward the sea. These intense, warm winds blow down mountain valleys, sometimes moving the glacial silt with them. Because their primary movement is downward rather than lateral, these downslope winds can actually change direction with the mountain valleys they travel. A close look at this picture shows how the dust storm actually turns several corners with the Copper River Valley on its way out to sea. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Dust Storm off Alaska
| Title |
Dust Storm off Alaska |
| Description |
A dust storm of glacial sediments blew off the Alaskan coast on November 1, 2006, almost exactly one year [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13248 ] after a more intense dust storm blew out of the same spot: the Copper River Valley. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture on November 1. The dust appears as a translucent beige plume in this image, creating swirls over the ocean that vaguely mimic the shapes of nearby clouds. Dust storms usually call to mind visions of hot, sandy deserts, but storms can also form at high latitudes. Over time, the movement of glaciers grinds the rocks below them to fine silt, also known as loess. Glacial sediments can even form dunes along Alaskan river valleys. Chinook winds, sometimes called foehn winds, push the glacial sediment toward the sea. These intense, warm winds blow down mountain valleys, often taking the glacial silt with them. Because their primary movement is downward rather than lateral, these downslope winds can actually change direction with the mountain valleys they travel. A close look at this picture shows the dust storm turning corners, following the Copper River Valley on its way to the sea. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Dust Storm out of Northern A
…
| Title |
Dust Storm out of Northern Africa |
| Description |
On March 29, 2007, the Shiveluch Volcano (sometimes spelled Sheveluch) on the Russian Federation's Kamchatka Peninsula erupted. According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory [ http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/avoreport.php?view=kaminfo ] the volcano underwent an explosive eruption between 01:50 and 2:30 UTC, sending an ash cloud skyward roughly 9,750 meters (32,000 feet), based on visual estimates. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture at 02:00 UTC on March 29. The top image shows the volcano and its surroundings. The bottom image shows a close-up view of the volcano at 250 meters per pixel. Satellites often capture images of volcanic ash plumes, but usually as the plumes are blowing away. Plumes have been observed blowing away from Shiveluch [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14078 ] before. This image, however, is different. At the time the Aqua satellite passed overhead, the eruption was recent enough (and the air was apparently still enough) that the ash cloud still hovered above the summit. In this image, the bulbous cloud casts its shadow northward over the icy landscape. Volcanic ash eruptions inject particles into Earth's atmosphere. Substantial eruptions of light-reflecting particles can reduce temperatures and even affect atmospheric circulation. Large eruptions impact climate patterns [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Volcano/ ] for years. A massive eruption of the Tambora Volcano [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/03oct_novarupta.htm ] in Indonesia in 1815, for instance, earned 1816 the nickname "the year without a summer."Shiveluch [ http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1000-27= ] is a stratovolcanoa steep-sloped volcano composed of alternating layers of solidified ash, hardened lava, and volcanic rocks. One of Kamchatka's largest volcanoes, it sports a summit reaching 3,283 meters (10,771 feet). Shiveluch is also one of the peninsula's most active volcanoes, with an estimated 60 substantial eruptions in the past 10,000 years. You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of the North African dust storm [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Mar2007/nafrica_tmo_2007087.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
|
Kenai Peninsula Fire, Alaska
| Title |
Kenai Peninsula Fire, Alaska |
| Description |
On Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, a wildfire that started June 19 had destroyed at least 70 cabins, homes, and outbuildings as of June 27, 2007. Damp weather over the June 23 weekend helped firefighters make progress, but did not contain the blaze. The Alaska Interagency Coordination Center estimated that the fire was 54,773 acres on June 27. The biggest fuel source was swaths of spruce trees killed by the insect pest known as the spruce bark beetle. [ http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/forestry/insects/sprucebarkbettle.htm ] This image shows the Caribou Hills fire on June 21, 2007, as observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fire are marked in red. Smoke (and thin clouds, image left) give the scene a hazy look. The waters in Cook Inlet appear a muddy brown in many places and bright green in others, rivers here deposit very finely ground sedimentcreated by the scraping of glaciers over the landscapeinto the coastal waters. The fine sediment colors the water. Farther out to sea (bottom left), the waters appear a deeper, clearer blue. You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of the mouth of the Ob River [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jun2007/kenai_amo_2007171.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
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Lack of Snow Drives Iditarod
…
| Title |
Lack of Snow Drives Iditarod North |
| Description |
