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A Summer View of Russia's Le …
Title A Summer View of Russia's Lena Delta and Olenek River
Description These views of the Russian Arctic were acquired by NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on July 11, 2004. The brief arctic summer had transformed the frozen tundra and the thousands of lakes, channels, and rivers of the Lena Delta into a fertile wetland, and the usual blanket of thick snow had melted from the vast plains and taiga forests. The images show an area in the northern part of the Sakha Republic in eastern Siberia. The Olenek River wends northeast from the bottom of the images to the upper left, and the delta through which the mighty Lena River empties into the Laptev Sea dominate the top portions of the images. Creating accurate maps of vegetation structure is essential for understanding the seasonal exchanges of energy and water at the Earth's surface and for preserving biodiversity. The left-hand image is a natural-color image from MISR's nadir (vertical-viewing) camera, in which the rivers appear murky due to sediment, and photosynthetically active vegetation appears green. The center image is also from MISR's nadir camera, but is a false-color view in which the predominant red color is due to the brightness of vegetation at near-infrared wavelengths. Apart from the Lena Delta, the most photosynthetically active regions are within the lower half of the image and throughout the great stretch of land that curves across the Olenek River.  The relatively barren ranges of the Volyoi Mountains appear as the pale tan-colored area to the right of image center. The right-hand image is a multiangle, false-color view made from the red band data of the 60-degree-backward, nadir, and 60-degree-forward cameras, displayed as red, green and blue, respectively. Water appears blue in this image because sun glint makes smooth, wet surfaces look brighter at the forward camera's view angle. Much of the landscape and many low clouds appear purple because these surfaces are both forward and backward scattering, and clouds that are further from the surface appear in a different spot for each view angle, creating a rainbow-like appearance. The highly vegetated region in the natural-color nadir image exhibits a faint greenish hue in the multi-angle composite. This subtle effect suggests that the nadir camera is observing more of the brighter, underlying surface than the oblique cameras, providing information about the distribution and density of trees and shrubs in this area. The Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously, and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude. The MISR Browse Image Viewer [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/MISRBR/ ], provides access to low-resolution true-color versions of these images. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 24273. The panels cover an area of about 230 kilometers x 420 kilometers, and utilize data from blocks 30 to 34 within World Reference System-2 path 134. 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. Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. [ http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] Text by Clare Averill (Raytheon/JPL).
Heat Wave in North America
Title Heat Wave in North America
Description Scorching summer sun, burning pavement, stinging sweat—normal for July. But in July 2006, temperatures climbed above average levels for the previous six years and stayed warm for several days. During mid-July, a heat wave settled over most of the United States, with air temperatures soaring past 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius). Land surface temperatures climbed as well, as this image shows. Most of the United States and portions of Canada and Mexico were much warmer than they had been during the same period from 2000 to 2005. Deep red across the Midwest indicates that land surface temperatures were as much as 10 degrees Celsius warmer than the six-year average, and with the exception of the Pacific Northwest and a few other isolated region, the rest of the country was also warmer than average. The heat wave continued past the period shown here, through the end of July. In California alone, the heat killed at least 126 people, reported Reuters on July 29. This image was created from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite between July 12 and July 19, 2006. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara.
Heatwave in Southern Califor …
Title Heatwave in Southern California
Description September 5, 2007, marked the end of a week-long heat wave that led to 31 deaths and triggered power outages across southern California, reported the L.A. Times. Temperatures climbed above 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) when a high-pressure system blocked cool air from the Pacific. The effect of the heat wave on different locations in the Southwest is shown in this pair of images, taken on September 5, at 11:25 a.m. local time (18:25 UTC) by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flying on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ], in Northern California filters down from the top edge of the scene. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Goddard Land Processes data archives (LAADS). [ http://laads.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ], satellite. The photo-like, natural-color image (top) and corresponding land surface temperature image (bottom) illustrate the relationship between land cover, elevation, and temperature. The images show much of California and Nevada, and a smaller portion of Arizona and Utah. Not surprisingly, the hottest areas, shown in yellow, correspond with sparsely vegetated desert regions. In the natural-color image, the brush-covered Mojave Desert on the California-Nevada border is tan with splashes of pink where iron-rich sandstone is exposed. The small-leafed, woody vegetation provides little shade, allowing the Earth's surface to be exposed to the Sun. The rock-and-dirt desert absorbs sunlight, and temperatures climb (yellow areas of bottom image). The other hot spots in the image occur in the cactus-dotted Sonoran Desert, which encompasses the southernmost portions of inland California and southwestern Arizona, and the much smaller Colorado Desert west of the Salton Sea. Irrigated land south of the Salton Sea and along the Colorado River is a web of brown-green. The presence of water and vegetation in these irrigated areas makes the land cooler. Elevation also plays a role in the surface temperatures of the Sonoran Desert. Pockets of low-elevation land are much warmer than the lines of mountains that separate them, particularly in southwestern Arizona. The coolest parts of California, shown in purple and blue, are in the mountains, most prominently the Sierra Nevada, but also the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles. In the photo-like images, the mountain ranges are dark green, colored by trees. The vegetation cover and the high elevation keep the land cooler than surrounding low-elevation sites. The other significant cool spot in the image is the San Joaquin Valley. Like the irrigated farm land bordering the Salton Sea and the Colorado River, this area is kept cool by the presence of water and plants. The coldest areas in the image appear to be in Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, which are marked by streaks of dark purple. These cold signatures are from clouds.The final correlation between land cover and temperature can be seen in urban areas along the coast. In the photo-like image, Los Angles sprawls as a silver-gray patch from the coast to the San Bernardino Mountains. Since urban surfaces absorb heat, Los Angles is slightly warmer in the surface temperature image than the surrounding landscape. In the north, the San Francisco urban area is similarly warmer than its surroundings. Though the extreme temperatures raised the fire danger in Southern California, MODIS did not detect any fires in the region. Fires, marked with red dots, were burning in Central California south and east of San Francisco. Smoke from a large fire [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14497 ]
Record Hot April in Australi …
Title Record Hot April in Australia
Description Record heat stifled Australia in April 2005. The average temperature for the entire continent was 2.9 degrees Celsius above average, making this the warmest April on record. The high temperatures were accompanied by dry skies, with rainfall totals well below average for many areas. This image shows just how much of Australia sweltered under hotter-than-normal temperatures during April 2005. The image was created using surface temperature data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. Deep red over most of the continent reveal where temperatures were hotter in April 2005 than the average April temperature between 2000 and 2004. Darker red spots show where temperatures spiked, while tan and blues show temperatures much closer to average. The surface temperatures shown here are different from the air temperatures reported on the evening news. Because the ground absorbs energy from the sun, surface temperatures are often much warmer than air temperatures, for example, a sandy beach can be unbearably hot even though the air temperature is comfortable. While air temperatures may not have soared as high as 15 degrees Celsius above average as the image shows the ground temperatures doing in places, they did set new records throughout the country. 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
Record Hot April in Australi …
Title Record Hot April in Australia
Description Record heat stifled Australia in April 2005. The average temperature for the entire continent was 2.9 degrees Celsius above average, making this the warmest April on record. The high temperatures were accompanied by dry skies, with rainfall totals well below average for many areas. This image shows just how much of Australia sweltered under hotter-than-normal temperatures during April 2005. The image was created using surface temperature data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. Deep red over most of the continent reveal where temperatures were hotter in April 2005 than the average April temperature between 2000 and 2004. Darker red spots show where temperatures spiked, while tan and blues show temperatures much closer to average. The surface temperatures shown here are different from the air temperatures reported on the evening news. Because the ground absorbs energy from the sun, surface temperatures are often much warmer than air temperatures, for example, a sandy beach can be unbearably hot even though the air temperature is comfortable. While air temperatures may not have soared as high as 15 degrees Celsius above average as the image shows the ground temperatures doing in places, they did set new records throughout the country. 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
Rice Cultivation in Northwes …
Title Rice Cultivation in Northwest Italy
