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Back on Terra Firma
Discovery's crew members exi
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6/17/08
| Description |
Discovery's crew members exit the crew transport vehicle. Leading the way is Commander Mark Kelly, followed by (from left) Mission Specialists Mike Fossum, Karen Nyberg, Akihiko Hoshide and Ron Garan. Behind them is Stephen Lindsay, chief of the Astronaut Corps, and astronaut Janet Kavandi. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett June 14, 2008 |
| Date |
6/17/08 |
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Arctic Eclipse
NASA's Terra satellite was r
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8/4/08
| Description |
NASA's Terra satellite was rounding the top of the globe, making its way from the eastern tip of Siberia and across the Arctic Ocean towards northern Norway and northwest Russia, when it captured this unique view of a total solar eclipse on Aug. 1, 2008. The circular disk of the Moon casts an oval-shaped shadow across the left edge of this image. In the region of totality, where the Moon entirely obscures the Sun, the shadow is complete. The edges of the shadow are fuzzy, gradually lightening from black to red, brown, and yellow until the shadow is no longer discernable. In these areas of semi-shadow, the Sun is only partially blocked. On any other day, the photo-like view captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite would be brilliant white since both the ever-present Arctic clouds and the ice that caps the northern sea reflect light. In this image, however, it is as if the world is painted in sepia: the low light casts a yellow-brown glow on much of the scene. The image was captured between 9:35 and 9:45 UTC. In the area shown in the image, the Sun was completely obscured for about two minutes. As Earth rotated, the shadow moved southeast across the surface. At the same time, the satellite crossed the Arctic, its path nearly perpendicular to the eclipse. Because the shadow was moving across Earth's surface as the satellite approached, it has a long oblong shape in this image. In an instantaneous snapshot from a platform that was not moving relative to Earth, the shadow would be more circular. Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Holli Riebeek, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
8/4/08 |
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Fires in California
Several days after it starte
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11/24/08
| Description |
Several days after it started, the Freeway Fire left a sprawling burn scar on the California landscape. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this image on Nov. 22, 2008. In this false-color image, red indicates vegetation, tan indicates bare ground, gray-blue indicates buildings and paved surfaces, and dark blue indicates water. The Freeway Fire burn scar, stretching across the middle of the image, assumes a charcoal color. Along its southwestern margin, the burn scar intrudes into the curving suburban streets of Yorba Linda and Brea. Image credit: Robert Simmon, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
11/24/08 |
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Bushfires in Southeast Austr
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East of Churchill, Victoria,
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3/18/09
| Description |
East of Churchill, Victoria, a burn scar left by one of the deadly Australian bushfires in February 2009 sprawls across the landscape in this image captured by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite on March 14. The image combines visible light with near-infrared light, and although the resulting false-color image doesn't look like a natural photo, it makes the burned areas (charcoal-brown) stand out better from unburned vegetation (red) and areas where vegetation is naturally sparse or dormant (beige). The burn scar is brown is some places and more charcoal-colored in others. The differences could be because the severity of the fire was different from place to place, but it could also be due to differences in the type of vegetation that burned and the characteristics of the underlying soil. According to news reports, this fire resulted in nearly two dozen deaths, and it appears to have resulted from arson. Image credit: NASA/Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
3/18/09 |
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Cathedral Fire, Wilson's Pro
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Wilson's Promontory National
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3/18/09
| Description |
Wilson's Promontory National Park, located at the southern tip of Victoria, Australia, was one of many areas scorched by large bushfires in February 2009. The Cathedral Fire, which was sparked by lightning on February 8, burned an estimated 25,200 hectares (62,271 acres) in the park before it was fully contained on March 14, the day this image was captured by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. The image combines visible light with near-infrared light, the resulting false-color image makes burned areas more obvious (charcoal-brown). Unburned vegetation is red, and areas where vegetation is naturally sparse or dormant are beige. Beaches and sandy spots are nearly as white as the clouds. North of the park boundary (upper left), the landscape is beige and light red, a rural-agricultural area where people have cleared the natural vegetation. The park has a wide variety of habitats, including beaches, tidal mud flats, grass-covered dunes, marshes and swamps, and upland forests. The burn scar is darker in some places in others, which could be because the amount of burning there was more severe, but it could also be due to differences in the type of vegetation that burned and the characteristics of the soil. For example, the burn scar appears very dark in a swampy area inland of Five Mile Beach. The park was closed for several weeks while managers assessed the damage and made sure it would be safe for visitors to return. Some areas will be reopened to the public beginning March 21. Image credit: NASA/Jesse Allen, based on data from NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS and the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
3/18/09 |
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Fires along the South Caroli
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Wildfires burned along the S
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5/1/09
| Description |
Wildfires burned along the South Carolina coastline on April 22-23, 2009, leaping over a highway and heading for a heavily populated area in North Myrtle Beach, according to The New York Times. By April 23, the fires had destroyed more than 40 homes and damaged another 100, and had forced more than 2,500 people to evacuate. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this true-color image at 12:17 local time (16:17 UTC) on April 23, 2009. The red outlines in this image mark hotspots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with the fires. The plume of pale gray smoke blows east-southeastward over the ocean. To the northeast of the fires is North Myrtle Beach, which lies just south of the border between North and South Carolina. Wildfires typically destroy roughly 35 homes in any one year in South Carolina, a local official told the New York Times. Encouraged by low humidity and winds of 40 kilometers (25 miles) per hour, the April 2009 fire burned a record number of homes in just 24 hours. As of the morning of April 23, 2009, the fires were less than 10 percent contained. Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center Text credit: Michon Scott, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
5/1/09 |
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Jesusita Fire, California
By the morning of May 8, 200
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5/12/09
| Description |