For the first time in its history, the route of the famous Iditarod dogsled race in Alaska has been driven over 200 miles northward due to lack of snow. Unusually warm and rainy conditions for late winter have melted snow cover and thawed out numerous frozen rivers along the southern slopes of the Alaska Range Mountains, usually the first major hurdle of the 1,000+-mile adventure. The race usually begins in Anchorage, on the northeast shore of Cook Inlet (bottom left) on the south-central Alaskan coast and follows a northwestward trail across tundra braided with frozen rivers before climbing into the Alaska Range Mountains. The trail crests the ridgeline at Rainy Pass, less than 100 miles southeast of Mt. McKinley (Denali), whose towering summit casts a pointed, blue shadow just right of image center. This true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on February 16, 2003, shows the bare terrain surrounding Anchorage. The participants, called mushers, would have had to cross the virtually snow free-terrain and pass over rivers whose normal layer of winter ice was melting, slushy, or in some cases, absent. Bowing to nature's early spring, race organizers decided to have the ceremonial start of the race in Anchorage as usual, but to begin the actual trek in Fairbanks (located in the top right quadrant, at the second "hump" in the river flowing in from the east). The new stretch of trail will follow the Chena River westward out of Fairbanks to the Tanana River and beyond to the Yukon River (flowing in from top center). The trail traverses central Alaska and dips southward with the Yukon, before veering northward once again and hugging the coast of the Norton Sound as it approaches the finish line in Nome, at the shores of the Bering Sea. The Iditarod commemorates the days when dogsled was the only means of travel across the great, frozen expanse of Alaska. Supplies and mail went into the Alaskan interior via the Iditarod Trail. Perhaps the most memorable run was in 1925 when a series of mushers traveled virtually non-stop for a week to deliver anti-toxin serum to Nome to combat a devastating diphtheria epidemic that threatened to kill most of the town. This year's rerouting of the race actually covers most of the terrain of that historic 1925 serum run. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. This image is a combination of morning observations from the Terra satellite and afternoon observations from the Aqua satellite. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Low Pressure System in the G
…
| Title |
Low Pressure System in the Gulf of Alaska |
| Description |
The MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of a large low pressure system spinning in the Gulf of Alaska on August 17, 2004 at 22:45 UTC. This area of the world is famous for strong, persisent low pressure systems because of the persistent flow of semi-permanent pressure systems north (the polar easterlies) and south (the subtropical high) of the area. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions and formats. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime/single.php?A042302245 ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
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Eruption of the Bezymianny V
…
| Title |
Eruption of the Bezymianny Volcano |
| Description |
The Bezymianny Volcano experienced an explosive eruption on May 9, 2006. The volcano emitted an ash column as high as 15 kilometers (9.3 miles). According to news reports, the Aleutian Islands in western Alaska had an ashfall advisory as a result of this eruption. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture on May 10, 2006. In this image, the volcano appears near the center, and a dusting of ash covers the snow east of the volcano. A faint white plume is just visible over the ash field. Situated on the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia, the Bezymianny Volcano was once considered extinct, until an eruption in the mid-1950s proved it was still active. That eruption produced a horseshoe-shaped crater following the collapse of the summit. The crater was later filled by growth of a lava dome and intermittent explosive eruptions. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Eruption on Augustine Island
…
| Title |
Eruption on Augustine Island, Alaska |
| Description |
Augustine Volcano, in the Cook Inlet of the Gulf of Alaska, erupted on January 13 and 14, 2006. According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) [ http://www.avo.alaska.edu ], these explosive eruptions produced clouds of volcanic ash and flows of mud and rock fragments. Although more eruptions were not certain to occur as of January 17, 2006, the volcano could be expected to erupt again without warning. Based on eruptions observed in 1976 and 1986, observers at the AVO anticipated that eruptions might continue for a period of several days to a few weeks. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on January 13, 2006. In this image, a discernible steam and ash plume streams from the small volcanic island and heads eastward over the ocean. The brown and white cloud of material in the middle of the image is likely composed of volcanic material from Augustine. To the east, a distinct cloud formation appears. Land surface areas are covered with snow, although the volcanic island looks darker, as if its own snow cover has melted or been buried by volcanic debris. Augustine is a 1,260-meter-tall (4,134-foot-tall), cone-shaped volcano built from alternating layers of ash, lava, and rock fragments. It has historically been the most active volcano in the Cook Inlet area, experiencing eruptions throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. This volcano experienced some unrest [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13282 ] in December 2005. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC. |
|
Eruption on Augustine Island
…
| Title |
Eruption on Augustine Island, Alaska |
| Description |