Description The lowlands of Lombardy and Piedmont in northwest Italy are some of the most highly developed irrigation areas in the world. Irrigated lands cover at least 160,000 acres in this part of Italy, where rice is the most important crop. These views of the region were acquired on May 8, 2005, by NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR). The multiple viewing angles provided by MISR's nine cameras make it possible to tell wet surfaces, including flooded lands, from other surfaces, and they also make cities easy to locate. The left-hand image is a natural-color view acquired by MISR's downward-looking (nadir) camera, and the right-hand image is a combination of red band data from MISR's 60-degree-backward-, nadir, and 60-degree-forward-viewing cameras. (Red band is what scientists call the "channel" on the sensor that detects red light.) Color changes indicate surface texture, which is influenced by terrain, vegetation structure, soil type, and surface wetness. Wet surfaces or areas with standing water appear in blue or purple-blue hues. The purple-blue areas that dominate the center-left part of the image are part of the extensive irrigation network that exists throughout the plains and meadows of the region. Cities with tall buildings appear in red-orange hues. In this type of image, the city of Milan is the most obvious. The small orange area in the center of the purple inundated area indicates the location of Vercelli, and the larger city of Milan is the orange area to the northeast, on the other side of the Ticino River. To a lesser extent, the cities of Novara, Pavia, Galliate, Mortara, and Vigevano are also identifiable by their orange hues. MISR can tell various surface features like cities or irrigated areas apart because of the way surfaces reflect light. A smooth water surface tends to reflect sunlight away from the Sun. This effect is most apparent when a satellite views the surface with the Sun in front of the camera. Similarly, rough surfaces tend to reflect light back towards the Sun, and this "backward scattering" is most obvious when a satellites views a surface with the Sun behind the camera. Clouds present over the high country to the west of the Lago Maggiore (upper left corner) and along the coast of the Golfo di Genova (bottom) appear in a different spot for each view angle, creating a rainbow-like appearance. Mountains also have a "wavy" look in the multi-angle combination because, like clouds, their height above the surface makes them appear in a different spot in each camera's view angle. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82 degrees North and 82 degrees South latitude every nine days. This image covers an area of about 131 kilometers by 191 kilometers. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 28660 and utilize data from block 54 within World Reference System-2 path 193. MISR was, built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology. Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. [ http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] Text by Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/JPL)
A Summer View of Russia's Le …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
These views of the Russian A …
PIA04366
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-07-11
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ MISR Team. Text by Clare Averill (Raytheon/JPL).
identifier PIA04366
Rice Cultivation in Northwes …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
The lowlands of Lombardy and …
PIA04380
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005-05-08
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ MISR Team. Text by Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/JPL)
identifier PIA04380
Seasonal Changes in Earth's …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Triggered by seasonal change …
misr_albedo_2004
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ MISR Team. Text by John Martonchik (JPL) and Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/JPL).
identifier misr_albedo_2004
Deep Ocean Tsunami Waves off …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
The initial tsunami waves re …
PIA04373
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-12-26
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. Text by Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/JPL), Michael Garay and David J. Diner (JPL, California Institute of Technology), and Vasily Titov (NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and University of Washington/Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Oceans).
identifier PIA04373
Sun Glint from Solar Electri …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Depending upon the position …
Solarplant_MISR2004099
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2003-04-08
creator NASA -- Image credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. Text acknowledgment: Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS / Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Mike Garay (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Dominic Mazzoni (Jet Propulsion Laboratory).
identifier Solarplant_MISR2004099
June 10 Annular Solar Eclips …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
On June 10, 2002, the moon o …
PIA03712
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2002-06-10
creator NASA -- Image provided by NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team
identifier PIA03712
ASTER Andes
PIA02654
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Andes
Original Caption Released with Image In this image of the Andes along the Chile-Bolivia border, the visible and infrared data have been computer enhanced to exaggerate the color differences of the different materials. The scene is dominated by the Pampa Luxsar lava complex, occupying the upper right two-thirds of the scene. Lava flows are distributed around remnants of large dissected cones, the largest of which is Cerro Luxsar. On the middle left edge of the image are the Olca and Parumastrato volcanoes, which appear in blue due to a lack of vegetation (colored red in this composite). This image covers an area 60 kilometers (37 miles) wide and 60 kilometers (37 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. It was acquired on April 7, 2000. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Examples of applications include monitoring glacial advances and retreats, potentially active volcanoes, thermal pollution, and coral reef degradation, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, evaluating wetlands, mapping surface temperature of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Images San Francisco B …
PIA02606
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Images San Francisco Bay Area
Original Caption Released with Image This image of the San Francisco Bay region was acquired on March 3, 2000 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters about 50 to 300 feet ), ASTER will image Earth for the next 6 years to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. Image: This image covers an area 60 kilometers (37 miles) wide and 75 kilometers (47 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. The combination of bands portrays vegetation in red, and urban areas in gray. Sediment in the Suisun Bay, San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean shows up as lighter shades of blue. Along the west coast of the San Francisco Peninsula, strong surf can be seen as a white fringe along the shoreline. A powerful rip tide is visible extending westward from Daly City into the Pacific Ocean. In the lower right corner, the wetlands of the South San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge appear as large dark blue and brown polygons. The high spatial resolution of ASTER allows fine detail to be observed in the scene. The main bridges of the area (San Mateo, San Francisco-Oakland Bay, Golden Gate, Richmond-San Rafael, Benicia-Martinez, and Carquinez) are easily picked out, connecting the different communities in the Bay area. Shadows of the towers along the Bay Bridge can be seen over the adjacent bay water. With enlargement the entire road network can be easily mapped, individual buildings are visible, including the shadows of the high-rises in downtown San Francisco. Inset: This enlargement of the San Francisco Airport highlights the high spatial resolution of ASTER. With further enlargement and careful examination, airplanes can be seen at the terminals. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example, applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Images Tokyo
PIA02607
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Images Tokyo
Original Caption Released with Image This image of the city of Tokyo was acquired on March 22, 2000 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER will image the Earth for the next 6 years to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. This false color infrared image covers an area 60 km wide and 75 km long in three bands of the short wavelength infrared region, with a spatial resolution of 15 m. It shows part of the Tokyo metropolitan area extending south to Yokohama, included are the Ginza District, Haneda airport and the Imperial Palace. To the west, Tokyo is hemmed in by mountains, covered with forests (displayed in red), on the southeast, Tokyo Bay is one of the world's great harbors. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Images San Francisco B …
PIA02605
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Images San Francisco Bay Area
Original Caption Released with Image These images of the San Francisco Bay region were acquired on March 3, 2000 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. Each covers an area 60 kilometers (37 miles) wide and 75 kilometers (47 miles) long. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER will image the Earth for the next 6 years to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. Upper Left: The color infrared composite uses bands in the visible and reflected infrared. Vegetation is red, urban areas are gray, sediment in the bays shows up as lighter shades of blue. Thanks to the 15 meter (50-foot) spatial resolution, shadows of the towers along the Bay Bridge can be seen. Upper right: A composite of bands in the short wave infrared displays differences in soils and rocks in the mountainous areas. Even though these regions appear entirely vegetated in the visible, enough surface shows through openings in the vegetation to allow the ground to be imaged. Lower left: This composite of multispectral thermal bands shows differences in urban materials in varying colors. Separation of materials is due to differences in thermal emission properties, analogous to colors in the visible. Lower right: This is a color coded temperature image of water temperature, derived from the thermal bands. Warm waters are in white and yellow, colder waters are blue. Suisun Bay in the upper right is fed directly from the cold Sacramento River. As the water flows through San Pablo and San Francisco Bays on the way to the Pacific, the waters warm up. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands, evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
Saharan Dust Cloud Sails Tow …
PIA03539
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Saharan Dust Cloud Sails Toward U.S.
