Narrow Search
 
 
Advanced Search

Browse All : Earth of Nepal

Printer Friendly
1-44 of 44
     
     
Forest Fires in Nepal
On March 12, 2009, the Moder …
3/16/09
Description On March 12, 2009, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite caught a glimpse of a relatively rare event: largeÔò__É__scale forest fires in the Himalaya Mountains of Nepal. Places where the sensor detected active fires are outlined in red. The numerous small fires in southern Nepal may not be wildfires, but rather agricultural or other land-management fires. The image is centered on Nepal, and it shows the towering Himalaya Mountains arcing through the small country. Many national parks and conservation areas are located along the northern border of the country, and the fires appear to be burning in or very near some of them. Five people were killed by the forest fire southwest of Annapurna in early March, according to a news report they were overtaken while in the forest gathering firewood. According to that report, Nepal commonly experiences some small forest fires each spring, which is the end of the dry season there. However, conditions during the fall and winter of 2008 and 2009 were unusually dry, and fires set by poachers to flush game may have gotten out of control. Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory
Date 3/16/09
Mount Everest Radar/Optical
These are two comparison ima …
2/9/95
Date 2/9/95
Description These are two comparison images of Mount Everest and its surroundings, along the border of Nepal and Tibet. The peak of Mount Everest, the highest elevation on Earth at 8,848 meters (29,028 feet), can be seen near the center of each image. The image at the top was acquired through thick cloud cover by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on April 16, 1994. The image on the bottom is an optical photograph taken by the Endeavour crew under clear conditions during the second flight of SIR-C/X-SAR on October 10, 1994. Both images show an area approximately 70 kilometers by 38 kilometers (43 miles by 24 miles) that is centered at 28.0 degrees north latitude and 86.9 degrees east longitude. North is toward the upper left. The colors in the radar image were obtained using the following radar channels: red represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and received), green represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received), blue represents the C- band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received). Radar illumination is from the top of the frame. The optical photograph has been geometrically adjusted to better match the area shown in the radar image. Many features of the Himalayan terrain are visible in both images. Snow covered areas appear white in the optical photograph while the same areas appear bright blue in the radar image. The radar image was taken in early spring and shows deep snow cover, while the optical photograph was taken in late summer and shows minimum snow cover. The curving and branching features seen in both images are glaciers. The two wavelengths and multiple polarizations of the SIR-C radar are sensitive to characteristics of the glacier surfaces that are not detected by conventional photography, such as the ice roughness, water content and stratification. For this reason, the glaciers show a variety of colors in the radar image (blue, purple, red, yellow, white) but only appear as gray or white in the photograph. Field data from other SIR-C/X-SAR test sites, such as the Alpine glaciers of Austria, are being used to help interpret data from remote regions like Mount Everest. ----- Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. The radars illuminate Earth with microwaves, allowing detailed observations at any time, regardless of weather or sunlight conditions. SIR-C/X-SAR uses three microwave wavelengths: L-band (24 cm), C-band (6 cm) and X-band (3 cm). The multi-frequency data will be used by the international scientific community to better understand the global environment and how it is changing. The SIR-C/X-SAR data, complemented by aircraft and ground studies, will give scientists clearer insights into those environmental changes which are caused by nature and those changeswhich are induced by human activity. SIR-C was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. X-SAR was developed by the Dornier and Alenia Spazio companies for the German space agency, Deutsche Agentur fuer Raumfahrtangelegenheiten (DARA), and the Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), with the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fuer Luft und Raumfahrt e.v.(DLR), the major partner in science, operations and data processing of X-SAR.
Onboard Photo of Mt. Everest
Name of Image Onboard Photo of Mt. Everest
Date of Image 2002-03-20
Full Description Astronaut Daniel W. Bursch, Expedition Four flight engineer, was delighted in capturing this image of Mt. Everest in the Himalayan Range from aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The mountain is near frame center. Because the photo was taken close to orbital sunrise, the low sun angle gave tremendous relief to the mountains. Named for Sir George Everest, the British surveyor-general of India, Mount Everest is the tallest point on earth. Standing 29,028 feet tall, it is 5 1/2 miles above sea level. Mount Everest is located half in Nepal and half in Tibet.