According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), Augustine Volcano continued low-level eruptive activity in early March 2006. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on March 6, 2006. In this image, the volcanic island emits a faint plume of ash that wafts toward the southeast. Observers at the AVO described this ash plume as diluted and not likely to travel far. Although quieter than it was earlier in the year, the volcano was far from dormant in early March 2006. The AVO staff issued a status report explaining that brief explosions could still occur with little or no warning. The volcano's dome was still growing a week after this image was acquired, and dome-building and eruptive activity could be expected to continue for weeks or even months. NASA image created by Katalin Kovacs, Landsat Project Science Office, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. |
|
Fires Across Alaska
| Title |
Fires Across Alaska |
| Description |
Cloud-free skies over much of central Alaska on July 25, 2005, revealed dozens of fires burning in the state's interior. As of July 26, 2005, the Alaska Fire Service estimated that more than 1,400,000 acres had burned across the state. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image was captured by the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite on July 25, and active fire locations that MODIS detected are marked in red. A separate natural hazards event contains images of fires in this region earlier in the summer. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=12952 ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ], GSFC |
|
Fires Across Alaska
| Title |
Fires Across Alaska |
| Description |
Between the Brooks Range and the Alaska Range Mountains, along the path of the Yukon River, dozens of fires were burning on August 10, 2005, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured this image. This infrared-enhanced image makes burned areas (deep reddish brown) stand out from healthy vegetation (bright green) and water (dark blue). Snow on the mountains is bright blue. Notice that the vegetation on the high elevations of both mountain ranges is so sparse that some areas appear similar to the burned areas. The Alaska Interagency Fire Service report from August 10 stated that 571 fires had burned an estimated 2.4 million acres in the 2005 fire season to date. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2005222-0810/Alaska.A2005222.2210.721 ] and a photo-like image [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2005222-0810/Alaska.A2005222.2210 ] at additional resolutions. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC |
|
Fires in Alaska
| Title |
Fires in Alaska |
| Description |
Thunderstorms over Alaska drove active fire behavior at the 40,000-acre Sand Creek Fire in east-central Alaska (largest cluster of red dots) on June 23, 2003. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from June 23 shows active fire locations marked with red dots. Other scattered fires were detected across the state. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
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Fires In Alaska and Northern
…
| Title |
Fires In Alaska and Northern Canada |
| Description |
Numerous forest fires were burning in the Yukon Flats region of east-central Alaska in mid-June 2004. The fires are burning in the wake of an incredibly active week of lightning, with a record-breaking, single-day total of 8,500 strikes on June 14, followed by another 6,200 strikes the next day (according to local news reports). This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite shows some of the largest, most rapidly growing fires on June 20. Areas where MODIS detected fires are outlined in red. The two northernmost fires in the scene, the Pingo and Winter Trail Fires, are the largest of several lightning-caused fires that are being collectively called the Solstice Complex. The Pingo was estimated to be 20,350 acres as of June 20, and the Winter Trail was 11,040. The other fires pictured here are not part of the complex: Preacher Creek?20,000 acres, Edward Creek?5,300 acres, Fort Hamlin Hills?3,300 acres, Boundary?4,000 acres, and Wolf Creek?5,200. Image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Fires In Alaska and Northern
…
| Title |
Fires In Alaska and Northern Canada |
| Description |
When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over eastern Alaska and western Yukon Territory, Canada, on June 29, 2004, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) captured this awesome image of dozens of large wildfires belching huge columns of smoke as forests went up in flames. Areas where MODIS detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. A large number of the fires are burning in a region called the Yukon Flats, a vast floodplain of the northern reaches of the Yukon River. The flats are located between the Alaska Range Mountains to the south and the Brooks Range to the north, both of which are largely hidden by smoke in this scene. Many of these fires, including the 200,000-plus-acre Solstice Complex Fire located north of the "hump" in the Yukon River, were triggered during several days of extreme lightning activity. Small-scale evacuations occurred in some small towns and villages in the region, and sections of the Alaska Highway have been closed off and on. Reports from the Alaska Fire Service on June 29 indicated there were 57 large fires burning in the state. So far this season, 327 fires have affected nearly 840,000 acres. Image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires In Alaska and Northern
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Fires In Alaska and Northern Canada |
| Description |
Alaska?s firefighters were busy in mid-June 2004, as extreme lightning activity earlier in the month triggered dozens of wildfires across the state. The largest fires were burning in the Yukon Flats region in the east-central part of the state. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the sensor on the Aqua satellite shows the region on June 22, with areas where the sensor detected active fire circled in red. The largest fire is in the northern part of the scene. According to daily briefings from the Alaska Fire Service, the Pingo Fire (top of the image) made ?significant runs to the northeast, gaining 15,890 acres? between mapping periods on June 20 and 22. Image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires In Alaska and Northern