Original Caption Released with Image A huge dust cloud blown westward from the Algerian desert is now wafting over the southeastern United States. The cloud, about the size of the entire continent, was expected to produce dramatic sunsets and possibly a light coating of red-brown dust on vehicles from Florida to Texas. This image, captured by JPL's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) aboard the NASA Earth Observing System's Terra Satellite on July 20, 2005, shows the dust cloud just off the west coast of Africa near Mauritania and Senegal. The image covers about 1,800 kilometers (1,200 miles) north-south, and 400 kilometers (260 miles) east-west. MISR, which views Earth at nine different angles in four wavelengths, can derive the amount, size and shape of airborne particles. This means it can distinguish desert dust, by far the most common non-spherical atmospheric aerosol, from pollution and forest fire particles, which are typically spherical. This image was taken by MISR's 26 degree forward-viewing camera on Terra Orbit 29724, Path 208, Blocks 69-81. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer [ http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] observes the daylit Earth continuously from pole to pole, and the entire globe about once per week. 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.
ASTER Suez Canal
PIA02661
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Suez Canal
Original Caption Released with Image One of the most important waterways in the world, the Suez Canal runs north to south across the Isthmus of Suez in northeastern Egypt. This image of the canal covers an area 36 kilometers (22 miles) wide and 60 kilometers (47 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. It shows the northern part of the canal, with the Mediterranean Sea just visible in the upper right corner. The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez, an arm of the Red Sea. The artificial canal provides an important shortcut for ships operating between both European and American ports and ports located in southern Asia, eastern Africa, and Oceania. With a length of about 195 kilometers (121 miles) and a minimum channel width of 60 meters (197 feet), the Suez Canal is able to accommodate ships as large as 150,000 tons fully loaded. Because no locks interrupt traffic on this sea level waterway, the transit time only averages about 15 hours. ASTER acquired this scene on May 19, 2000. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal, change. Examples of applications include monitoring glacial advances and retreats, potentially active volcanoes, thermal pollution, and coral reef degradation, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, evaluating wetlands, mapping surface temperature of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Washington, D.C.
PIA02655
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Washington, D.C.
Original Caption Released with Image The White House, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Washington Monument with its shadow are all visible in this image of Washington, D.C. With its 15-meter spatial resolution, ASTER can see individual buildings. Taken on June 1, 2000, this image covers an area 14 kilometers (8.5 miles) wide and 13.7 kilometers (8.2 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. The combination of visible and near infrared bands displays vegetation in red and water in dark grays. The Potomac River flows from the middle left to the bottom center. The large red area west of the river is Arlington National Cemetery. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Examples of applications include monitoring glacial advances and retreats, potentially active volcanoes, thermal pollution, and coral reef degradation, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, evaluating wetlands, mapping surface temperature of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Waves
PIA02662
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Waves
Original Caption Released with Image The pattern on the right half of this image of the Bay of Bengal is the result of two opposing wave trains colliding. This ASTER sub-scene, acquired on March 29, 2000, covers an area 18 kilometers (13 miles) wide and 15 kilometers (9 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. The visible and near-infrared bands highlight surface waves due to specular reflection of sunlight off of the wave faces. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Examples of applications include monitoring glacial advances and retreats, potentially active volcanoes, thermal pollution, and coral reef degradation, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, evaluating wetlands, mapping surface temperature of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Images Mt. Usu Volcano
PIA02608
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Images Mt. Usu Volcano
Original Caption Released with Image On April 3, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra Satellite captured this image of the erupting Mt. Usu volcano in Hokkaido, Japan. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER will image the Earth for the next 6 years to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. This false color infrared image of Mt Usu volcano is dominated by Lake Toya, an ancient volcanic caldera. On the south shore is the active Usu volcano. On Friday, March 31, more than 11,000 people were evacuated by helicopter, truck and boat from the foot of Usu, that began erupting from the northwest flank, shooting debris and plumes of smoke streaked with blue lightning thousands of feet in the air. Although no lava gushed from the mountain, rocks and ash continued to fall after the eruption. The region was shaken by thousands of tremors before the eruption. People said they could taste grit from the ash that was spewed as high as 2,700 meters (8,850 ft) into the sky and fell to coat surrounding towns with ash. "Mount Usu has had seven significant eruptions that we know of, and at no time has it ended quickly with only a small scale eruption," said Yoshio Katsui, a professor at Hokkaido University. This was the seventh major eruption of Mount Usu in the past 300 years. Fifty people died when the volcano erupted in 1822, its worst known eruption. In the image, most of the land is covered by snow. Vegetation, appearing red in the false color composite, can be seen in the agricultural fields, and forests in the mountains. Mt. Usu is crossed by three dark streaks. These are the paths of ash deposits that rained out from eruption plumes two days earlier. The prevailing wind was from the northwest, carrying the ash away from the main city of Date. Ash deposited can be traced on the image as far away as 10 kilometers (16 miles) from the volcano. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in, numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Paris
PIA02660
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Paris
Original Caption Released with Image The Eiffel Tower and its shadow can be seen next to the Seine in the left middle of this ASTER image of Paris. Based on the length of the shadow and the solar elevation angle of 59 degrees, we can calculate its height as 324 meters (1,054 feet), compared to its actual height of 303 meters (985 feet). Acquired on July 23, 2000, this image covers an area 23 kilometers (15 miles) wide and 20 kilometers (13 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. Known as the City of Light, Paris has been extolled for centuries as one of the great cities of the world. Its location on the Seine River, at a strategic crossroads of land and river routes, has been the key to its expansion since the Parisii tribe first settled here in the 3rd century B.C. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Examples of applications include monitoring glacial advances and retreats, potentially active volcanoes, thermal pollution, and coral reef degradation, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties;, evaluating wetlands, mapping surface temperature of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Gibraltar
PIA02657
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Gibraltar
Original Caption Released with Image The Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain from Morocco. This image, acquired on July 5, 2000, covers an area 34 kilometers (21 miles) wide and 59 kilometers (37 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. The promontory on the eastern side of the conspicuous Spanish port is the Rock of Gibraltar. Once one of the two classical Pillars of Hercules, the Rock was crowned with silver columns by Phoenician mariners to mark the limits of safe navigation for the ancient Mediterranean peoples. The rocky promontory still commands the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. The rocky limestone and shale ridge rises abruptly from the sea, to a maximum elevation of 426 meters (1,398 feet). A British colony, Gibraltar occupies a narrow strip of land at the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It is separated from the Spanish mainland by a neutral zone contained on a narrow, sandy isthmus. Because of its strategic location and formidable topography, Gibraltar serves mainly as a British fortress. Most of its sparse land is taken up by air and naval installations, and the civilian population is small. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists, in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Examples of applications include monitoring glacial advances and retreats, potentially active volcanoes, thermal pollution, and coral reef degradation, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, evaluating wetlands, mapping surface temperature of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Mexicali
PIA02659
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Mexicali
Original Caption Released with Image Dramatic differences in land use patterns are highlighted in this image of the U.S.-Mexico border. Lush, regularly gridded agricultural fields on the U.S. side contrast with the more barren fields of Mexico This June 12, 2000, sub-scene combines visible and near infrared bands, displaying vegetation in red. The town of Mexicali-Calexico spans the border in the middle of the image, El Centro, California, is in the upper left. Watered by canals fed from the Colorado River, California's Imperial Valley is one of the country's major fruit and vegetable producers. This image covers an area 24 kilometers (15 miles) wide and 30 kilometers (19 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Examples of applications include monitoring glacial advances and retreats, potentially active volcanoes, thermal pollution, and coral reef degradation, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, evaluating wetlands, mapping surface temperature of soils and, geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Images the Island of H …
PIA02604
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Images the Island of Hawaii