By the morning of May 8, 2009, the Jesusita Fire in the hills around Santa Barbara, California, had damaged or completely destroyed 75 buildings, forced the evacuation of 20,000 residents, and threatened the homes of another 16,000 residents, according to ABC News. By the afternoon of May 9, 2009, more than 30,000 residents were under evacuation orders, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this image of the Jesusita fire at 11:55 a.m. local time (18:55 UTC) on May 8, 2009. The red outlines show locations where MODIS detected fire. Plumes of smoke blow southward over the ocean, and the plume from the western portion of the fire is larger and thicker. Strong, relentless winds doubled the fire's size to 3,500 acres (14 square kilometers) on the might of May 7-8, 2009, and firefighters stated that quick wind shifts sent the fire in all directions, according to ABC News. Along its western margin, the fire jumped Highway 154 near San Antonio Creek Road, but although the expanded blaze threatened hundreds of homes, firefighters managed to limit the damage. One building lost, according to the Los Angeles Times, however, was a century-old building at the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens. The Times also reported that three Ventura County firefighters had been injured in the fire and were receiving treatment at a local burn center. Image credit: Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of NASA's MODIS Rapid Response team Text credit: Michon Scott, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
5/12/09 |
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Fires Near Aldan River, Russ
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Forest fires were burning in
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7/24/09
| Description |
Forest fires were burning in the Yakutsk region of eastern Russia on July 21, 2009. Large columns of smoke blew north from the fires and pooled against the base of the Verkhoyanskiy Mountains. This natural-color (photo-like) image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite. Places where the sensor detected active fire are outlined in red. Image credit: NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team Text credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory |
| Date |
7/24/09 |
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Carbon Monoxide from Asian F
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Intense fires burning in the
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7/30/09
| Description |
Intense fires burning in the boreal forests of northern Asia and North America routinely send up plumes of smoke that darken skies many kilometers away. By the end of July 2009, large fires were burning in both Russia and Alaska. This image tracks the smoke from those fires by illustrating the concentration of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. The image was made with data collected by the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) sensor on NASA's Terra satellite between July 20 and July 26, 2009. Spots of red show where carbon monoxide concentrations were high, while orange areas point to moderate concentrations. Gray regions indicate places where no measurements were made. The highest concentrations of carbon monoxide are centered over large fire complexes in Russia. Fires in Alaska were also pumping carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. Carbon monoxide is a component of smoke that can be tracked long after the smoke has dispersed enough to no longer be visible. Carbon monoxide helps reveal where smoke's other invisible fine particles and polluting gases end up. These invisible particles and gases, including carbon monoxide, are ingredients in the production of ground-level ozone, a harmful pollutant. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Toronto MOPITT Teams. Caption by Holli Riebeek. |
| Date |
7/30/09 |
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Fires in Yukon Territory, Ca
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Sixty-eight fires were affec
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8/3/09
| Description |
Sixty-eight fires were affecting an estimated 94,107 hectares (232,543 acres) in Canada's Yukon Territory on July 30, 2009, according to the daily situation report from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Several large blazes were pouring out thick smoke plumes when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead and captured this natural-color image. Places where MODIS detected active fire are outlined in red. This image is cropped (at left) along the border with Alaska (visible in large image), where even smokier fires are burning. The smoke from these fires and others in Russia's Far East are veiling the entire Arctic with haze. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey. |
| Date |
8/3/09 |
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Wildfires in Alaska's Yukon
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Large fires in eastern Alask
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8/3/09
| Description |
Large fires in eastern Alaska's Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge were billowing out thick plumes of yellowish smoke when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this natural-color image on July 30, 2009. The smoke appears to be relatively close to the ground, in many places, brighter clouds lie over top of the smoke. The large version of the image shows that the smoke covers a wide area of Alaska and western Canada. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey. |
| Date |
8/3/09 |
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Fires in Los Angeles County
On the night of August 30-31
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9/1/09
| Description |
On the night of August 30-31, 2009, the Station Fire north of the city of Los Angeles spread in three directions and doubled in size, according to the Los Angeles Times. Two fire fighters had been killed and at least at least 18 homes in Tujunga Canyon had burned as of the morning of August 31. According to the Incident Information System, the Station Fire covered 85,760 acres as of the morning of August 31, 2009. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this true-color image around 11:45 a.m. local time (18:45 UTC) on August 30, 2009. Red outlines indicate hotspots of anomalously high surface temperatures associated with wildfires. In this image, the hotspots remain west of Mt. Wilson. The site of critical communication centers, Mt. Wilson had not burned but was threatened by the fire as of August 31, according to the Los Angeles Times. Smoke from the fire blows toward the northeast in this image. Clouds, perhaps mixed with some smoke, linger over Los Angeles. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. The Rapid Response Team provides daily images of this area. Caption by Michon Scott. |
| Date |
9/1/09 |
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Fires in Los Angeles County
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Wildfires raged in Los Angel
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9/1/09
| Description |
Wildfires raged in Los Angeles County on August 29, 2009. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this true-color image around 11:00 a.m. local time (18:00 UTC) the same day. The red outline is a hotspot where MODIS has detected unusually warm surface temperatures consistent with wildfires. Smoke blows north from the hotspot. Acquired near the edge of the satellite swath, this image appears slightly blurrier than would an image acquired by a satellite directly overhead. According to an August 29 report from California's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, three fires burned in Los Angeles County that day. Near the city of Los Angeles, the Station fire was 0 percent contained, affected 5,000 acres, and threatened 1,800 residences. East of that wildfire was the Morris fire, which was 85 percent contained, affected 2,168 acres, and threatened 15 residences. Another fire, the PV fire, occurred along the coastline (not shown in this image). Affecting 230 acres and damaging 5 residences, that fire was 90 percent contained at the time of the bulletin. NASA image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. The Rapid Response Team provides daily images of this area. Caption by Michon Scott. |