Floods in Pakistan
Title Floods in Pakistan
Description Normally floods are triggered by heavy rains, but the floods along the Indus River were caused by a heat wave followed by monsoon rains. High temperatures across southern Asia rapidly melted mountain snow packs, sending a gush of water down rivers across the region. The result has been widespread flooding along the arc of the Himalaya, the Hindu Kush, and the Pamirs spanning from Nepal to Tajikistan. Many of the flooded rivers empty into the Indus River, leaving it swollen beyond its normal size. Between June 18, 2005, right, and July 10, left, the river has nearly tripled in size. Both of these images were acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]). This false color combination highlights the presence of water, which is dark blue. Clouds are light blue and white. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained by the MODIS Rapid Response team.
Floods in Pakistan
Title Floods in Pakistan
Description Normally floods are triggered by heavy rains, but the floods along the Indus River were caused by a heat wave followed by monsoon rains. High temperatures across southern Asia rapidly melted mountain snow packs, sending a gush of water down rivers across the region. The result has been widespread flooding along the arc of the Himalaya, the Hindu Kush, and the Pamirs spanning from Nepal to Tajikistan. Many of the flooded rivers empty into the Indus River, leaving it swollen beyond its normal size. Between June 18, 2005, right, and July 10, left, the river has nearly tripled in size. Both of these images were acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]). This false color combination highlights the presence of water, which is dark blue. Clouds are light blue and white. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained by the MODIS Rapid Response team.
Haze along the Himalaya Fron …
Title Haze along the Himalaya Front Range
Description A film of haze hangs over northern India along the dark green curve of the Himalaya Mountains in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) image, taken on November 10, 2004, by NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The haze is probably being caused by widespread agricultural fires [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=12558 ] burning along the mountain front. The fires have been marked with small red dots. Urban pollution and industry may also have contributed to the pollution. This pattern of haze is common in India and Nepal because the southern air mass cannot pass over the barrier formed by the Himalaya. The mountains also seem to be blocking clouds from moving from China, top right, to India and Pakistan, lower left. China is cloudy, but the areas southwest of the mountains are mostly clear. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the MODIS Rapid Response team.
Southern Asia Heat Wave
Title Southern Asia Heat Wave
Description A pre-monsoon heat wave left India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh baking for much of June 2005. The heat wave, which started at the end of May, has claimed more than 200 lives in India alone, according to news reports, and has also caused deaths in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The top surface temperature image, created from data gathered by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite between May 25 and June 1, 2005, shows the start of the heat wave. Compared to images collected during the same time in 2004, there is less gradation between the hot plateaus of south Asia and the frigid peaks of the Himalaya. In 2005, searing heat, shown in yellow, spread across India?s northern plains and along the southern base of the Himalaya in Pakistan and Nepal. In agreement with this image, temperatures stayed between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius (104 ? 122 degrees F) for much of June. Monsoon rains starting on June 21 brought relief to some of the region. NASA image by Jesse Allen, based on data from Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara
Southern Asia Heat Wave
Title Southern Asia Heat Wave
Description A pre-monsoon heat wave left India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh baking for much of June 2005. The heat wave, which started at the end of May, has claimed more than 200 lives in India alone, according to news reports, and has also caused deaths in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The top surface temperature image, created from data gathered by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite between May 25 and June 1, 2005, shows the start of the heat wave. Compared to images collected during the same time in 2004, there is less gradation between the hot plateaus of south Asia and the frigid peaks of the Himalaya. In 2005, searing heat, shown in yellow, spread across India?s northern plains and along the southern base of the Himalaya in Pakistan and Nepal. In agreement with this image, temperatures stayed between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius (104 ? 122 degrees F) for much of June. Monsoon rains starting on June 21 brought relief to some of the region. NASA image by Jesse Allen, based on data from Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara
Southern Asia Heat Wave
Title Southern Asia Heat Wave
Description A pre-monsoon heat wave left India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh baking for much of June 2005. The heat wave, which started at the end of May, has claimed more than 200 lives in India alone, according to news reports, and has also caused deaths in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The top surface temperature image, created from data gathered by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite between May 25 and June 1, 2005, shows the start of the heat wave. Compared to images collected during the same time in 2004, there is less gradation between the hot plateaus of south Asia and the frigid peaks of the Himalaya. In 2005, searing heat, shown in yellow, spread across India?s northern plains and along the southern base of the Himalaya in Pakistan and Nepal. In agreement with this image, temperatures stayed between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius (104 ? 122 degrees F) for much of June. Monsoon rains starting on June 21 brought relief to some of the region. NASA image by Jesse Allen, based on data from Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara
Flooding in Eastern India
Title Flooding in Eastern India
Description Abutting the southern front of the snow-clad Himalaya Mountains, the broad, flat Ganges Plain is laced with rivers that transport glacial melt to the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea. Not surprisingly, these rivers lead something of a Dr. Jekyll–Mr. Hyde existence: during the dry winter, the rivers are small and sedate, their headwaters largely locked in ice. In the summer, temperatures in the mountains climb, melting mountain-top snow and fueling the Asian monsoon, and the rivers swell into roaring giants. Not every year is the same however—the monsoon may be wetter in a particular year or winter snows might be greater, leading to more snowmelt—and 2007 numbered among the more extreme flood years. Heavy rain throughout July pushed the Ganges and its many tributaries over their banks, submerging large tracts of land in northeastern India. As of August 3, nearly 20 million people had been displaced in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, and 125 had died in India, reported BBC News. [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6927389.stm ] Among the most severely hit states was India's northeastern Bihar state. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flying on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image of flooding on the Ganges and its tributaries on August 3, 2007. The lower image, captured by Aqua MODIS on June 4, 2007, shows the plain before the summer monsoon and snowmelt swelled the rivers. In these images (made with a combination of infrared and visible light), water is black or dark blue. Water takes on a brighter shade of blue when tinged with sediment. Clouds, pale blue and white, are scattered over the flooded region, which is bright green with vegetation. Sparsely vegetated areas or bare earth in the lower image are rose-tinted tan. On August 3, the Ganges, Gandak, and Kosi Rivers were so swollen that it was hard to see exactly where the rivers normally flow. The tributaries that feed the Kosi River, not even visible on June 4, have combined in a vast web of water-covered land. The light blue area under the clouds in the lower left corner of the image is probably water-soaked earth, not standing water. Though destructive, seasonal flooding in the Ganges River system blankets the plain with fertile alluvial soil, making it productive farmland. Because the plain is so fertile, it is one of the most densely populated regions on Earth.Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_India3/2007215 ] of northeastern India 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.
Flooding in India and Bangla …
Title Flooding in India and Bangladesh
Description Just as the summer floods were starting to subside, September brought more rain to South Asia. The heavy monsoon rain pushed rivers in Northeast India, Nepal, and Bangladesh over their banks and forced more than a million people from their homes. These images show floods on the Sapt Kosi River in northern India. The river curves from Nepal across the Ganges Plain, where it eventually joins the Ganges River. Flowing from the Himalaya Mountains, the river is prone to flooding in the summer when snow melt combines with monsoon rains to increase the river's flow. It is one the the major tributaries of the Ganges River. The contrast between winter and spring's dry-season water levels and late-summer, rainy-season water levels is illustrated by this pair of images. The left image was taken on September 11, 2007, after several days of heavy rain. The right image is from May 22, 2007, just before the summer monsoon started. In September, the river was several kilometers wider than it had been in late May. The water is light blue, an indication that it is muddy. Though the river was widest in India, it was also swollen in Nepal. In the days that preceded September 11, heavy rains triggered floods and landslides along rivers throughout Nepal, leaving at least 15 dead, reported the Agence France-Presse [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/SODA-76W4RF?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=FL-2007-000129-PAK ] on September 9. Along the bottom of the image, the Ganges River was also fuller than it had been earlier in the year. Additional flooding on the Ganges and its tributaries can be seen in the large images, which show a wider view of the Ganges Plain. The images were both captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite and were made with a combination of infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and land. In this type of image, water is black, though sediment can color the water blue. Plant-covered land is bright green, and bare earth or sparsely vegetated land is tan. Clouds are light blue and white. A photo-like [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_India3/2007254 ] version of the images is available from the MODIS Rapid Response System, which provides daily images of northern India. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Flooding in India and Bangla …
Title Flooding in India and Bangladesh