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Fires In Alaska and Northern Canada |
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Large fires burning in Alaska and the Yukon Territory continue to grow, spreading thick smoke over much of Alaska. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this smoky scene on June 30, 2004. Active fire detections are marked in red. Over 930,000 acres have burned in Alaska since the fires started in mid-June. NASA image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
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Fires In Alaska and Northern
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| Title |
Fires In Alaska and Northern Canada |
| Description |
Smoke from scores of fires flows like a river through the skies over eastern Alaska (roughly the western two-thirds of this image) and western Canada (eastern third) on June 27, 2004. The region has been experiencing extreme fire activity since mid-June, as a result of record-breaking lightning activity and unforgiving weather. The fires are so smoky it is difficult to gain perspective in the image, which was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite. At top, to the right of center, ice is visible in the Beauford Sea, while at bottom center, the Gulf of Alaska peeks through clouds. The Yukon River flows westward out of the image at left. Areas where MODIS detected active fires are marked in red. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC |
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Fires In Alaska and Northern
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| Title |
Fires In Alaska and Northern Canada |
| Description |
On July 11, 2004, the clouds that had been shielding Alaska from the view of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite finally broke, revealing that numerous large fires were still burning across the state. This scene shows the Upper Yukon Flats region in the east-central part of the state, the Yukon River runs in a tan line through the bottom half of the image. Areas where MODIS detected active fires are outlined in red. The largest of the fires is the Pingo, located just left of image center. To date, the fires have cost more than $10 million to combat. Image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires In Alaska and Northern
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| Title |
Fires In Alaska and Northern Canada |
| Description |
Since mid-June 2004, dozens of wildfires, mostly triggered by lightning, have been burning across east-central Alaska in the Yukon Flats region. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite shows the fires and thick smoke on July 13. Areas where MODIS detected active fires are outlined in red. Image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires In Alaska and Northern
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| Title |
Fires In Alaska and Northern Canada |
| Description |
Ribbons of smoke from fires in Alaska and northern Canada swirl over the Gulf of Alaska (lower left) and British Columbia (lower right) on August 15, 2004. The image is a combination of three Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images on that day: two from MODIS on the Aqua satellite, and one from the MODIS on the Terra satellite. Actively burning fires have been marked with red dots in the image. Image by Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC |
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Fires In Alaska and Northern
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| Title |
Fires In Alaska and Northern Canada |
| Description |
According to the calendar, fall is still two weeks away, but in Alaska, the seasons have already begun to change. This image of central Alaska where the Tanana River (bottom) joins the Yukon River (top) shows that some of summer's green has become autumn's gold and brown. Large, charcoal-colored burn scars are scattered across the region, and numerous fires (marked in red) were still burning when this image was captured on September 6, 2004, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite. Some of these fires have been burning for months, triggered during a week of intense lightning activity in mid-June. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Northwest Passage Open
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Northwest Passage Open |
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Although nearly open, the Northwest Passage was not necessarily easy to navigate in August 2007. Located 800 kilometers (500 miles) north of the Arctic Circle and less than 1,930 kilometers (1,200 miles) from the North Pole, this sea route poses significant challenges, and the severe depletion of sea ice means only one of these is reduced. Nevertheless, long-term opening of the passage would have global impacts on trade and natural resource use. You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of the Northwest Passage [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Aug2007/nwpassage_amo_2007241.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://laads.