| Date |
9/1/09 |
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More Los Angeles Fire Images
Triple-digit temperatures, e
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9/1/09
| Description |
Triple-digit temperatures, extremely low relative humidities, dense vegetation that has not burned in decades, and years of extended drought are all contributing to the explosive growth of wildfires throughout Southern California. The Station fire, which began Aug. 26, 2009, in La Canada/Flintridge, not far from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, had reportedly burned 105,000 acres (164 square miles) of the Angeles National Forest by mid-day Aug. 31, destroying at least 21 homes and threatening more than 12,000 others. It is one of four major fires burning in Southern California at the present time. This image was acquired mid-morning on Aug. 30 by the backward (northward)-viewing camera of the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. The image is shown in an approximate perspective view at an angle of 46 degrees off of vertical. The area covered by the image is 245 kilometers (152 miles) wide. Several pyrocumulus clouds, created by the Station Fire, are visible above the smoke plumes rising from the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles in the left-center of the image. Smoke from the Station fire is seen covering the interior valleys along the south side of the San Gabriel Mountains, along with parts of the City of Los Angeles and Orange County, and can be seen drifting for hundreds of kilometers to the east over the Mojave Desert. The accompanying plots are histograms that display the heights of the smoke plumes and wind speeds. In this data set, the plume is injecting smoke more than 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) above sea level. MISR observes the daylit Earth continuously and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude. This image was generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 51601. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The MISR data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team |
| Date |
9/1/09 |
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Extent of Station Fire Burn
On September 6, 2009, the Ad
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9/9/09
| Description |
On September 6, 2009, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captured this simulated natural color image of the Station fire, burning in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles. The fire started on August 26 in La Canada/Flintridge near NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (seen at the bottom of the image), and soon grew to become the largest fire in Los Angeles County's history. Ten days after its start, the fire had consumed more than 160,000 acres (251 square miles) of forest, leaving behind a charred, blackened landscape, as it spread eastward. Smoke from the actively burning area can be seen on the right side of the image, the large dark gray area dominating the image is the evidence of forest and chaparral destruction. 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. 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, Washington, D.C. Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team Text credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Date |
9/9/09 |
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Global Vegetation
Food, fuel and shelter: vege
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4/7/08
| Description |
Food, fuel and shelter: vegetation is one of the most important requirements for human populations around the world. Satellites monitor how "green" different parts of the planet are and how that greenness changes over time. These observations help scientists understand the influence of natural cycles, such as drought and pest outbreaks, on vegetation, as well as human influences, such as land-clearing and global warming. One method of mapping the difference in vegetation is a measurement known as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). This image shows NDVI from Nov. 1, 2007, to Dec. 1, 2007, during autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. This monthly average is based on observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite. The greenness values on this global map range from -0.1 to 0.9, but have no actual unit. Instead, higher values (dark greens) show land areas with plenty of leafy green vegetation, such as the Amazon Rainforest. Lower values (beige to white) show areas with little or no vegetation, including sand seas and Arctic areas. Areas with moderate amounts of vegetation are pale green. Land areas with no data appear gray, and water appears blue. Image Credit: NASA |
| Date |
4/7/08 |
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Timbuktu
Timbuktu in the West African
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10/16/09
| Description |
Timbuktu in the West African nation of Mali is at the intersection of an east-west and a north-south Trans Saharan trade route across the Sahara. The city-state was an intellectual and spiritual capital in the 15th and 16th centuries. After long years of decline, Timbuktu is still a tourist destination and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This image was captured by the ASTER image aboard the Terra spacecraft. 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 with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team |
| Date |
10/16/09 |
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Wilkins Ice Shelf
The Wilkins Ice Shelf, on th
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5/1/09
| Description |
The Wilkins Ice Shelf, on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula, experienced multiple disintegration events in 2008. By the beginning of 2009, a narrow ice bridge was all that remained to connect the ice shelf to ice fragments fringing nearby Charcot Island. That bridge gave way in early April 2009. Days after the ice bridge rupture, on April 12, 2009, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite took this image of the southern base of the ice bridge, where it connected with the remnant ice shelf. Although the ice bridge has played a role in stabilizing the ice fragments in the region, its rupture doesn't guarantee the ice will immediately move away. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of 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 Dec. 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 maintains the instrument and its data products. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team |
| Date |
5/1/09 |
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Terra Turns Ten: Snow, Cloud
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NASA flies three large, mult
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12/22/09
| Description |
NASA flies three large, multi-sensor satellites that monitor Earth's land, atmosphere, oceans and energy balance. Because the instruments on each satellite take measurements at the same time from the same vantage point, scientists are able to compare observations and tease out connections between different parts of the Earth system. The first of the three satellites, Terra, launched ten years ago on Dec. 18, 1999. In the decade since Terra launched, scientists have gained insight into the intricate connections that shape our planet's climate. The relationship between snow, clouds, and sunlight is a good example. In November, the chill and snow of a Northern Hemisphere winter is on the horizon. Snow covers the far north and high elevations, as shown in the map of percent snow cover in November 2009. White areas show where snow covers the ground completely, while blue points to areas with partial snow cover. At the peak of the northern winter, more than 40 percent of the Earth's land will be covered in snow. In addition to being an important, life-sustaining source of water, the snow also reflects sunlight, limiting the amount of heat the Earth absorbs from the sun. Image Credit: NASA |
| Date |
12/22/09 |
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Dunes of Mars