Description Just as the summer floods were starting to subside, September brought more rain to South Asia. The heavy monsoon rain pushed rivers in Northeast India, Nepal, and Bangladesh over their banks and forced more than a million people from their homes. These images show floods on the Sapt Kosi River in northern India. The river curves from Nepal across the Ganges Plain, where it eventually joins the Ganges River. Flowing from the Himalaya Mountains, the river is prone to flooding in the summer when snow melt combines with monsoon rains to increase the river's flow. It is one the the major tributaries of the Ganges River. The contrast between winter and spring's dry-season water levels and late-summer, rainy-season water levels is illustrated by this pair of images. The left image was taken on September 11, 2007, after several days of heavy rain. The right image is from May 22, 2007, just before the summer monsoon started. In September, the river was several kilometers wider than it had been in late May. The water is light blue, an indication that it is muddy. Though the river was widest in India, it was also swollen in Nepal. In the days that preceded September 11, heavy rains triggered floods and landslides along rivers throughout Nepal, leaving at least 15 dead, reported the Agence France-Presse [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/SODA-76W4RF?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=FL-2007-000129-PAK ] on September 9. Along the bottom of the image, the Ganges River was also fuller than it had been earlier in the year. Additional flooding on the Ganges and its tributaries can be seen in the large images, which show a wider view of the Ganges Plain. The images were both captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite and were made with a combination of infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and land. In this type of image, water is black, though sediment can color the water blue. Plant-covered land is bright green, and bare earth or sparsely vegetated land is tan. Clouds are light blue and white. A photo-like [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_India3/2007254 ] version of the images is available from the MODIS Rapid Response System, which provides daily images of northern India. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Floods in Bangladesh
Title Floods in Bangladesh
Description A large portion of Bangladesh was awash with floods 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 August 3, 2007. The low-lying nation is an alluvial delta, and therefore, is extremely prone to flooding. In July 2007, heavy monsoon rains filled the Brahmaputra, Padma, and Meghna Rivers, leading to the floods shown here. The Jamuna, a branch of the Brahmaputra River, arcs through the center of the scene, its braided waterways woven into a single thread where the river is overflowing. A branch of the Jamuna flows east into the Meghna River. The wetlands that surround these rivers are full of water, and the rivers themselves are swollen. The Padma River, formed by the convergence of the Ganges and Jamuna Rivers, is also flooded. The severity of the floods can be seen in the contrast between the top image and the lower image, which was taken on May 1, 2007, before the monsoon rains began. In the dry season, the course of each river is clearly defined, not blurred by excess water. The images were made with infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and earth. In this type of image, water is black or blue, where colored with sediment. Plant-covered land is bright green, and bare earth or lightly vegetated areas are tan. Light blue and white clouds dot the scene. In the lower image, red dots mark the location of fires. The floods shown here stranded hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated nations, reported BBC News. [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6927389.stm ] As of August 3, nearly 20 million people had been displaced by monsoon flooding in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, added BBC. Some of the floods in northeastern India [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14429 ] were visible when Aqua MODIS flew over on August 3. The intense rains of the summer monsoon typically fall between June and October, so additional flooding is likely.Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2007215 ] of Bangladesh 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 Bangladesh
Title Floods in Bangladesh
Description A large portion of Bangladesh was awash with floods 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 August 3, 2007. The low-lying nation is an alluvial delta, and therefore, is extremely prone to flooding. In July 2007, heavy monsoon rains filled the Brahmaputra, Padma, and Meghna Rivers, leading to the floods shown here. The Jamuna, a branch of the Brahmaputra River, arcs through the center of the scene, its braided waterways woven into a single thread where the river is overflowing. A branch of the Jamuna flows east into the Meghna River. The wetlands that surround these rivers are full of water, and the rivers themselves are swollen. The Padma River, formed by the convergence of the Ganges and Jamuna Rivers, is also flooded. The severity of the floods can be seen in the contrast between the top image and the lower image, which was taken on May 1, 2007, before the monsoon rains began. In the dry season, the course of each river is clearly defined, not blurred by excess water. The images were made with infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and earth. In this type of image, water is black or blue, where colored with sediment. Plant-covered land is bright green, and bare earth or lightly vegetated areas are tan. Light blue and white clouds dot the scene. In the lower image, red dots mark the location of fires. The floods shown here stranded hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated nations, reported BBC News. [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6927389.stm ] As of August 3, nearly 20 million people had been displaced by monsoon flooding in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, added BBC. Some of the floods in northeastern India [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14429 ] were visible when Aqua MODIS flew over on August 3. The intense rains of the summer monsoon typically fall between June and October, so additional flooding is likely.Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2007215 ] of Bangladesh 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.