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] Thanks to Walt Meier, NSIDC, U.S. National Ice Center, and John Falkingham, Environment Canada - Canadian Ice Service for image interpretation., For over 500 years, Arctic explorers have sought a passage between the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Such a passage, often called the Northwest Passage, would connect Europe to Asia via shorter routes than the long voyage south around Africa. In 1497, English King Henry VII sent Italian explorer John Cabot to look for this hypothetical route and expeditions from some of the most famous explorers in the centuries that followedSir Francis Drake and Captain James Cook among themmet with failure. The combined efforts of a number of explorers eventually uncovered a winding path from the Atlantic to the Arctic and Pacific Oceans through the ice-bound islands of northern Canada. Even in modern times, navigating from the Atlantic to the Pacific through Canada's Arctic islands has been difficult. The summer of 2007, however, melted enough sea ice in Canada's far north to open up this long-sought passage. This image shows the islands north of mainland Canada adjacent to Greenland, as observed by the the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on August 29, 2007. While the usual veil of clouds over the Arctic is visible through the scene, the sea ice pack that normally covers the water between the islands is absent. Areas often choked with ice at this time of year, but free of it in this MODIS scene, include the Parry and McClintock Channels and the McClure Strait. Larsen Sound and Victoria Strait are hidden beneath cloud cover, but they are also largely free of sea ice. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17752 ] This provided a nearly ice-free connection between Baffin Bay (a long body of water between Canada's Baffin Island and Greenland that is regularly ice-free in summer) and the Arctic Ocean. An ice-free gap between the North American mainland and the Arctic sea, not shown here, extends all the way to the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia, creating a connection almost free of all sea ice from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific. Multi-year ice (ice that survives more than one melt season) tends to be thicker and more resistant to melt than first-year ice (formed over just one winter). According to John Falkingham of the Canadian Ice Service, most of the multi-year ice melted from Victoria Strait and McClintock Channel in the summer of 2006, leaving these traditionally difficult areas more open. In mid-August 2007, only patchy areas of ice filled Victoria Strait and Larsen Sound. Falkingham described the Northwest Passage as "nearly open." Changes in the Northwest Passage were part of a larger pattern of melt in 2007 that also affected the East Siberian Sea. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17743 ] |
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Ocean Color in the Gulf of A
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Ocean Color in the Gulf of Alaska |
| Description |
The winter-white Alaska shoreline provides a vivid contrast to the turquoise swirls in the black waters of the Gulf of Alaska. This burst of color in an otherwise black-and-white scene is caused by sediment, ground into fine powder by mountain glaciers and carried into the Gulf of Alaska through many waterways. The largest contributor of sediment shown in this photo-like image is the Copper River, immediately east of Prince William Sound. The ocean water near the mouth of the river is tan. As the clouds of sediment disperse in the water, they turn blue-green. Sediment is not the only thing that gives water this color in satellite images: a dense bloom of tiny ocean plants can also lend the water a blue-green tint. Called phytoplankton, these microscopic, surface-dwelling plants thrive in cool, nutrient-laden water such as the Gulf of Alaska. Dense concentrations of the plants can color large swaths of ocean water, and it may be that phytoplankton are also contributing to the color seen here. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on January 7, 2007. A 250-meter-resolution KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jan2007/alaska_amo_2007009.kmz ] of the Gulf of Alaska is available for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
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Parks Highway Fire
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Parks Highway Fire |
| Description |
As of Monday morning, June 12, 2006, the Parks Highway Fire was burning just one mile southeast of the small town of Nenana, Alaska. Having burned up to 41,000 acres in a mixture of spruce forest, tundra, and grass, the blaze was threatening residences, native land allotments, commercial property, and infrastructure. This image shows the blaze, with actively burning areas outlined in red, observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite on June 10, 2006. Nenana sits at the junction of the Nenana River with the Tanana River, which flows northwest into the Yukon. Nenana is both a traditional village for native Athabascan Tribes, as well as an historic European settlement. The Alaska Railroad runs through the region and crosses the Tanana River at Nenana. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides daily images of this area at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?AERONET_Bonanza_Creek/2006161 ] Information on fires in Alaska is provided by the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center, [ http://fire.ak.blm.gov/predsvcs/intel.php ] and the National Interagency Fire Center. [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires in Northern Canada
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Fires in Northern Canada |
| Description |
Caught up in high-level winds, smoke from fires in Alaska and northern Canada has spread as far south as the Gulf of Mexico [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=12257 ] in late July 2004. In this image, the gray-colored plume of smoke flows south and east across central Canada and reaches down toward the Great Lakes (bottom right corner of image). Hudson Bay is at top right, and Lake Winnipeg (right) and Lake Manitoba (left) are roughly in the center. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA?s Aqua satellite captured this image on July 26, 2004. The high-resolution image is a mosaic of data from the MODIS sensors on both Terra and Aqua. Image by Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC |
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Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka
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Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka Peninsula |
| Description |
On March 29, 2007, the Sheveluch (Shiveluch) Volcano on the Russian Federation's Kamchatka Peninsula erupted. According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory [ http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/avoreport.php?view=kaminfo ] the volcano underwent an explosive eruption between 01:50 and 2:30 UTC, sending an ash cloud skyward roughly 9,750 meters (32,000 feet), based on visual estimates. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture at 02:00 UTC on March 29. The top image shows the volcano and its surroundings. The bottom image shows a close-up view of the volcano at 250 meters per pixel. Images of volcanic ash plumes often show the plumes blowing away, and Sheveluch is no exception. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14078 ] This image, however, is different. It shows the gray-brown ash cloud suspended directly over the summit. At the time the Aqua satellite passed overhead, the local air was apparently still enough to let the ash cloud hover. In this image, the bulbous cloud casts its shadow northward over the icy landscape. Volcanic ash eruptions inject particles into Earth's atmosphere. Substantial eruptions of light-reflecting particles can reduce temperatures and even affect atmospheric circulation. Large eruptions impact climate patterns [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Volcano/ ] for years. A massive eruption of the Tambora Volcano [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/03oct_novarupta.htm ] in Indonesia in 1815, for instance, earned 1816 the nickname "the year without a summer."Sheveluch [ http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=1000-27= ] is a stratovolcanoa steep-sloped volcano composed of alternating layers of solidified ash, hardened lava, and volcanic rocks. One of Kamchatka's largest volcanoes, it sports a summit reaching 3,283 meters (10,771 feet). Sheveluch is also one of the peninsula's most active volcanoes, with an estimated 60 substantial eruptions in the past 10,000 years. You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of Kamchatka's most active volcanic region, which includes Sheveluch, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/Kliuchevskoi.2007088.aqua.250m.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] There is also a 250-meter-resolution close-up KMZ file of Sheveluch. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Mar2007/Shiveluch.A2007088.0200.250m.kmz ] 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/?Kliuchevskoi ] of this region. |
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Smoke from Alaska Fires
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Smoke from Alaska Fires |
| Description |
A light grayish brown haze is sweeping over the ice-covered Hudson Bay from intense fires burning in Yukon Territory and Alaska to the west. The fires have been burning since mid-June, and in the past two weeks, have blanketed much of Alaska and parts of Canada with thick smoke. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired this image on July 7, 2004. The image is available in multiple resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004189-0707/Canada.A2004189.1800 ]. NASA image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at GSFC |
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Smoke from Alaska Fires
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Smoke from Alaska Fires |
| Description |
This large-scale image was made by stitching together four images collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments aboard both the Terra and Aqua satellites. The mosaic shows the extent to which smoke from fires burning in Alaska has spread all the way across Canada and into the Great Lakes region of the United States. The high-resolution version available here is 1 kilometer per pixel. NASA image by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data courtesy MODIS Rapid Response |
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Smoke from Alaska Fires
| Title |
Smoke from Alaska Fires |
| Description |
This large-scale image was made by stitching together four images collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments aboard both the Terra and Aqua satellites. The mosaic shows the extent to which smoke from fires burning in Alaska has spread all the way across Canada and into the Great Lakes region of the United States. The high-resolution version available here is 1 kilometer per pixel. NASA image by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data courtesy MODIS Rapid Response |
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Smoke from Alaska Fires
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Smoke from Alaska Fires |
| Description |
Airborne levels of smoke and pollution are high over eastern Alaska and northwestern Canada because of intense wildfires that have been burning for much of the past two months. While the Alaska fires, which started in mid-June 2004, are waning, the fires in Canada are increasing in magnitude. The smoke and pollution coming out of these fires have been spread all across North America and are being carried eastwards over the Atlantic. This is clearly evident in the above image, which shows the total column amount of carbon monoxide as measured by the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere [ http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/MOPITT/home.html ] (MOPITT) remote sensing instrument on board NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The data represent a composite of 14 days from July12 to July 26, 2004. High levels of pollution are indicated by yellow and red colors, and blue indicates low pollution. Images [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/shownh.php3?img_id=12281 ] from the MODIS instruments aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites show the locations of the numerous fires across the region during this same time period as well as the thick, widespread pall of smoke they produced. NASA image created by Jesse Allen using data courtesy the NCAR/UCAR MOPITT Instrument Team [ http://www.eos.ucar.edu/mopitt/ ] |