Original Caption Released with Image These images of the Island of Hawaii were acquired on March 19, 2000 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER will image Earth for the next 6 years to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. Data are shown from the short wavelength and thermal infrared spectral regions, illustrating how different and complementary information is contained in different parts of the spectrum. Left image: This false-color image covers an area 60 kilometers (37 miles) wide and 120 kilometers (75 miles) long in three bands of the short wavelength infrared region. While, much of the island was covered in clouds, the dominant central Mauna Loa volcano, rising to an altitude of 4115 meters (13,500 feet), is cloud-free. Lava flows can be seen radiating from the central crater in green and black tones. As they reach lower elevations, the flows become covered with vegetation, and their image color changes to yellow and orange. Mauna Kea volcano to the north of Mauna Loa has a thin cloud-cover, producing a bluish tone on the image. The ocean in the lower right appears brown due to the color processing. Right image: This image is a false-color composite of three thermal infrared bands. The brightness of the colors is proportional to the temperature, and the hues display differences in rock composition. Clouds are black, because they are the coldest objects in the scene. The ocean and thick vegetation appear dark green because they are colder than bare rock surfaces, and have no thermal spectral features. Lava flows are shades of magenta, green, pink and yellow, reflecting chemical changes due to weathering and relative age differences. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications, are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Dunes
PIA02656
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Dunes
Original Caption Released with Image This image of Saudi Arabia shows a great sea of linear dunes in part of the Rub' al Khali, or the Empty Quarter. Acquired on June 25, 2000, the image covers an area 37 kilometers (23 miles) wide and 28 kilometers (17 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. The dunes are yellow due to the presence of iron oxide minerals. The inter-dune area is made up of clays and silt and appears blue due to its high reflectance in band 1. The Rub' al Khali is the world's largest continuous sand desert. It covers about 650,000 square kilometers (250,966 square miles) and lies mainly in southern Saudi Arabia, though it does extend into the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. One of the world's driest areas, it is uninhabited except for the Bedouin nomads who cross it. The first European to travel through the desert was Bertram Thomas in 1930. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Examples of applications include monitoring glacial advances and retreats, potentially active volcanoes, thermal pollution, and coral reef degradation, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, evaluating wetlands, mapping surface temperature of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
ASTER Tibet
PIA02658
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title ASTER Tibet
Original Caption Released with Image The Kunlun fault is one of the gigantic strike-slip faults that bound the north side of Tibet. Left-lateral motion along the 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) length of the Kunlun has occurred uniformly for the last 40,000 years at a rate of 1.1 centimeter per year, creating a cumulative offset of more than 400 meters (1300 feet). In this image, two splays of the fault are clearly seen crossing from east to west. The northern fault juxtaposes sedimentary rocks of the mountains against alluvial fans. Its trace is also marked by lines of vegetation, which appear red in the image. The southern, younger fault cuts through the alluvium. A dark linear area in the center of the image is wet ground where groundwater has pounded against the fault. Measurements from the image of displacements of young streams that cross the fault show 15 to 75 meters (16 to 82 yards) of left-lateral offset. This image of Tibet covers an area 40 kilometers (25 miles) wide and 15 kilometers (10 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. ASTER acquired the scene on July 20, 2000. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical, information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Examples of applications include monitoring glacial advances and retreats, potentially active volcanoes, thermal pollution, and coral reef degradation, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, evaluating wetlands, mapping surface temperature of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance.
Zaca Fire
PIA02158
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title Zaca Fire
Original Caption Released with Image On August 7, 2007, the Zaca fire continued to burn in the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Barbara, California. The fire started more than a month ago, on July 4, and has burned 69,800 acres. The fire remains in steep, rocky terrain with poor access. The continued poor access makes containment difficult in the wilderness area on the eastern flank. So far only one outbuilding has been destroyed, but over 450 homes are currently threatened. Over 2300 fire personnel, aided by four air tankers and 15 helicopters, are working to contain this massive fire. Full containment is expected on September 1. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA?s Terra spacecraft. The instrument was built by Japan?s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance. The U.S. science team is located at NASA?s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA?s Science Mission Directorate. Size: 45.2 by 46.1 kilometers (27.9 by 28.5 miles) Location: 34.6 degrees North latitude, 119.7 degrees West longitude Orientation: North at top Image Data: ASTER Bands 3, 2, and 1 Original Data Resolution: ASTER 15 meters (49.2 feet)
MISR Images Northeastern Bot …
PIA02620
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title MISR Images Northeastern Botswana
Original Caption Released with Image MISR images of the Ntwetwe and Sua Pans in northeastern Botswana, acquired on August 18, 2000 (Terra orbit 3553). The left image is a color view from the vertical-viewing (nadir) camera. On the right is a composite of red band imagery in which the 45-degree aft camera data are displayed in blue, 45-degree forward as green, and vertical as red. This combination causes wet areas to appear blue because of the glint-like reflection from water and damp surfaces. Clouds are visible in the upper left corner and right center of each image. The clouds look peculiar in the multi-angle view because geometric parallax resulting from their elevation above the surface causes a misregistration of the individual images making up the composite. This stereoscopic effect provides a way of distinguishing clouds from bright surfaces. The images are approximately 250 kilometers across. Ntwetwe and Sua pans are closed interior basins that catch rainwater and surface runoff during the wet season. Seasonal lakes form that may reach several meters in depth. During the dry season the collected waters rapidly evaporate leaving behind dissolved salts that coat the surface and turn it bright ("sua" means salt). The mining town of Sowa is located where the Sua Spit (a finger of grassland extending into the pan) attaches to the shore. Sowa represents headquarters for a JPL contingent carrying out MISR field experiments using the evaporite surface and the grasslands as targets and for Botswana scientists studying migration of groundwaters beneath the pans and surrounding areas. These efforts support the Southern Africa Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI-2000), which is now underway. 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
Smoke Plume Dispersal from t …
PIA04388
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Smoke Plume Dispersal from the World Trade Center Disaster
Original Caption Released with Image Click on image for full-size version The collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and the fires that followed produced a noxious smoke plume, a complex mixture of tiny airborne particles and gases. Determining where humans may have been exposed to these contaminants and the amount of their exposure is very difficult. But recently, scientists from the Environmental and Occupational Health Science Institute Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have created a detailed numerical model that shows the pollutant dispersion from "Ground Zero" to the surrounding New York - New Jersey region. Air pollution in the urban atmosphere can damage human health, biological systems, and vegetation. A team of science assessment experts is using this new computer model to analyze the environmental and health impacts of this extreme event. For example, researchers are using model results in studies of the birth weights of infants whose mothers were near the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, when they were pregnant and of the incidence of asthma during the first weeks after the attack. The model helps them estimate human exposure levels based on where the plume was located, how much material it contained, and how long it remained. To map the path of the plume of pollution from the World Trade Center, the researchers used mathematical models of micrometeorological atmospheric circulation and tracer transport, surface measurements, and space-based observations from the high-resolution Landsat imager and the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on NASA's Terra satellite. While some airborne material circulated within the urban "canyons," much of the material was lifted above the buildings and transported great distances. As a result, surface level exposures were not as frequent and intense as they could have been under different meteorological conditions. To simulate the transport of pollutants in the plume, the researchers had to understand its behavior on scales ranging from tens of meters to several hundred kilometers. They calculated atmospheric motions using a multi-grid regional atmospheric modeling system covering scales from 250 meters to 300 kilometers. To calculate pollutant transport, they used a hybrid particle and concentration transport model. They evaluated their model's simulated pollutant concentrations, transport, direction, and timing, by comparing the results with fine-scale aerosol measurements routinely acquired from the roofs of New York City public school buildings. The researchers calculated the evolution of the plume using a "Lagrangian" transport model, which considers the plume to be a collection of parcels that flow downwind. They found that for the model results to match the observations, the peak aerosol emissions in the World Trade Center fire must reach about 35 to 350 kg of, particles per hour -- thus, the concentration of aerosols within the core of the WTC plume was higher than the routine aerosol pollution in the world's most polluted cities. Since wind speed and direction can change dramatically at different levels in the atmosphere, knowing the height of the aerosol plume was a crucial part of ensuring that the model produced realistic results. JPL scientists used stereo images of the region acquired by the MISR instrument at about noon on September 12, 2001, combined with ground-based photographs of the plume, to determine the plume height. A natural color MISR image appears here (acquired by MISR's 70º forward-viewing camera on September 12) along with histograms of stereo-derived elevations at four points (P1, P2, P3, P4) progressing from the World Trade Center source to about 70 kilometers downwind. In addition to plume altitude and direction, MISR also provided information about plume evolution. Researchers could trace the plume's development by comparing the combination of airborne particles observed near the plume's source with particles that appear downwind in this MISR snapshot. The researchers also use MISR observations to check how well their model estimates the amount of particulate material the plume contained. The scientists published their findings in the July issue of the journal Environmental Fluid Mechanics. The full citation is: Stenchikov, G., N. Lahoti, D.J. Diner, R. Kahn, P. Lioy, and P. Georgopoulos (2006). Multiscale plume transport from the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Environmental Fluid Mech., doi 10.1007/s10652-006-9001-8. 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.