Himalayan Horizon From Space
Title Himalayan Horizon From Space
Explanation This stunning aerial view [ http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewrecord?7837 ] shows the rugged snow covered peaks of [ http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/education/Everest/ ] a Himalayan mountain range in Nepal. The seventh-highest peak on the planet [ http://www.math.ufl.edu/~metzler/Frame/ Outdoor/Data/asia.html ], Dhaulagiri, is the high point on the horizon at the left while in the foreground lies the southern Tibetan Plateau of China. But, contrary to appearances, this picture wasn't taken from an airliner [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010129.html ] cruising at 30,000 feet. Instead it was taken with a 35mm camera and telephoto lens by the Expedition 1 crew [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/crew/exp1/ index.html ] aboard the International Space Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011012.html ] -- orbiting 200 nautical miles [ http://www.seewise.com/or/faqtxt/a3.html ] above the Earth. The Himalayan mountains [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/ images.php3?img_id=4704 ] were created by crustal plate tectonics [ http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/ dynamic.html ] on planet Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001002.html ] some 70 million years ago, as the Indian plate began a collision with the Eurasian plate. Himalayan uplift still continues today at a rate of a few millimeters per year.
The View from Everest
Title The View from Everest
Explanation What would it be like to stand atop [ http://www.princeton.edu/~acfraker/everest.html ] the tallest mountain on Earth? To see a full panoramic vista from there, scroll right. Visible [ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/climb/summitstill.html ] are snow peaked mountains near and far, tremendous cliffs, distant plateaus, the tops of clouds, and a dark blue sky. Mt. Everest [ http://www.mnteverest.com/history.html ] stands 8.85 kilometers above sea level, roughly the maximum height reached by international airplane [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030504.html ] flights, but much less than the 300 kilometers achieved by a space shuttle [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030105.html ]. Hundreds of people have tried and failed to climb the behemoth [ http://www.highalpex.com/Peaklist/peaklist.html ] by foot, a feat first accomplished successfully [ http://teacher.scholastic.com/hillary/ ] in 1953. About 1000 people have now made it [ http://classic.mountainzone.com/everest/99/north/faq.html ] to the summit. Roddy Mackenzie, who climbed the mountain in 1989, captured the above image [ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/climb/summitstill.html ]. Mt. Everest lies in the Himalayan mountains [ http://www.newton.mec.edu/Angier/DimSum/Him.Range%20Pix.html ] in the country of Nepal [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/np.html ]. In the native language [ http://www.mnteverest.net/nepali.htm ] of Nepal, the mountain's name is "Sagarmatha" which means [ http://www.mnteverest.com/history.html ]"forehead of the sky."
Himalayan Horizon From Space
Title Himalayan Horizon From Space
Explanation This stunning aerial view [ http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewrecord?7837 ] shows the rugged snow covered peaks of [ http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/education/Everest/ ] a Himalayan mountain range in Nepal. The seventh-highest peak on the planet [ http://www.math.ufl.edu/~metzler/Frame/ Outdoor/Data/asia.html ], Dhaulagiri, is the high point on the horizon at the left while in the foreground lies the southern Tibetan Plateau of China. But, contrary to appearances, this picture wasn't taken from an airliner [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050513.html ] cruising at 30,000 feet. Instead it was taken with a 35mm camera and telephoto lens by the Expedition 1 crew [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/crew/exp1/ index.html ] aboard the International Space Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011012.html ] -- orbiting 200 nautical miles [ http://www.onlineconversion.com/faq_07.htm ] above the Earth. The Himalayan mountains [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/ images.php3?img_id=4704 ] were created by crustal plate tectonics [ http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/ dynamic.html ] on planet Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001002.html ] some 70 million years ago, as the Indian plate began a collision with the Eurasian plate. Himalayan uplift still continues today at a rate of a few millimeters per year.
Floods in Bangladesh: Natura …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima …
Bangladesh_AMO_2007215
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-08-03
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Bangladesh_AMO_2007215
Earth observations taken fro …
johnsonspacecentermediaarchi …
Earth observation views take …
STS080-733-092
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 1996-11-30
creator NASA
identifier STS080-733-092
Flooding in India and Bangla …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima …
SaptKosi_TMO_2007254
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-09-11
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier SaptKosi_TMO_2007254
Monsoon Floods Inundate East …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Abutting the southern front …
Bihar_AMO_2007215
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-08-03
creator NASA -- NASA image courtesy the rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center.
identifier Bihar_AMO_2007215
Floods in Pakistan: Natural …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima …
indus_amo_10jul05
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date July 10, 2005
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier indus_amo_10jul05
3D View of the Himalaya : Im …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
High resolution eoimages.gsf …
misr_himalaya
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2000-05-14
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/JPL, www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ MISR Team.