Dunes of sand-sized material
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01/21/10
| Description |
Dunes of sand-sized materials have been trapped on the floors of many Martian craters. This is one example, from a crater in Noachis Terra, west of the giant Hellas impact basin. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this view on Dec. 28, 2009. The dunes here are linear, thought to be due to shifting wind directions. In places, each dune is remarkably similar to adjacent dunes, including a reddish (or dust colored) band on northeast-facing slopes. Large angular boulders litter the floor between dunes. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona |
| Date |
01/21/10 |
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Oahu, Hawaii ASTER
This 60 by 50 kilometer (37
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12/8/00
| Date |
12/8/00 |
| Description |
This 60 by 50 kilometer (37 by 31 mile) scene from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite shows almost the entire island of Oahu, Hawaii, on June 3, 2000. Oahu is the commercial center of Hawaii, and tourism is the largest contributor to the economy. Among the many popular beaches is the renowned Waikiki Beach, backed by the famous Diamond Head, an extinct volcano. The largest community, Honolulu, is the state capital. Built in Japan for the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, ASTER is one of several Earth-observing instruments on the Terra satellite, launched in December 1999. The Terra spacecraft, the flagship of a fleet of satellites dedicated to understanding our global environment, is part of NASA's Earth Sciences Enterprise, a long-term research program dedicated to understanding how human-induced and natural changes affect our world. More information about ASTER is available online at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov . Image credit: NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team ##### |
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HURRICANE CARLOTTA SPINS IN
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With winds reaching 250 kilo
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7/7/00
| Date |
7/7/00 |
| Description |
With winds reaching 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph), this year's Hurricane Carlotta became the second strongest eastern Pacific June hurricane on record. New images from NASA's Multi- angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) show the hurricane on June 21, the day of its peak intensity. MISR, built and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is one of several Earth-observing instruments aboard NASA's Terra satellite, which was launched in December 1999. This set of images has been 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 kilometers (310 miles) 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 kilometers (16 miles) in diameter and partially obscured by a thin cloud. About 50 kilometers (31 miles) 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 kilometers (12 miles) 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. More information about MISR is available at: http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov MISR scientific data products are available through the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center at NASA Langley Research Center: http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov The Terra mission is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. ##### |
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LOS ALAMOS FIRE IMAGED BY NA
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The fire that has raged out
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5/19/00
| Date |
5/19/00 |
| Description |
The fire that has raged out of control this month near Los Alamos, New Mexico, was captured in a series of images by the Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR) on NASA's Terra satellite. The picture is available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/misr These true-color images covering north-central New Mexico capture the bluish-white smoke plume of the Los Alamos fire, just west of the Rio Grande river. The middle image is a downward-looking or "nadir" view taken by MISR. As the satellite flew from north to south, the instrument viewed the scene from nine different angles. The top image was taken by the MISR camera looking 60 degrees forward along its orbit, whereas the bottom image looks 60 degrees aft. The fire plume stands out more dramatically in the steep-angle views. Its color and brightness also change with angle. By comparison, a thin, white water cloud appears in the upper right portion of the scene, and is most easily detected in the top image. MISR scientists use these angle-to-angle differences to monitor particulate pollution and to identify different types of haze. Such observations allow scientists to study how airborne particles interact with sunlight, a measure of their impact on Earth's climate system. The images are about 400 km (250 miles) wide. The spatial resolution of the nadir image is 275 meters (300 yards), resolution is 1.1 kilometers (1,200 yards) for the off-nadir images. North is toward the top. MISR is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, for NASA' s Office of Earth Science, Washington, D.C. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. ##### Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/JPL, MISR Science Team. |
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MISR Views of Montana fires,
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These images show forest fir
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8/18/00
| Date |
8/18/00 |
| Description |
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 24 hours later the National Weather Service downgraded Hector from a hurricane to a tropical storm. MISR, built and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is one of several Earth-observing instruments aboard Terra, which was launched in December 1999. More information about MISR is available at http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov . JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. # # # # |
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Dust clouds over eastern Chi
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The desert takes to the skie
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5/9/01
| Date |
5/9/01 |
| Description |
The desert takes to the skies in these images of eastern China from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR). A hazy summer view from July 9, 2000, (left) compares with a spectacularly dusty spring view from April 7, 2001, (middle). The two images cover an area from central Manchuria near the top to portions of North and South Korea at the bottom. The image on the right is a higher resolution MISR nadir- camera view of a portion of the April 7, 2001, dust cloud. When viewed at full magnification, a number of atmospheric wave features, like the ridges and valleys of a fingerprint, are apparent. These are probably induced by surface topography, which can disturb the wind flow. A few small cumulus clouds are also visible and are casting shadows on the thick lower dust layer. According to the Xinhua News Agency in China, nearly one million tons of Gobi Desert dust blow into Beijing each year. During a similar dust outbreak last year, the Associated Press reported that the visibility in Beijing had been reduced to the point where buildings were barely visible across city streets and airline schedules were significantly disrupted. The dust has also been implicated in adverse health effects such as respiratory discomfort and eye irritation. Asia's desert areas are prone to soil erosion, as underground water tables are lowered by prolonged drought and by industrial and agricultural water use. Heavy winds blowing eastward across the arid and sparsely vegetated surfaces of Mongolia and western China pick up large quantities of yellow dust. Airborne dust clouds from the April 2001 storm blew across the Pacific Ocean and were carried as far as North America. The minerals transported in this manner are believed to provide nutrients for both oceanic and land ecosystems. The left-hand and middle images are from Terra orbits 2,967 and 6,928 respectively. They are approximately 380 kilometers (236 miles) in width. The right-hand image covers an area roughly 250 kilometers (155 miles) wide by 470 kilometers (292 miles) high. Analyses of images such as these constitute one phase of MISR's participation in the Asian-Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment, an international campaign aimed at studying the offshore transport of airborne particles from the Asian continent. More information about this international endeavor is available online at http://saga.pmel.noaa.gov/aceasia/ . MISR, built and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is one of several Earth-observing experiments aboard Terra, launched in December 1999. MISR acquires images of the Earth at nine angles simultaneously, using nine separate cameras pointed forward, downward, and backward along its flight path. More information about MISR is available at http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov . JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. # # # # # |