Smoke Plume Dispersal from t …
PIA04388
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Smoke Plume Dispersal from the World Trade Center Disaster
Original Caption Released with Image Click on image for full-size version The collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and the fires that followed produced a noxious smoke plume, a complex mixture of tiny airborne particles and gases. Determining where humans may have been exposed to these contaminants and the amount of their exposure is very difficult. But recently, scientists from the Environmental and Occupational Health Science Institute Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have created a detailed numerical model that shows the pollutant dispersion from "Ground Zero" to the surrounding New York - New Jersey region. Air pollution in the urban atmosphere can damage human health, biological systems, and vegetation. A team of science assessment experts is using this new computer model to analyze the environmental and health impacts of this extreme event. For example, researchers are using model results in studies of the birth weights of infants whose mothers were near the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, when they were pregnant and of the incidence of asthma during the first weeks after the attack. The model helps them estimate human exposure levels based on where the plume was located, how much material it contained, and how long it remained. To map the path of the plume of pollution from the World Trade Center, the researchers used mathematical models of micrometeorological atmospheric circulation and tracer transport, surface measurements, and space-based observations from the high-resolution Landsat imager and the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on NASA's Terra satellite. While some airborne material circulated within the urban "canyons," much of the material was lifted above the buildings and transported great distances. As a result, surface level exposures were not as frequent and intense as they could have been under different meteorological conditions. To simulate the transport of pollutants in the plume, the researchers had to understand its behavior on scales ranging from tens of meters to several hundred kilometers. They calculated atmospheric motions using a multi-grid regional atmospheric modeling system covering scales from 250 meters to 300 kilometers. To calculate pollutant transport, they used a hybrid particle and concentration transport model. They evaluated their model's simulated pollutant concentrations, transport, direction, and timing, by comparing the results with fine-scale aerosol measurements routinely acquired from the roofs of New York City public school buildings. The researchers calculated the evolution of the plume using a "Lagrangian" transport model, which considers the plume to be a collection of parcels that flow downwind. They found that for the model results to match the observations, the peak aerosol emissions in the World Trade Center fire must reach about 35 to 350 kg of, particles per hour -- thus, the concentration of aerosols within the core of the WTC plume was higher than the routine aerosol pollution in the world's most polluted cities. Since wind speed and direction can change dramatically at different levels in the atmosphere, knowing the height of the aerosol plume was a crucial part of ensuring that the model produced realistic results. JPL scientists used stereo images of the region acquired by the MISR instrument at about noon on September 12, 2001, combined with ground-based photographs of the plume, to determine the plume height. A natural color MISR image appears here (acquired by MISR's 70º forward-viewing camera on September 12) along with histograms of stereo-derived elevations at four points (P1, P2, P3, P4) progressing from the World Trade Center source to about 70 kilometers downwind. In addition to plume altitude and direction, MISR also provided information about plume evolution. Researchers could trace the plume's development by comparing the combination of airborne particles observed near the plume's source with particles that appear downwind in this MISR snapshot. The researchers also use MISR observations to check how well their model estimates the amount of particulate material the plume contained. The scientists published their findings in the July issue of the journal Environmental Fluid Mechanics. The full citation is: Stenchikov, G., N. Lahoti, D.J. Diner, R. Kahn, P. Lioy, and P. Georgopoulos (2006). Multiscale plume transport from the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Environmental Fluid Mech., doi 10.1007/s10652-006-9001-8. 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.
MISR Views a Fire-Scarred La …
PIA02622
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title MISR Views a Fire-Scarred Landscape
Original Caption Released with Image This MISR image pair shows "before and after" views of the area around the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Washington. On June 27, 2000, a fire in the dry sagebrush was sparked by an automobile crash. The flames were fanned by hot summer winds. By the day after the accident, about 100,000 acres had burned, and the fire's spread forced the closure of highways and loss of homes. These images, from Terra orbits 2176 and 3341, were obtained by MISR's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera. Compare the area just above and to the right of the line of cumulus clouds in the May 15 image with the same area imaged on August 3. The darkened burn scar measures approximately 35 kilometers across. The Columbia River is seen wending its way around the area, and the Snake River branches off to the right. According to Idaho's National Interagency Fire Center, the US has been experiencing the worst fire season since 1996. 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.
MISR Images Zambia and Botsw …
PIA02621
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title MISR Images Zambia and Botswana
Original Caption Released with Image These MISR images of Zambia and Botswana, Africa were acquired on August 25, 2000 during Terra orbit 3655. The left image is a "true" color view from the vertical-viewing (nadir) camera. True color means that the images acquired through MISR's red, green, and blue filters, respectively, are displayed as red, green, and blue when creating the digital image. The middle image combines data from the green, red, and near-infrared bands. The right image contains red band data only, but is a composite of imagery from the nadir (An), 70.5-degrees forward (Df), and 70.5-degrees aftward (Da) cameras. The color variations in the multi-angle composite arise not from how the different parts of the scene reflect light at different wavelengths, but rather, at different angles. The distinctive fan-like feature on the left of each image is the highly vegetated Okavango Delta, a mosaiced network of grasslands and water channels, observed here during the dry season. The town of Maunis at its southeastern edge. Note how the plant life, which is highly reflective in the near-infrared, shows up as bright red in the middle image. Vegetation also preferentially reflects light back toward the source of illumination, so in the right image, the Df camera image, which is displayed in green, is brighter in this region. The body of water in the upper right is the Itezhi-Tezhi Dam, fed by the Kafue River in Zambia. At the lower left, south of the Okavango Delta, is Lake Ngami. A smoke plume is present at the southern edge of the lake. This plume and others show up in shades of blue and purple in the multi-angle composite as a result of the manner in which the smoke particles scatter sunlight. Other landmarks include the Ntwetwe Pan, whose western edge is visible as the bright area in the lower right. The Zambezi River enters from the upper left and wends its way southeast, passing the Caprivi Strip, a narrow panhandle in northeast Namibia. The greater abundance of vegetation here testifies to the high rainfall that occurs during the wet season. Near the right-hand edge of the images is the location where the Zambezi plunges into Victoria Falls, considered to be among the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. 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.