identifier misr_himalaya
Earthquake Region, India : I …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
People all across India, Pak …
aster_bhuj
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ASTER Science Team
identifier aster_bhuj
Aerosols Over India : Image …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Large abundances of aerosols …
MISR_India_aerosol_med
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001-10-15
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov MISR Team
identifier MISR_India_aerosol_med
Aerosols Over India : Image …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Large abundances of aerosols …
MISR_India_aerosol_med
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001-10-15
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov MISR Team
identifier MISR_India_aerosol_med
Haze along the Himalaya Fron …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
A film of haze hangs over no …
aqua_himilaya_10nov04
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-11-10
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier aqua_himilaya_10nov04
Space radar image of Mount E …
PIA01301
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
Title Space radar image of Mount Everest
Original Caption Released with Image These are two comparison images of Mount Everest and its surroundings, along the border of Nepal and Tibet. The peak of Mount Everest, the highest elevation on Earth at 8,848 meters (29,028 feet), can be seen near the center of each image. The image at the top was acquired through thick cloud cover by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on April 16, 1994. The image on the bottom is an optical photograph taken by the Endeavour crew under clear conditions during the second flight of SIR-C/X-SAR on October 10, 1994. Both images show an area approximately 70 kilometers by 38 kilometers (43 miles by 24 miles) that is centered at 28.0 degrees north latitude and 86.9 degrees east longitude. North is toward the upper left. The colors in the radar image were obtained using the following radar channels: red represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and received), green represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received), blue represents the C-band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received). Radar illumination is from the top of the frame. The optical photograph has been geometrically adjusted to better match the area shown in the radar image. Many features of the Himalayan terrain are visible in both images. Snow covered areas appear white in the optical photograph while the same areas appear bright blue in the radar image. The radar image was taken in early spring and shows deep snow cover, while the optical photograph was taken in late summer and shows minimum snow cover. The curving and branching features seen in both images are glaciers. The two wavelengths and multiple polarizations of the SIR-C radar are sensitive to characteristics of the glacier surfaces that are not detected by conventional photography, such as the ice roughness, water content and stratification. For this reason, the glaciers show a variety of colors in the radar image (blue, purple, red, yellow, white) but only appear as gray or white in the photograph. Field data from other SIR-C/X-SAR test sites, such as the Alpine glaciers of Austria, are being used to help interpret data from remote regions like Mount Everest.
Roof of the World and the Ab …
PIA02646
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Roof of the World and the Abode of Snow
Original Caption Released with Image The Tibetan Plateau and a portion of the Himalayan Mountain chain are captured in this MISR stereo image from May 14, 2000 (Terra orbit 2153). The image is a composite of data from the instrument's vertical and 46-degree forward cameras, and has been oriented with north at the left. Viewing the image in 3-D requires the use of red/blue glasses with the red filter placed over your left eye. On the left side of this image is the Tibetan Plateau, the highest plateau on Earth and often called the "Roof of the World." Near the lower left is lake Paiku Co, at an altitude of 4591 meters. The border between Tibet and Nepal marks the eastern extent of the magnificent Himalayan Mountains, home to many of the world's highest peaks. Himalaya is a Sanskrit word meaning "the Abode of Snow." Mt. Everest (8848 meters) and Mt. Makalu (8481 meters) are visible near the top center of the image. Further to the south is the Mahabharat Range, separated from the Himalayas by the "River of Gold", the Sun Kosi. Rounding out our tour from north to south, on the righthand side of the image, is the densely populated Indo-Gangetic Plain of northern India. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.
More Climbing Ahead
PIA03014
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
Title More Climbing Ahead
Original Caption Released with Image NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will not plant a flag, as did Sir Edmund Hillary when he scaled Mount Everest on Earth, when the rover reaches the hilltop outcrop shown here, which scientists have nicknamed in honor of Hillary. But Spirit will send images and other scientific data across the millions of miles that separate Earth from the distant planet where no human has yet set foot. This false-color view combines images that Spirit took with its panoramic camera during the rover's 608th martian day, or sol (Sept. 18, 2005). The site is on top of "Husband Hill" inside Gusev Crater, where the rover has been conducting scientific studies. The component images were taken through the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters. The slightly lower outcrop to the left of "Hillary" is nicknamed "Tenzing." The names recall the first humans -- Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal -- to reach the highest point on Earth, in 1953. Husband Hill rises 106 meters (348 feet) above the surrounding plains.