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Hawaiian Islands MISR
This Multiangle Imaging Spec
…
12/8/00
| Date |
12/8/00 |
| Description |
This Multiangle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR) image of five Hawaiian Islands was acquired by the instrument's vertical- viewing (nadir) camera on June 3, 2000. The image shows the islands of Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and Kahoolawe. The prevailing Pacific trade winds bring higher levels of rainfall to the eastern slopes of the islands, leading to a greater abundance of vegetation on the windward coasts. The small change in observation angle across the nadir camera's field-of- view causes the right-hand portion of the image to be more affected by Sun glint, making the ocean surface appear brighter. Oahu is the westernmost of the islands seen in this image. Waikiki Beach and the city of Honolulu are located on the southern shore, to the west of Diamond Head caldera. MISR is one of several Earth-observing instruments on the Terra satellite, launched in December 1999. The Terra spacecraft, the flagship of a fleet of satellites dedicated to understanding our global environment, is part of NASA's Earth Sciences Enterprise, a long-term research program dedicated to understanding how human-induced and natural changes affect our world. More information about MISR is available at online at http://www- misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ . Image credit: NASA/GSFC/JPL, MISR Team. ##### |
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Nicaraguan Volcanoes The tru
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| Description |
Nicaraguan Volcanoes The true-color image at left is a downward-looking (nadir) view of the area around the San Cristobal volcano, which erupted the previous day. This image is oriented with east at the top and north at the left. The right image is a stereo anaglyph of the same area, created from red band multi-angle data taken by the 45.6-degree aftward and 70.5-degree aftward cameras on the Multi- angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. View this image through red/blue 3D glasses, with the red filter over the left eye. A plume from San Cristobal (approximately at image center) is much easier to see in the anaglyph, due to 3 effects: the long viewing path through the atmosphere at the oblique angles, the reduced reflection from the underlying water, and the 3D stereoscopic height separation. In this image, the plume floats between the surface and the overlying cumulus clouds. A second plume is also visible in the upper right (southeast of San Cristobal). This very thin plume may originate from the Masaya volcano, which is continually degassing at a slow rate. The spatial resolution is 275 meters (300 yards). 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. ##### |
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Multi-Angle Views of the App
…
| Description |
Multi-Angle Views of the Appalachian Mountains The true-color image at left is a downward-looking (nadir) view of the eastern United States, stretching from Lake Ontario to northern Georgia, and spanning the Appalachian Mountains. The three images to the right are also in true-color, taken by the forward 45.6-degree, 60.0-degree, and 70.5-degree cameras, respectively, of the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. As the slant angle increases, the line- of-sight through the atmosphere grows longer, and a pall of haze over the Appalachians becomes progressively more apparent. You can see a similar effect by scanning from near-nadir to the horizon when standing on a mountain top or looking out an airplane window. MISR uses this multi-angle technique to monitor particulate pollution and to distinguish different types of haze. These observations reveal how airborne particles are interacting with sunlight, a measure of their impact on Earth's climate system. The images are about 400 km (250 miles) wide, and the spatial resolution is 1.1 kilometers (1,200 yards). North is toward the top. 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. ##### |
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Multi-Angle View of the Cana
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A multi-angle view of the Ca
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| Description |
A multi-angle view of the Canary Islands in a dust storm, 29 February 2000. At left is a true-color image taken by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. This image was captured by the MISR camera looking at a 70.5-degree angle to the surface, ahead of the spacecraft. The middle image was taken by the MISR downward- looking (nadir) camera, and the right image is from the aftward 70.5-degree camera. The images are reproduced using the same radiometric scale, so variations in brightness, color, and contrast represent true variations in surface and atmospheric reflectance with angle. Windblown dust from the Sahara Desert is apparent in all three images, and is much brighter in the oblique views. This illustrates how MISR's oblique imaging capability makes the instrument a sensitive detector of dust and other particles in the atmosphere. Data for all channels are presented in a Space Oblique Mercator map projection to facilitate their co-registration. The images are about 400 km (250 miles) wide, with a spatial resolution of about 1.1 kilometers (1,200 yards). North is toward the top. 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. ##### |
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Multi-angle Images of Hudson
…
At left is a true-color imag
…
| Description |
At left is a true-color image from the downward-looking (nadir) camera on the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. The false-color image at right is a composite of red band data taken by the MISR forward 45.6-degree, nadir, and aftward 45.6-degree cameras, displayed in blue, green, and red colors, respectively. Color variations in the left image highlight spectral (true-color) differences, whereas those in the right image highlight differences in angular reflectance properties. The purple areas in the right image are low cloud, and light blue at the edge of the bay is due to increased forward scattering by the fast (smooth) ice. The orange areas are rougher ice, which scatters more light in the backward direction. This example illustrates how multi-angle viewing can distinguish physical structures and textures. Data for all channels are presented in a Space Oblique Mercator map projection to facilitate their co- registration. The images are about 400 km (250 miles) wide with a spatial resolution of about 275 meters (300 yards). North is toward the top. 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. ##### |
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South Florida
These images of South Florid
…
11/15/00
| Date |
11/15/00 |
| Description |