MISR Images Wildfires in Nor …
PIA02618
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title MISR Images Wildfires in Northwestern US
Original Caption Released with Image MISR image of smoke plumes from devastating wildfires in the northwestern US. This view of the Clearwater and Salmon River Mountains in Idaho was acquired on August 5, 2000 (Terra orbit 3370). The body of water to the left of image center is the Cascade Reservoir, located about 100 km north of Boise and 80 km east of the Snake River. North is at the top, and the image is approximately 380 km across. In addition to the huge plumes traversing the mountains in the northern part of the image, smoke accumulating in the lower elevation canyons and plains is visible. This image was generated using data from the MISR camera that looks forward at a steep angle (70.5 degrees). The smoke is far more visible when viewed at this highly oblique angle than it would be in a conventional, straight-downward view. In creating this color composite, data from the blue and green MISR bands, acquired at 1.1-km spatial resolution, were digitally "sharpened" using 275-m resolution data acquired in the red band. 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
MISR Views Northern Australi …
PIA02614
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title MISR Views Northern Australia
Original Caption Released with Image MISR images of tropical northern Australia acquired on June 1, 2000 (Terra orbit 2413) during the long dry season. Left: color composite of vertical (nadir) camera blue, green, and red band data. Right: multi-angle composite of red band data only from the cameras viewing 60 degrees aft, 60 degrees forward, and nadir. Color and contrast have been enhanced to accentuate subtle details. In the left image, color variations indicate how different parts of the scene reflect light differently at blue, green, and red wavelengths, in the right image color variations show how these same scene elements reflect light differently at different angles of view. Water appears in blue shades in the right image, for example, because glitter makes the water look brighter at the aft camera's view angle. The prominent inland water body is Lake Argyle, the largest human-made lake in Australia, which supplies water for the Ord River Irrigation Area and the town of Kununurra (pop. 6500) just to the north. At the top is the southern edge of Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, the major inlet at the left is Cambridge Gulf, the location of the town of Wyndham (pop. 850), the port for this region. This area is sparsely populated, and is known for its remote, spectacular mountains and gorges. Visible along much of the coastline are intertidal mudflats of mangroves and low shrubs, to the south the terrain is covered by open woodland merging into open grassland in the lower half of the pictures. 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.
MISR Views the Big Island of …
PIA02616
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title MISR Views the Big Island of Hawaii
Original Caption Released with Image MISR images of the Big Island of Hawaii. The images have been rotated so that north is at the left. Upper left: April 2, 2000 (Terra orbit 1551) Upper right: May 4, 2000 (Terra orbit 2017) Lower left: June 5, 2000 (Terra orbit 2483) Lower right: June 21, 2000 (Terra orbit 2716) The first three images are color views acquired by the vertical(nadir) camera. The last image is a stereo anaglyph generated from the aftward cameras viewing at 60.0 and 70.5 degree look angles. It requires red/blue glasses with the red filter over the left eye. The color images show the greater prevalence of vegetation on the eastern side of the island due to moisture brought in by the prevailing Pacific trade winds. The western (lee) side of the island is drier. In the center of the island, and poking through the clouds in the stereo image are the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa volcanoes, each peaking at about 4.2 km above sea level. The southern face of a line of cumulus clouds off the north coast of Hawaii is also visible in the stereo image. 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
MISR Views Southern Californ …
PIA02617
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title MISR Views Southern California
Original Caption Released with Image MISR images of Southern California acquired on March 14, 2000 during Terra orbit 1273. North is at the top. The left image is a color composite generated using data from the blue, green, and red bands of the vertical (nadir) camera. The right image is a color composite using data from the green, red, and near-infrared bands from the same camera, in this view vegetation shows up clearly in shades of red. The distinctive chevron shape of the Mojave Desert is bordered by the San Andreas Fault on the south and the Garlock Fault on the north. To the northwest are the Sierra Nevada mountains and the agricultural fields of the San Joaquin valley. Santa Catalina and San Clement Islands, warmed by the morning sun, are visible through the marine stratus cloud layer, to their west at the edge of the cloud bank is San Nicolas Island, and further up the coast are the Channel Islands. The Los Angeles basin is just south of center, San Diego is at the bottom right-hand corner. 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
MISR View of Georgian Bay, O …
PIA02615
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title MISR View of Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada
Original Caption Released with Image MISR images of the southeast portion of Georgian Bay in Ontario, Canada, acquired on March 6, 2000, during Terra orbit 1155. The color image is from the nadir (vertical) camera, and highlights a cloud to the southwest of Christian Island. In this view, the shadow cast by the cloud on the water is visible just north of the cloud itself. Bright areas in the image are either cloud or ice, an example of the latter is the frozen Lake Simcoe. The eight monochrome images are red band data from the off-nadir cameras. Starting with the one in the upper right and moving counterclockwise, the images progress from the most forward-viewing to the most aftward-viewing camera. Thus, the top (bottom) row of monochrome images are views acquired forward (aftward) of vertical. The apparent displacement of the cloud from south to north as the view progresses from forward to aftward is primarily a geometric parallax effect due to the cloud's elevation above the surface. In each image in the top row, a fainter feature with the same shape as the cloud is visible within Georgian Bay. The feature and the cloud itself approach one another as the view angle becomes less oblique. The feature is present only in the water, and disappears over the land surface of Christian Island. What is it? We are observing reflections of the cloud in the water. Their positions are dictated by the law of reflection, which states that the angle relative to the vertical of the reflected rays is the same as the angle of the incident rays. Therefore, the apparent location of a reflection relative to the cloud changes as a function of camera view angle. Unlike water, land does not act as a good mirror. Also, in the aftward views the reflections are less visible because they are blocked by the southern extension of the cloud. Reflections of this sort are not visible in conventional vertical imagery because in that case they lie directly underneath the cloud, and are consequently obscured. 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
MISR Views Hurricane Carlott …
PIA02611
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title MISR Views Hurricane Carlotta
Original Caption Released with Image With winds reaching 155 mph, this year's Hurricane Carlotta became the second strongest eastern Pacific June hurricane on record. These images from MISR show the hurricane on June 21, the day of its peak intensity. The pictures are oriented so that the spacecraft's flight path is from left to right, north is at the left. The top image is a color view from MISR's vertical (nadir) camera, showing Carlotta's location in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 500 km south of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The middle image is a stereoscopic "anaglyph" created using MISR's nadir camera plus one of its aftward-viewing cameras, and shows a closer view of the area around the hurricane. Viewing with red/blue glasses (red filter over the left eye) is required to obtain a 3-D stereo effect. Near the center of the storm, the eye is about 25 km in diameter and partially obscured by a thin cloud. About 50 km to the left of the eye, the sharp drop-off from high-level to low-level cloud gives a sense of the vertical extent of the hidden eye wall. The low-level cloud is spiraling counterclockwise into the center of the cyclone. It then rises in the vicinity of the eye wall and emerges with a clockwise rotation at high altitude. Maximum surface winds are found near the eye wall. The bottom stereo image is a zoomed-in view of convective clouds in the hurricane's spiral arms. The arms are breeding grounds for severe thunderstorms, with associated heavy rain and flooding, frequent lightning, and tornadoes. Thunderstorms rise in dramatic fashion to about the same altitude as the high cloud near the hurricane's center, and are made up of individual cells that are typically less than 20 km in diameter. This image shows a number of these cells, some fairly isolated, and others connected together. Their three-dimensional structure is clearly apparent in this stereo view. 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
MISR Images Forest Fires and …
PIA02619
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title MISR Images Forest Fires and Hurricane