Aerosols over India
PIA03428
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Aerosols over India
Original Caption Released with Image Large abundances of aerosols, or airborne particulates, over the low-lying plains of northeastern India appear in dramatic contrast with the relatively pristine air of the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau. This contrast is illustrated in these Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer images from October 15, 2001. The aerosols that contribute to poor air quality over much of the Indian subcontinent are believed to originate from industrial smoke, vehicle emissions, and biomass burning. The two images at left show the scene from MISR's 26-degree and 70-degree forward viewing angles, respectively. The high levels of aerosols are accentuated in the 70-degree forward image, due to the longer atmospheric path length associated with the more oblique viewing angle. The abundance of aerosols is derived from the variation of scene brightness and contrast as a function of observation angle, and is displayed in the third panel from the left as optical depth. This quantity is logarithmically related to the atmosphere's ability to transmit light, and is one of several variables used to characterize the climatic and environmental influence of aerosols. Areas where retrievals were not obtained, such as the topographically complex Himalayas in Nepal, and cloudy or very turbid areas, are shown in dark gray. Surface calculations for the 26-degree view direction are shown in the rightmost panel. These calculations use the optical depth field to estimate surface reflectances as if the intervening atmosphere were not present. Making corrections for atmospheric scattering is important when using reflectances measured from space in surface classification and physical process studies. Note that the algorithms used to produce these results are still being refined, and future product versions may show some differences from the preliminary values displayed here. These data were obtained during Terra orbit 9711, and represent an area of about 400 kilometers x 1600 kilometers. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. For more information: http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov ]
General Description STS-87 Shuttle Mission Imagery
World's mountains over 5 mil …
Title World's mountains over 5 miles above sea level as seen from the Apollo 7
Description The world's dozen peaks which reach a height of greater than five miles above sea level are seen in this photograph from the Apollo 7 spacecraft at an altitude of 130 nautical miles. The 29,028 ft. high Mount Everest is at lower center. On the central horizon can be seen the 28,250 ft. high Mount Godwin-Austen (K-2) some 800 miles northwest of Mount Everest. In the lower right, Mount Kanchenjunga rises 28,208 ft. to separate Nepal from Sikkim. The snow line on the peaks was at 17,500 ft. In the upper right the lake-studded highlands of Tibet are visible.
Date Taken 1968-10-15
India, Nepal, Tibet, Himalay …
Title India, Nepal, Tibet, Himalaya Mountains as seen from the Apollo 7 spacecraft
Description India, Nepal, Tibet, Himalaya Mountains, looking east toward Ganges Plain, as seen from the Apollo 7 spacecraft during its 8th revolution of the earth. Photographed from an altitude of 126 nautical miles, at ground elapsed time of 12 hours.
Date Taken 1968-10-11
View of the Himalaya Mountai …
Title View of the Himalaya Mountain Range photographed during MA-9 flight
Description View of the Himalaya Mountain Range in the India-Nepal-Tibet border area, as photographed from the Mercury-Atlas 9 capsule by Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper Jr., during his 22 orbit Mercury-Atlas 9 (MA-9) spaceflight.
Date Taken 1963-05-16
China, India, and Nepal as s …
Title China, India, and Nepal as seen from Gemini 11
Description China, India, and Nepal, looking east, as seen from the Gemini 11 spacecraft during its 37th revolution of the earth. Great Himalaya Mountain Range is clearly visible.
Date Taken 1966-09-14
Land Clearing on the Himalay …
Title Land Clearing on the Himalayan Lower Slopes, Nepal
Description This view of the Himalayan Mountain Range, Nepal (28.5N, 82.5E) shows a portion of the mountains and lower valleys filled with smoke from fires set among the subtropical temperate rainforests and alpine slope forests. Some valleys are entirely filled with smoke palls and over fifty individual point sources of burning can be delineated in this scene. These pristine forests are threatened by intensive agriculture and land clearing processes.
Date Taken 1989-05-08
STS-42 Earth observation of …
Title STS-42 Earth observation of the Tibetan Plateau
Description STS-42 Earth observation taken aboard Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, is of the Tibetan Plateau (30.5N, 81.5E). The twin lakes with an altitude of 15,550 feet have the greatest visual impact among features on the plateau. The larger lake is Manasarovar and smaller lake is Rakshash Tal. The Hindus believe if you bathe in Manasarovar the sins of a lifetime are washed away. Both lakes are in Tibet, about ten miles north of its border with Nepal. Immediately to the north of Rakshash (down in the image) and just out of the photo is Mt Kailas 6741m. This is the holiest of all mountains for both Tibetan Buddhists and Hindus. Pilgrims come from many miles away to walk around this 'navel of the earth.' NASA scientists studying the STS-42 Earth photography note the intense dryness on the valley floors. Peaks in the Himalaya Range, immediately south, exceed 21,000 feet. Flanks of Ghurla Mandhata, which lies entirely within Tibet and rises 25,000 feet, appear at top.