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Smoke from Alaska Fires off
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Smoke from Alaska Fires off U.S. East Coast |
| Description |
This true-color image of the United States' eastern seaboard was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA'sAqua satellite. The scene offers a space-based perspective on what people on the ground up and down the U.S. coast observed firsthand on July 21, 2004?the air overhead was very hazy that day. The haze is due to smoke being generated by widespread and intense wildfires burning in Alaska. The smoke has spread all across North America and is now being swept eastward over the Atlantic Ocean. The high-resolution image available here is 500 meters per pixel. Copies of this scene at other resolutions are also available. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
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Smoke from Alaskan Fires in
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Smoke from Alaskan Fires in Northwestern Canada |
| Description |
Northwestern Canada felt the effects as Alaska continued to burn [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13053 ] in late August 2005. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on August 23, 2005. In this image, a pale gray cloud of smoke several hundred kilometers long sweeps through the Northwest Territories toward the southeast, barely obscuring the view of Great Bear Lake. The smoke dips into the province of Alberta (bottom center) before turning northeast. It changes direction again to head southward over Saskatchewan and Manitoba (bottom right). Cloudsdistinct from the smoke because they are pure whitesurround the snaking cloud of smoke and block out the view of eastern Canada. NASA image created by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response team. |
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Fires in Southeast Asia
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Fires in Southeast Asia |
| Description |
Vehicles and power plants are not the only sources of air pollution and greenhouses gases: fires contribute, too. In the Northern Hemisphere spring, which is the end of dry season across much of Southeast Asia, thousands of fires burn each year as people clear cropland and pasture in anticipation of the upcoming wet (growing) season. Intentional fires also escape people's control and burn into adjacent forest. The smoke from these fires crosses the Pacific Ocean, affecting climate far away. This dramatic photo-like image of fires and smoke in Southeast Asia was captured on April 2, 2007, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite. MODIS detected hundreds, possibly thousands of fires (marked in red), burning in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and China. Thick smoke hides nearly all of Laos, where the highest concentration of fires is located. In southern China and northern Vietnam, the smoke has sunk into the valleys that crisscross the mountainous terrain, only the highest ridgelines, which appear dark green, emerge from the blanket of smoke. The smoke sails above a bank of clouds at upper right as a dingy, yellowish haze. Fires have been burning in the region for more than month, as shown by the high carbon monoxide levels observed by NASA's MOPITT sensor during March 2007. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14191 ] In addition to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, fires produce tiny particles of incompletely burned, or charred, carbon. According to research published in mid-March 2007 in the Journal of Geophysical Research, significant amounts of this black carbon travel across the Pacific Ocean to North America at altitudes above 2 kilometers. In spring 2004, between 25-35 gigatons (roughly 55 to 77 million pounds) of black carbon crossed the Pacific and entered skies over western North America between March 26 and April 25, nearly 75 percent of it came from Asia. (Smoke and other pollution have no respect for borders, for example, scientists have also documented smoke pollution from fires in Alaska and Canada crossing the Atlantic [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ContributionPollution/ ], and entering skies over Europe.) Black carbon influences the climate. Like any dark-colored material, it absorbs incoming sunlight, dimming and cooling the Earth's surface. But while the surface cools, the atmosphere where the black carbon is located heats up. Which effect is stronger? When scientists looked at the overall effect for an entire column of the atmosphere, black carbon's warming effects outweighed its cooling effects. They concluded that trans-Pacific transport of black carbon, such as the soot released from the fires shown in this image, may amplify greenhouse-gas warming over the western United States and the Pacific Ocean. The analysis was based on a variety of information, including weather models, observations collected from airplanes, and aerosol data from MODIS. 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/?FAS_China5 ] images of the region in additional resolutions and formats. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Spring Bloom in the Gulf of
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| Title |
Spring Bloom in the Gulf of Alaska |
| Description |