Original Caption Released with Image These images show forest fires raging in Montana and Hurricane Hector swirling in the Pacific. These two unrelated, large-scale examples of nature's fury were captured by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer(MISR) during a single orbit of NASA's Terra satellite on August 14, 2000. In the left image, huge smoke plumes rise from devastating wildfires in the Bitterroot Mountain Range near the Montana-Idaho border. Flathead Lake is near the upper left, and the Great Salt Lake is at the bottom right. Smoke accumulating in the canyons and plains is also visible. This image was generated from the MISR camera that looks forward at a steep angle (60 degrees), the instrument has nine different cameras viewing Earth at different angles. The smoke is far more visible when seen at this highly oblique angle than it would be in a conventional, straight-downward (nadir)view. The wide extent of the smoke is evident from comparison with the image on the right, a view of Hurricane Hector acquired from MISR's nadir-viewing camera. Both images show an area of approximately 400 kilometers (250 miles)in width and about 850 kilometers (530 miles) in length. When this image of Hector was taken, the eastern Pacific tropical cyclone was located approximately 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) west of the southern tip of Baja California, Mexico. The eye is faintly visible and measures 25 kilometers (16 miles) in diameter. The storm was beginning to weaken, and 24hours later the National Weather Service downgraded Hector from a hurricane to a tropical storm. 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
Summer Aerosols over Greece
PIA04336
Sol (our sun)
Title Summer Aerosols over Greece
Original Caption Released with Image Strong synoptic winds usually help to disperse pollutants over the skies of Greece and the Aegean Sea during winter months, and in late summer relatively strong northerly winds typically prevent significant aerosol influx from the south. During the summer of 2002, the northerly Etesian winds were exceptionally weak, allowing Sahara dust from the south to reach the Aegean region. This resulted in elevated aerosol levels, particularly in the month of July. The abundance of aerosol over Greece and the Aegean Sea on four dates during the summer of 2002 are illustrated by these images from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR). In the natural-color images (the left-hand panel of each pair), it is apparent that aerosol particles are more abundant over the region on the two dates in July than in either June or August. These natural-color views were acquired by MISR's 70-degree forward-viewing camera. The top and bottom views depict overlapping parts of mainland Greece and the Aegean, with the bottom panels covering a region to the west of the top panels. Data from each of the four dates have been processed identically, and relative brightness variations between the views are preserved. MISR retrieves information on aerosol amount and particle properties by using the changes in scene brightness and contrast at nine widely-spaced view angles and four spectral bands. The right-hand panel of each image pair is a map of retrieved aerosol amount, parameterized by a quantity called aerosol optical depth. A color scale is used to represent this quantity. Higher amounts of aerosol within the total column of the atmosphere are indicated by green, yellow or orange pixels, and clearer skies are indicated by purple and blue pixels. Dark gray pixels indicate places where clouds or other factors precluded an aerosol retrieval. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously from pole to pole, and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude. This data product was generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbits 13325, 13558, 13660 and 14126. The panels utilize data from blocks 59 to 62 within World Reference System-2 paths 182 and 183. 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.
Dongting Lake, China
PIA03858
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title Dongting Lake, China
Original Caption Released with Image These images show dramatic change in the water at Dongting Lake in Hunan province, China. A flood crest surged down the Yangtze River in late August of this year, but the embankments made by residents there held. The left image was acquired on September 2, 2002 and shows the extent of the lake. The right image was obtained March 19, 2002 before the flooding began. These images were acquired on September 2, 2002 and March 19,2002 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER will image Earth for the next 6 years to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Bjorn Eng of JPL is the project manager. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term research and technology program designed to examine Earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, ice and life as a total integrated system. Size: 39.1 x 119.4 km (22.4 x 74.0 miles)Location: 30.1 deg. North lat., 112.9 deg. East long. Orientation: North at top Image Data: ASTER bands 1,2, and 3. Original Data Resolution: 15 mDates Acquired: September 2 and March 19, 2002
Yellowstone Park
PIA03875
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title Yellowstone Park
Original Caption Released with Image Thirteen years after devastating forest fires burned over 1.6 million acres in Yellowstone National Park, the scars are still evident. In this simulated natural color ASTER image, burned areas appear gray, in contrast to the dark green of unburned forests. The image covers an area of 60 x 63 km. This image was acquired on July 2, 2001 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Bjorn Eng of JPL is the project manager. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long- term research effort to understand and protect our home planet. Through the study of Earth, NASA will help to provide sound science to policy and economic decision-makers so as to better life here, while developing the technologies needed to explore the universe and search for life beyond our home planet. Size: 60 x 63 km (37.2 x 39.1 miles) Location: 44.7 deg. North lat., 110.7 deg. West long. Orientation: North at top Image Data: ASTER bands 1,2, and 3. Original Data Resolution: 15 m Date Acquired: July 2, 2001
Lompoc, CA
PIA03882
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title Lompoc, CA
Original Caption Released with Image The area around Vandenberg Air Force Base, California is shown in this simulated natural color ASTER image. The city of Santa Maria is at the top left, and Lompoc is at the bottom left. Vandenberg includes the area along the coast and the prominent airport. This image was acquired on August 31, 2001 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Bjorn Eng of JPL is the project manager. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long- term research effort to understand and protect our home planet. Through the study of Earth, NASA will help to provide sound science to policy and economic decision-makers so as to better life here, while developing the technologies needed to explore the universe and search for life beyond our home planet. Size: 73.4 x 62.8 km (45.5 x 38.9 miles) Location: 34.7 deg. North lat., 120.3 deg. West long. Orientation: North at top Image Data: ASTER bands 1,2, and 3. Original Data Resolution: 15 m Date Acquired: August 31, 2001
Hurricane Jeanne Cloud Heigh …
PIA04368
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Hurricane Jeanne Cloud Height and Motion
Original Caption Released with Image After causing widespread destruction on Puerto Rico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Hurricane Jeanne was weakened to Tropical Storm status for several days before it regained strength over the Bahamas as a Category 2 hurricane. When Jeanne made landfall in U.S. territory on September 26 it was the fourth major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season to strike Florida. These visualizations of Hurricane Jeanne on September 24 were captured by NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR). The still panels include a natural color view from MISR's 26-degree forward-viewing camera (left) and a two dimensional map of cloud-top heights (right). In addition, a "multi-angle fly-over" is provided as an animation using views from all nine MISR cameras. The nine camera views which make up the animation have been processed to give an approximate perspective view. The animation makes visible the relative heights of clouds within the scene. Some of the real cloud motion over the seven minutes during which all nine MISR cameras observed the scene are also indicated by the animation. The cloud height map was produced by automated computer recognition of the distinctive spatial features between images acquired at different view angles. Two-dimensional maps of cloud height such as these offer an opportunity to compare simulated cloud fields against actual hurricane observations. Results indicate that clouds within Jeanne had attained altitudes of more than 16 kilometers above sea level. The height field pictured here is uncorrected for the effects of cloud motion. Wind-corrected heights have higher accuracy but sparser spatial coverage. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82° north and 82° south latitude. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 25372. The still image panels cover an area of about 400 kilometers x 884 kilometers, and utilize data from within blocks 68 to 71 and within World Reference System-2 path 10. 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 Technolog
Tracking Hurricane Wilma Acr …
PIA04386
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Tracking Hurricane Wilma Across the Caribbean