Date Taken 1992-01-30
STS-56 ESC Earth observation …
Title STS-56 ESC Earth observation of a portion of the Himalayan mountain range
Description STS-56 electronic still camera (ESC) Earth observation image taken aboard Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, shows a portion of the Himalayan mountain range. The image was recorded with a 180mm lens on the Hand-held, Earth-oriented, Real-time, Cooperative, User-friendly, Location-targeting and Environmental System (HERCULES). HERCULES is a device that makes it simple for Shuttle crewmembers to take pictures of Earth as they merely point a modified 35mm camera and shoot any interesting feature, whose latitude and longitude are automatically determined in real time. In this observation, the center coordinates are 27.822 degrees north latitude and 84.173 degrees east longitude. Geolocation accuracy on this image is 0.7 nautical miles. The Kali River runs from the east (top left corner) to the west (bottom right corner). Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu lies (out of frame) about 96 nautical miles east of the center point. Digital file name is ESC01039.IMG.
Date Taken 1993-04-17
Mount Everest as seen from S …
Title Mount Everest as seen from STS-58
Description The best, nearly cloud-free Shuttle view yet of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world at 29,028 feet. The peak, on the border between Nepal and China, is almost exactly in the center of the photograph. The challenging North Face is in shadow, valley glaciers radiate in all directions from the central massif.
Date Taken 1993-10-30
Mt. Everest as seen from STS …
Title Mt. Everest as seen from STS-66 shuttle Atlantis
Description Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world at 8,858 meters, was photographed by the STS-66 crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis from 165 nautical miles above the Earth. Also seen are Cho Oyu (8,153 meters) northwest of Everest, and other peaks in what has been calle the "Roof of the World". Abundant details of glacier surfaces, including moraines, crevasse fields and ice falls are displayed for study.
Date Taken 1994-11-14
Himalayas as seen from STS-6 …
Title Himalayas as seen from STS-66 shuttle Atlantis
Description View is southeastward across China (Tibet), half of Nepal and India. The partly frozen lake near the center of the frame is Pei-Ku T'so ("Bos-tie Lake"). The central Himalaya stretches from Mount Everest on the left past Annapurna on the right. Large tributaries converge to form the Ganges River, flowing through the lowland basin south of the Himalaya. This photograph illustrates the rain shadow effect of the Himalaya Chain, wet, warm air from the Indian Ocean is driven against the mountains, lifted, and drained of water that forms ice caps, the abundant rivers, and forests of the foothills. In contrast the high plateau of Tibet is arid, composed largely of topographically-closed basins because stream flow is inadequate to form integrated drainage networks.
Date Taken 1994-11-14
Mount Everest region as seen …
Title Mount Everest region as seen from the STS-66 orbiter Atlantis
Description View of the Mount Everst region, Nepal and China. Low morning sun highlights Mount Everest (the highest mountain in the world at 8,848 meters), Cho Oyu (8,153 meters) to the northwest, and other peaks of "The Roof of the World". New snow seems to be confined to the highest peaks. Abundant details of glacier surfaces, including moraines, crevasse fields, and ice falls are displayed for study.
Date Taken 1994-11-14
Roof of the World" Tibetan P …
Title Roof of the World" Tibetan Plateau of China as seen from STS-67
Description Two major physiographic features are very much in evidence in this photograph. First, a small segment of the very rugged Himalayan Mountains is observed in the foreground. This virtually cloud-free color photograph (general direction of view is northerly) shows part of the snow-covered northwest by southeast trending Himalayas. Several glaciers radiate to the north from the northernmost regions of the Himalayas. A fairly extensive, largely snow-covered intermontane valley is also evident across the center section of the photograph. The Gangdise Mountains, another northwest by southeast trending range, forms the northern boundary of the broad valley. Several major ice and snow-covered identifiable lakes are seen on the Tibetan Plateau of China. This photograph show why this region is called the "Roof of the World".
Date Taken 1995-03-14
1-44 of 44