On April 11, 2005, the Gulf of Alaska was showing signs of spring. These colorful images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite show a bloom of ocean plant life along a weak temperature front (a boundary between waters of different temperatures). The highest chlorophyll levels, indicating the most plant life (yellow in the top image), are often located in the areas with cooler water (purple in the lower image). Blooms of these tiny plants, called phytoplankton, often occur in these latitudes at this time of year when the day length and solar elevation angle are increasing. The increasing amount of light spurs photosynthesis and takes the winter chill off the surface waters. The warming causes the top layers of the surface waters to be less dense, and so they float on the surface, becoming less likely to mix with deeper water. The suppression of mixing keeps phytoplankton close to the well-lit surface, where they produce the complex carbohydrates on which other marine life depends. Eventually, however, the phytoplankton will use up the available nutrients, and if cold, nutrient-rich water doesn?t well up from below, the bloom wanes. At the time of these images, the surface waters of the Gulf of Alaska were probably still fairly well stocked with nutrients mixed up from deeper waters by recent storms. NASA images coutesy Norman Kuring, NASA GSFC Ocean Color Team [ http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Spring Bloom in the Gulf of
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| Title |
Spring Bloom in the Gulf of Alaska |
| Description |
On April 11, 2005, the Gulf of Alaska was showing signs of spring. These colorful images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite show a bloom of ocean plant life along a weak temperature front (a boundary between waters of different temperatures). The highest chlorophyll levels, indicating the most plant life (yellow in the top image), are often located in the areas with cooler water (purple in the lower image). Blooms of these tiny plants, called phytoplankton, often occur in these latitudes at this time of year when the day length and solar elevation angle are increasing. The increasing amount of light spurs photosynthesis and takes the winter chill off the surface waters. The warming causes the top layers of the surface waters to be less dense, and so they float on the surface, becoming less likely to mix with deeper water. The suppression of mixing keeps phytoplankton close to the well-lit surface, where they produce the complex carbohydrates on which other marine life depends. Eventually, however, the phytoplankton will use up the available nutrients, and if cold, nutrient-rich water doesn?t well up from below, the bloom wanes. At the time of these images, the surface waters of the Gulf of Alaska were probably still fairly well stocked with nutrients mixed up from deeper waters by recent storms. NASA images coutesy Norman Kuring, NASA GSFC Ocean Color Team [ http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Volcanic Ash over Kodiak Isl
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| Title |
Volcanic Ash over Kodiak Island, Alaska |
| Description |
This true-color image over Kodiak Island, Alaska, shows a plume of resuspended volcanic ash (tan pixels) extending southeastward from the mainland out over the Gulf of Alaska. According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory [ http://www.avo.alaska.edu/avo4/updates/updates.htm ], strong winds in the Katmai National Park and Preserve region are picking up old, loose volcanic ash and blowing it toward the southeast. Although this particular plume is not the result of an active volcano, airplane pilots should consider resuspended ash just as hazardous as the ash from an actively erupting volcano. This scene was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), aboard NASA's Aqua satellite, on September 21, 2003. There are roughly 100 active volcanoes in and around the North Pacific Oceanalong both Asian and North American shorelines. Over the last several decades, commercial airliners have encountered ash plumes from some of these erupting volcanoes, placing the planes and their passengers at risk and causing serious damage to the planes' engines and exteriors. (For more details, read Danger in the Air: Volcanoes have a long reach [ http://www.sciencenews.org/20030913/bob8.asp ].) Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
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Volcanic Eruptions on the Ka
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Volcanic Eruptions on the Kamchatkan Peninsula |
| Description |
*Volcanic Eruptions on the Kamchatkan Peninsula* The Bezymianny Volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula started to erupt violently on January 13, 2004. According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory, the ash plume reached a height of 3.75 miles (6 kilometers). The plume shows up clearly in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) image acquired on January 14, 2004, by the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. Bezymianny had been considered extinct before its dramatic eruption in 1955-56. Since then, the volcano has been relatively active, its most recent eruption having ended in January 2003. This eruption, however, was somewhat unexpected. The volcano went from code green, which indicates that the volcano is dormant, to code red, the color assigned to erupting volcanoes. For more information, see the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program [ http://www.volcano.si.edu/ ]. Three other volcanoes on Kamchatka are currently active. Shiveluch, or Sheveluch, seen in the top of this image, began to erupt on January 11, 2004, according to news reports. Ash still taints the snow around the volcano in this image. Klyuchevskaya (also called Kliuchevskoi), just north of Bezymianny, has also been emitting a faint ash plume. To the south of the area shown in this image, ash darkens the snow around Karymsky, evidence of its recent activity. The high resolution image provided above is at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The image is available in additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004014-0114/KlyuchevskayaSopka2.A2004014.0210 ]. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
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