These images of South Florida were acquired by NASA's Multi- angle Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MISR) on October 18, 2000, during orbit 4446 of the Terra Satellite. The view on the left includes Daytona Beach near the top and the Florida Keys at the bottom. Orlando appears as a grayish patch near the top of the image, just to the east of the greenish Lake Apopka, Florida's fourth largest and most polluted lake. On the east coast is Cape Canaveral, home of the Kennedy Space Center. The large body of water in the middle of the land area is Lake Okeechobee. Charlotte Harbor and Fort Myers are visible on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the west. Along the Atlantic coast, partially obscured by clouds, are Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. Further to the east, the shallow waters and reefs of the Little Bahama and Great Bahama Banks appear in striking blue and green colors. The two right-hand images show the Florida Everglades and the Keys in more detail. Like the left-hand view, the top image is a natural color composite of blue, green and red band imagery. On the bottom is a false-color composite comprising green, red and near-infrared data. Near-infrared light is invisible to the human eye. The high reflectance of plants in this part of the electromagnetic spectrum, displayed here in shades of red, is the basis of many satellite-based techniques for detecting and characterizing vegetation. MISR, built and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is one of several Earth-observing experiments aboard Terra, which was launched in December 1999. MISR acquires images of the Earth at nine angles simultaneously, using nine separate cameras pointed forward, downward, and backward along its flight path. All of these South Florida images are all from MISR's downward-pointing camera The MISR science team includes members in the United States, England, and Italy. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/JPL, MISR Team # # # # # |
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Pine Island Glacier, Antarct
…
These two images of Pine Isl
…
4/3/01
| Date |
4/3/01 |
| Description |
These two images of Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica show the recently discovered 25-kilometer (15-mile) long crack that scientists expect will turn into a large iceberg within the next 18 months. The views from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on the Terra satellite also reveal differences in the ice sheet's surface texture, highlighting surface fractures and enabling distinction of rough crevasses from smooth blue ice. The image data shown was acquired on December 12, 2000, during Terra orbit 5246. At left is a conventional, true-color image from the downward-looking (nadir) camera. The false-color image at right is a composite of red-band data taken by the MISR forward 60-degree, nadir, and aftward 60-degree cameras, displayed in red, green and blue, respectively. Color variations in the true-color image at left highlight spectral differences. In the multi-angle composite, on the other hand, color variations act as a proxy for differences in the angular reflectance properties of the scene. In this representation, clouds show up as light purple. Blue to orange gradations on the surface indicate a transition in ice texture from smooth to rough. For example, the bright orange carrot-like features are rough crevasses on the glacier's tongue. In the conventional nadir view, the blue ice labeled "rough crevasses"' and "smooth blue ice" are similarly colored, but the multi-angle composite reveals their different textures, with the smoother ice appearing dark purple instead of orange. This could be an indicator of different mechanisms by which this ice is exposed. The multi-angle view also reveals subtle roughness variations on the frozen sea ice between the glacier and the open water in Pine Island Bay. To the left of the 'icebergs' label are chunks of floating ice. Smaller icebergs embedded in the frozen sea ice are visible below and to the right of the label. These small icebergs are associated with dark streaks. Analysis of the illumination geometry suggests that these streaks are surface features, not shadows. Wind-driven motion and thinning of the sea ice in the vicinity of the icebergs are a possible explanation. Recently, Robert Bindschadler, a glaciologist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center discovered in Landsat 7 imagery a newly-formed crack traversing the Pine Island Glacier. This crack is visible as an off-vertical dark line in the MISR nadir view. In the multi-angle composite, the crack and other stress fractures show up very clearly in bright orange. Radar observations of Pine Island Glacier in the 1990's showed the glacier to be shrinking, and the newly discovered crack is expected to eventually lead to the calving of a major iceberg. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calf., for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, D.C. 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 credit: NASA/JPL/GSFC/LaRC, MISR Team ##### |
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ASTER-SRTM Perspective of Mo
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Mount Oyama is a 820-meter-h
…
8/10/00
| Date |
8/10/00 |
| Description |
Mount Oyama is a 820-meter-high (2,700 feet) volcano on the island of Miyake-Jima, Japan. In late June 2000, a series of earthquakes alerted scientists to possible volcanic activity. On June 27, authorities evacuated 2,600 people, and on July 8 the volcano began erupting and erupted five times over that week. The dark gray blanket covering green vegetation in the image is the ash deposited by prevailing northeasterly winds between July 8 and 17. This island is about 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of Tokyo and is part of the Izu chain of volcanic islands that runs south from the main Japanese island of Honshu. Miyake-Jima is home to 3,800 people. The previous major eruptions of Mount Oyama occurred in 1983 and 1962, when lava flows destroyed hundreds of houses. An earlier eruption in 1940 killed 11 people. This image is a perspective view created by combining image data from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiaometer (ASTER) aboard NASA's Terra satellite with an elevation model from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Vertical relief is exaggerated, and the image includes cosmetic adjustments to clouds and image color to enhance clarity of terrain features. The ASTER instrument is a cooperative project between NASA, JPL, and the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry. ASTER is operating on-board NASA's Terra platform. Elevation data used in this image was acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on February 11, 2000. SRTM used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X- Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter-long (200-foot) mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and the German and Italian space agencies. It is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, DC. Size: Island is approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) in diameter Location: 34.1 deg. North lat., 139.5 deg. East lon. Orientation: View toward the west-southwest. Image Data: ASTER visible and near infrared Date Acquired: February 20, 2000 (SRTM), July 17, 2000 (ASTER) Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA ##### |
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Martian Sedimentary Rock Out
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Hundreds of layers of sedime
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12/4/00
| Date |
12/4/00 |
| Description |
Hundreds of layers of sedimentary rock exposed by erosion on the floor of a 64 kilometer-wide (40 mile-wide) meteor crater in western Arabia Terra, Mars, attest to a dynamic early history for the red planet. This high-resolution image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft shows an example enhanced by dark, windblown sand banked up against scarps 5-10 meters high (5-11 yards) formed by eroded rock layers. The west Arabia Terra crater is located at 8 degrees north, 7 degrees west, on the Martian surface. The layers provide a record of repeated, episodic changes that took place at some time far in the Martian past. Mars Global Surveyor is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C., by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the camera system. JPL's industrial partner is Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., which developed and operates the spacecraft. ##### |