Original Caption Released with Image Information on cloud top heights at different stages in the life cycle of the rapidly intensifying Hurricane Wilma may prove useful for evaluating the ability of numerical weather models to predict the intensity changes of hurricanes. NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) acquired this sequence of images and cloud-top height observations for Hurricane Wilma as it progressed across the Caribbean in October 2005. Each pair in the sequence has a photo-like view of the storm on the left and a matching color-coded image of cloud-top height on the right. Cloud-top heights range from 0 (purple) to 18 (red) kilometers altitude. Areas where cloud heights could not be determined are shown in dark gray. The pair on the left show Wilma on Tuesday, October 18, when Hurricane watches were posted for Cuba and Mexico. The central pair shows the eye of Hurricane Wilma just hours before the storm began to cross the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, October 21. At that time, Wilma was a powerful Category 4 Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and had a minimum recorded central pressure of 930 millibars. Hurricane Wilma surged from tropical storm to Category 5 hurricane status in record time, but the storm slowed and weakened considerably after battering Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the Caribbean. The right-hand image pair displays the eastern edges of a weakened Wilma, when Wilma had been reduced to Category 2 status and was just starting to reach southern Florida on the morning of Sunday, October 23. Wilma gathered speed and strengthened on Sunday night, crossing Florida as a Category 3 storm on Monday, October 24. On the 18th, Wilma looked a bit ragged. Its eye is located at the center of the left edge, and its outer bands of clouds appear to be dominated by a rather loose collection of thunderstorms. In the photo-like images, these look like areas of "boiling clouds," and in the cloud-height image, these appear as orange blobs, sometimes topped with pinkish-red. On October 21 (center), when Wilma was a Category 4 storm, cloud-top height on the eastern side of the storm near the eye reached 18 kilometers in altitude, with lower heights on the western side. The image from the 23rd shows the eastern edge of Wilma as it approached Florida (upper right) and Cuba (center right). MISR has nine different cameras which view the Earth from a variety of angles. Shifts in the clouds' apparent position from one camera's perspective to another's allows MISR to measure the height of the cloud-tops. MISR scientists have programmed computers to compare the different views, identify features that appear to shift from view to view, and use that information to calculate cloud height automatically. The height fields pictured have not been corrected for the effects of cloud motion. Wind-corrected heights (which have higher accuracy but sparser spatial coverage) are within about 1 kilometer of the heights shown here. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer, observes the daylit Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82° north and 82° south latitude every nine days. Each image covers an area of about 380 kilometers by 1830 kilometers. The data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbits 31037, 31081 and 31110, and utilize data from within blocks 68-83 within World Reference System-2 paths 13, 16 and 18, respectively. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology.
Old Fire/Grand Prix Fire, Ca …
PIA04879
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title Old Fire/Grand Prix Fire, California
Original Caption Released with Image On November 18, 2003, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite acquired this image of the Old Fire/Grand Prix fire east of Los Angeles. The image is being processed by NASA's Wildfire Response Team and will be sent to the United States Department of Agriculture's Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC) which provides interpretation services to Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams to assist in mapping the severity of the burned areas. The image combines data from the visible and infrared wavelength regions to highlight the burned areas. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance. Michael Abrams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., is the U.S. science team leader, Bjorn Eng of JPL is the project manager. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long- term research effort dedicated to understanding the Earth as an integrated system and applying Earth System Science to improve prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards using the unique vantage point of space. Size: 60 by 45 kilometers ( 37.5 by 28.1 miles) Location: 34.5 degrees North latitude, 117.1 degrees West longitude Orientation: North at top Image Data: ASTER bands 1, 3, and 4 Original Data Resolution: 15 meters (49.2 feet) Date Acquired: November 18, 2003
Hurricane Lili Heads for Lou …
PIA03728
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Hurricane Lili Heads for Louisiana Landfall
Original Caption Released with Image Characteristics of a strengthening Category 3 Hurricane Lili are apparent in these images from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer(MISR), including a well-developed clearing at the hurricane eye. When these views were acquired on October 2, 2002, Lili was approaching the Gulf coast of the United States and rapidly strengthening toward Category 4 status. The storm's power reached its peak less than twelve hours later, and although it weakened overnight, this was still a dangerous system as it blew across the Louisiana coast on the morning of October 3. Lili was the first hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Irene in 1999. Twenty-eight parishes in Louisiana were declared disaster areas, yet this hurricane fortunately caused much less damage than what could have resulted from an event of this magnitude. The top panel uses data from MISR's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera and data from the red, near-infrared, and blue spectral bands is displayed as red, green and blue to create a false-color view in which land surfaces appear bright green. The nadir and stereo anaglyph views are identical in their band choices, except that the anaglyph uses data from the 26-degree forward-viewing camera for the red band. The images are oriented with north to the left. Observing the spectacular three-dimensional structure of the hurricane eyewall and of convective thunderclouds present in the storm's spiral arms requires the use of red-blue glasses, with the red filter placed over your left eye. Information on ordering glasses can be found here [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/Help/VendorList.html#Glasses ]. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously from pole to pole, and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 14844. The panels cover an area of about 380 kilometers x 985 kilometers, and utilize data from blocks 67 to 73within World Reference System-2 path 21. 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.
Manaus, Brazil
PIA03851
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title Manaus, Brazil
Original Caption Released with Image The junctions of the Amazon and the Rio Negro Rivers at Manaus, Brazil. The Rio Negro flows 2300 km from Columbia, and is the dark current forming the north side of the river. It gets its color from the high tannin content in the water. The Amazon is sediment laden, appearing brown in this simulated natural color image. Manaus is the capital of Amazonas state, and has a population in excess of one million. The ASTER image covers an area of 60 x 45 km. This image was acquired on July 16, 2000 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER will image Earth for the next 6 years to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Bjorn Eng of JPL is the project manager. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term research and technology program designed to examine Earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, ice and life as a total integrated system. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance. Size: 60 x 45 km (37 x 27 miles) Location: 3.1 deg. South lat., 60.0 deg. West long. Orientation: North at top Image Data: ASTER bands 1,2, and 3. Original Data Resolution: 15 m Date Acquired: July 16, 2000
London, England
PIA04301
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
Title London, England
Original Caption Released with Image For almost 2,000 years, the River Thames has served as the life force of London, capital of the United Kingdom and one of the world's most famous cities. In AD 43 the Romans established the trading settlement of Londinium at a favorable crossing point on the river. The Romans remained until the 5th century, when the city came under Saxon control. The early 17th century saw enormous growth, but the deadly plague of 1664 and 1665 ravaged the population, and in the following year the Great Fire, which burned for four days, destroyed most of the city. A public transportation system and other city services in the early 19th century eased many of the increasing urban problems of the burgeoning capital of the wealthy British Empire. After coping with the devastating effects of bombing during World War II and the gradual dismantling of the empire, London today thrives as a vital modern metropolis. London is one of 100 cities being studied using ASTER data to map and monitor urban use patterns and growth. This image was acquired on October 12, 2001 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Bjorn Eng of JPL is the project manager. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long- term research effort to understand and protect our home planet. Through the study of Earth, NASA will help to provide sound science to policy and economic decision-makers so as to better life here, while developing the technologies needed to explore the universe and search for life beyond our home planet. Size: 39.5 x 55.3 km (24.5 x 34.3 miles) Location: 51.5 deg. North lat., 0.1 deg. West long. Orientation: North at top Image Data: ASTER bands 1,2, and 3. Original Data Resolution: 15 m Date Acquired:, October 12, 2001
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