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Hubble Captures A Full Rotat
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Pictures of the planet Mars
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| Description |
Pictures of the planet Mars taken with the recently refurbished NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) will provide the most detailed global view of the red planet ever obtained from Earth. The images were taken by HST's Wide Field Planetary Camera-2 on March 10, 1997, just before Mars opposition, when the red planet made one of its closest to the Earth (about 60 million miles or 100 million km). These pictures were taken during three HST orbits that were separated by about six hours. This timing was chosen so that Mars, with its 24-hour 39-minute day, would rotate about 90 degrees between orbits. This imaging sequence therefore covers most of the Martian surface. These observations will be combined with others planned for March 30 to provide complete coverage. During each orbit, Mars was observed in nine different colors spanning the ultraviolet to the near infrared. The specific colors were chosen to clearly discriminate between airborne dust, ice clouds, and prominent Martian surface features. The color picture shown here was created by combining images taken in blue (433 nm), green (554 nm), and red (763 nm) colored filters. The Martian north pole is at the top (near the center of the bright polar cap) and East is to the right. The center of the disk is at about 23 degrees north latitude, and the central longitudes are near 160, 210, and 305 degrees. These images show the planet on the last day of Martian spring in the northern hemisphere (just before summer solstice). The annual north polar carbon dioxide frost (dry ice) cap is rapidly sublimating, revealing the much smaller permanent water ice cap. This polar cap remnant, along with a few nearby detached regions of surface frost are most obvious in pictures taken through ultraviolet, blue, and green filters. These filters also show numerous bright water ice clouds. The brightest clouds are in the vicinity of the giant volcanos on the Tharsis Plateau (to right of center on left image), and in the giant impact basin, Hellas (near bottom of right-hand image), but a diffuse haze covers much of the Martian tropics as well. The familiar bright and dark markings on the Martian surface are most obvious in images taken through red and near-infrared filters. These images clearly reveal the large, dark, circular "sea" of sand dunes (Olympia Planitia) that surrounds the north pole, as well a number of other familiar features, including the giant Tharsis volcanos. The 16-mile (27 km) high Olympus Mons is near the center of the left-hand image, with Arsia, Povonis, and Ascraeus Mons forming a south-west to north-east line just to its right. The volcano, Elysium Mons is near the center of the middle image. The prominent dark feature just below the center on the disk on the rightmost image is Syrtis Major Planitia. Hubble is being used to monitor dust storm activity to support the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter Missions, which are currently en route to Mars. Airborne dust is most easily seen in WFPC2's red and near-infrared images. Weather reports derived from these observations are particularly valuable for Mars Pathfinder, which is scheduled for a July 4, 1997 landing on the red planet. A preliminary analysis of these HST data reveals enhanced dust activity over the dark Vastitas Borealis region in the northern hemisphere, and over the Noachis Terra and Terra Tyrrhena regions just south of the Martian equator. There is also evidence for airborne dust and ice clouds in the Hellas basin. However, these images show no evidence for large-scale dust storm activity. Credit: David Crisp and the WFPC2 Science Team (Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology) |
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Crater Wall In Noachis Mars
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Signs of water erosion and d
…
6/29/00
| Date |
6/29/00 |
| Description |
Signs of water erosion and debris flow are seen in this high resolution view of gullies eroded into the wall of a meteor impact crater in Noachis Terra on Mars, taken by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. The image shows channels and associated aprons of debris, interpreted to have formed by groundwater seepage, surface runoff, and debris flow. The lack of small craters superimposed on the channels and apron deposits indicates that these features are geologically young. It is possible that these gullies indicate that liquid water is present the below the surface of Mars today. This picture was acquired by Mars Global Surveyor on September 28, 1999. The scene covers an area approximately 3 kilometers (about 2 miles) wide by 6.7 kilometers (4.1 miles) high. Sunlight illuminates this area from the upper left. The area covered in the image is located near 54.8 degrees South by 342.5 degrees West. The Mars Orbiter camera high-resolution images are taken in black-and-white (grayscale), the color seen here has been synthesized from the colors of Mars observed by the spacecraft's wide-angle cameras and by NASA's Viking Orbiters in the late 1970s. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. ##### Images Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems |
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ASTER View of Sharm
El Sheik, Egypt--The Red Sea
…
8/25/00
| Date |
8/25/00 |
| Description |
El Sheik, Egypt--The Red Sea golf resort in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, where President Clinton met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, stands out against the desert landscape in this image acquired on August 25, 2000. This image of the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula shows an area about 30 by 40 kilometers (19 by 25 miles) in the visible and near infrared wavelength region. Vegetation appears in red. The blue areas in the water at the top and bottom of the image are coral reefs. The airport is visible just to the north of the golf resort. 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, Calif., 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. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. ##### |
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NASA TV's This Week @NASA, M
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With a green light from NASA
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05/07/10
| Description |
With a green light from NASA managers, space shuttle Atlantis and its six-member STS-132 crew is ready to fly May 14.*The first test of the fully integrated Launch Abort System for the Orion crew vehicle was successfully completed at the White Sands Missile Range on May 6.* Guenter Wendt, the first pad leader for NASA's manned space program, died at his home in Merritt Island, Fla., following hospitalization for congestive heart failure and subsequent stroke.* NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites continue to help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration keep an eye on the recent Gulf oil spill.* At the Dryden Flight Research Center, the newly-dubbed Full-scale Advanced Systems Testbed, or FAST aircraft, has begun flights to demonstrate the workings of its Research Flight Control System.* The team that operates the NASA rovers already on Mars, Spirit and Opportunity, was honored by the Space Ops Organization with its 2010 Award for Outstanding Achievement.* For the second consecutive year, the nasa.gov Website was honored with a People's Voice award in the Government category by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences in its annual Webby Awards competition.* The Rockets to Race Car exhibit has a few more pit stops to make this spring, including the Darlington Raceway, the Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the Kentucky Speedway. |
| Date |
05/07/10 |
|
Home Reef Reborn
| title |
Home Reef Reborn |
| description |
In the South Pacific, south of Late Island along the Tofua volcanic arc in Tonga, the volcanic island Home Reef is being re-born. The island is thought to have emerged after a volcanic eruption in mid-August that also spewed large amounts of floating pumice into Tongan waters and swept across to Fiji about 350 km (220 miles) to the west of where the new island formed. In 2004, a similar eruption created an ephemeral island about 0.5 by 1.5 km (0.3 by 0.9 miles) in size, it was no longer visible in an ASTER image acquired November 2005. This simulated natural color image shows the vegetation-covered stratovolcanic island of Late Island in the upper right. Home Reef is found in the lower left. The two bluish plumes are hot seawater that is laden with volcanic ash and chemicals, the larger one can be traced for more than 14 km (8.4 miles) to the east. The image was acquired Oct. 10, 2006 and covers an area of 24.3 by 30.2 km. It is located at 18.9 degrees south latitude, 174.7 degrees west longitude. 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 monitors the changing surface of our planet. It is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 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. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team |
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Gullies in Sirenum Terra, Ma
…
| title |
Gullies in Sirenum Terra, Mars |
| date |
10.03.2006 |
| description |
This enhanced-color view shows gullies in an unnamed crater in the Terra Sirenum region of Mars. It is a sub-image from a larger view imaged by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Oct. 3, 2006. This scene is about 254 meters (about 830 feet) wide. The upper and left regions of this scene are in shadow, yet color variations are still apparent. The high signal to noise ratio of the HiRISE camera allows for colors to be distinguished in shadows. This allows dark features to be identified as true albedo features versus topographical features. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona |
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Evidence for Recent Liquid W
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| Title |
Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars |
| Full Description |
Gullies eroded into the wall of a meteor impact crater in Noachis Terra. This high resolution view (top left) from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) shows channels and associated aprons of debris that are interpreted to have formed by groundwater seepage, surface runoff, and debris flow. The lack of small craters superimposed on the channels and apron deposits indicates that these features are geologically young. It is possible that these gullies indicate that liquid water is present within the martian subsurface today. The MOC image was acquired on September 28, 1999. The scene covers an area approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) wide by 6.7 km (4.1 mi) high (note, the aspect ratio is 1.5 to 1.0). Sunlight illuminates this area from the upper left. The image is located near 54.8S, 342.5W. The context image (above) shows the location of the MOC image on the south-facing wall of an impact crater approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. The context picture was obtained by the Viking 1 orbiter in 1980 and is illuminated from the upper left. The large mound on the floor of the crater in the context view is a sand dune field. The Mars Orbiter Camera high resolution images are taken black-and-white (grayscale), the color seen here has been synthesized from the colors of Mars observed by the MOC wide angle cameras and by the Viking Orbiters in the late 1970s. A brief description of how the color was generated: The MOC narrow angle camera only takes grayscale (black and white) pictures. To create the color versions seen here, we have taken much lower resolution red and blue images acquired by the MOC's wide angle cameras, and by the Viking Orbiter cameras in the 1970s, synthesized a green image by averaging red and blue, and created a pallete of colors that represent the range of colors on Mars. We then use a relationship that correlates color and brightness to assign a color to each gray level. This is only a crude approximation of martian color. It is likely Mars would not look like this to a human observer at Mars. |
| Date |
06/22/2000 |
| NASA Center |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
|
Hubble's Look At Mars Shows
…
| Title |
Hubble's Look At Mars Shows Canyon Dust Storm, Cloudy Conditions For Pathfinder Landing |
|
Hubble's Sharpest View of Ma
…
| Title |
Hubble's Sharpest View of Mars |
| General Information |
What is an Early Release Observation? A photograph of a celestial object that demonstrates the performance of a new Hubble camera. The recently refurbished Hubble telescope obtained the sharpest view of Mars ever taken from Earth. This stunning portrait was taken with March 10, 1997, just before the Red Planet made one of its closest passes to Earth (about 60 million miles or 100 million kilometers). The Martian North Pole is at the top [near the center of the bright polar cap] and east is to the right. This view of Mars was taken on the last day of Martian spring in the Northern Hemisphere. |
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Mars: Closest Encounter
| Title |
Mars: Closest Encounter |
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Mars: Closest Encounter
| Title |
Mars: Closest Encounter |
|
Great Zoom into Houston, Tex
…
| Title |
Great Zoom into Houston, Texas: Reliant Stadium |
| Abstract |
Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground. Special thanks to Digital Globe and Space Imaging for providing the highest reolution datasets used. This animation was produced to accompany the NASA/Columbia tribute during the Super Bowl XXXVIII pregame show. |
| Completed |
2004-01-24 |
|
Great Zoom into Houston, Tex
…
| Title |
Great Zoom into Houston, Texas: Reliant Stadium |
| Abstract |
Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground. Special thanks to Digital Globe and Space Imaging for providing the highest reolution datasets used. This animation was produced to accompany the NASA/Columbia tribute during the Super Bowl XXXVIII pregame show. |
| Completed |
2004-01-24 |
|
Great Zoom into Houston, Tex
…
| Title |
Great Zoom into Houston, Texas: Reliant Stadium |
| Abstract |
Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground. Special thanks to Digital Globe and Space Imaging for providing the highest reolution datasets used. This animation was produced to accompany the NASA/Columbia tribute during the Super Bowl XXXVIII pregame show. |
| Completed |
2004-01-24 |
|
Great Zoom into Houston, Tex
…
| Title |
Great Zoom into Houston, Texas: Reliant Stadium |
| Abstract |
Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground. Special thanks to Digital Globe and Space Imaging for providing the highest reolution datasets used. This animation was produced to accompany the NASA/Columbia tribute during the Super Bowl XXXVIII pregame show. |
| Completed |
2004-01-24 |
|
Great Zoom into Houston, Tex
…
| Title |
Great Zoom into Houston, Texas: Reliant Stadium |
| Abstract |
Using data from different spacecraft and some powerful computer technology, visualizers at the Goddard Space Flight Center present you with a collection of American cities in a way you have never seen them before. Starting with our camera high above the Earth, we rush in towards the surface at what would be an impossible speed for any known vehicle. Passing though layers of atmosphere, the colors of our destinations shimmer with their own unique characteristics, and suddenly we find ourselves floating in virtual space just above the ground. Special thanks to Digital Globe and Space Imaging for providing the highest reolution datasets used. This animation was produced to accompany the NASA/Columbia tribute during the Super Bowl XXXVIII pregame show. |
| Completed |
2004-01-24 |
|
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