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China Dust Storm seen by Ter …
Title China Dust Storm seen by Terra/MODIS and Earth Probe/TOMS in April of 2001
Abstract A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.
Completed 2003-12-01
China Dust Storm seen by Ter …
Title China Dust Storm seen by Terra/MODIS and Earth Probe/TOMS in April of 2001
Abstract A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.
Completed 2003-12-01
China Dust Storm seen by Ter …
Title China Dust Storm seen by Terra/MODIS and Earth Probe/TOMS in April of 2001
Abstract A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.
Completed 2003-12-01
China Dust Storm seen by Ter …
Title China Dust Storm seen by Terra/MODIS and Earth Probe/TOMS in April of 2001
Abstract A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.
Completed 2003-12-01
China Dust Storm seen by Ter …
Title China Dust Storm seen by Terra/MODIS and Earth Probe/TOMS in April of 2001
Abstract A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.
Completed 2003-12-01
China Dust Storm seen by Ter …
Title China Dust Storm seen by Terra/MODIS and Earth Probe/TOMS in April of 2001
Abstract A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.
Completed 2003-12-01
China Dust Storm seen by Ter …
Title China Dust Storm seen by Terra/MODIS and Earth Probe/TOMS in April of 2001
Abstract A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.
Completed 2003-12-01
China Dust Storm seen by Ter …
Title China Dust Storm seen by Terra/MODIS and Earth Probe/TOMS in April of 2001
Abstract A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.
Completed 2003-12-01
China Dust Storm seen by Ter …
Title China Dust Storm seen by Terra/MODIS and Earth Probe/TOMS in April of 2001
Abstract A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.
Completed 2003-12-01
China Dust Storm seen by Ter …
Title China Dust Storm seen by Terra/MODIS and Earth Probe/TOMS in April of 2001
Abstract A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.
Completed 2003-12-01
China Dust Storm seen by Ter …
Title China Dust Storm seen by Terra/MODIS and Earth Probe/TOMS in April of 2001
Abstract A thick shroud of dust appears over China on April 6-7, 2001. The densest portion of the aerosol pollution travels east over China, Russia, Japan, the Pacific Ocean, Canada, and The United States.
Completed 2003-12-01
Canadian Smoke Invades the E …
Title Canadian Smoke Invades the East Coast
Abstract Smoke from multiple large wildfires in Canada blanketed the Great Lakes and eastern United States. The enormous smoke plume was almost 200 miles wide. The thick pall affected air quality from New York, to Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. and blocked the sunlight cooling the East Coast. The first image was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on July 7, 2002. The second image comes from NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on the Earth Probe Satellite.
Completed 2004-05-13
Canadian Smoke Invades the E …
Title Canadian Smoke Invades the East Coast
Abstract Smoke from multiple large wildfires in Canada blanketed the Great Lakes and eastern United States. The enormous smoke plume was almost 200 miles wide. The thick pall affected air quality from New York, to Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. and blocked the sunlight cooling the East Coast. The first image was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on July 7, 2002. The second image comes from NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on the Earth Probe Satellite.
Completed 2004-05-13
Canadian Smoke Invades the E …
Title Canadian Smoke Invades the East Coast
Abstract Smoke from multiple large wildfires in Canada blanketed the Great Lakes and eastern United States. The enormous smoke plume was almost 200 miles wide. The thick pall affected air quality from New York, to Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. and blocked the sunlight cooling the East Coast. The first image was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on July 7, 2002. The second image comes from NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on the Earth Probe Satellite.
Completed 2004-05-13
Haze Across Eastern United S …
Title Haze Across Eastern United States
Description Groan. That's what millions of Americans in the eastern United States were doing each morning in the last week of July as they woke up to yet another day of hot, humid, stagnant air. Throughout the week, the Environmental Protection Agency has been issuing air quality warnings for the Midwest, the Southeast, and the Mid-Atlantic as pollution levels have reached the "Unheatlhy for Sensitive Groups" category in many places. In these conditions, those with respiratory problems, such as asthma and allergies, are advised to stay indoors, while even healthy children and adults are advised against prolonged exercise or outdoor activity. This image of the Eastern United States was captured on July 26, 2005, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite. Hazy air from along the eastern seaboard from Pennsylvania to Georgia was lingering over coastal regions and spreading out over the Atlantic Ocean. Numerous fires were detected by MODIS and have been marked with red dots. Although many meteorological and human factors influence air quality, among the major culprits is high atmospheric pressure. High pressure usually creates a stable—stagnant—region of air in which the emissions from our vehicles, power plants, and fires keep piling up. Not only does the hot humid air trap emissions and cause them to linger over the region, but the extremely uncomfortable conditions also cause electricity needs to spike: the power grid must generate more electricity for running refrigeration and air conditioning devices. The additional demand creates additional air pollution, making the air quality problems worse. Fortunately, forecasters were predicting that the high pressure would weaken later in the week, allowing cooler, cleaner air from Canada to sweep through. For more information on air quality conditions and forecasts, visit the EPA's AIRNow Website. [ http://cfpub.epa.gov/airnow/index.cfm?action=airnow.DisplayTopStory&StoryType=1 ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center
Haze over the Atlantic Seabo …
Title Haze over the Atlantic Seaboard
Description NASA's Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) sensor on the Terra satellite captured these observations of carbon monoxide over the eastern United States (bottom left), Canada (top), and the Atlantic Ocean (right) on June 26, 2003. True-color imagery revealed a pall of haze stretching over a large area, and these observations confirm the high values (red pixels) of the pollutant carbon monoxide associated with the haze. Cloudy areas are shown in gray. MOPITT data visualized by Jesse Allen. Data provided by the NCAR/UCAR MOPITT science team.
Haze over the Great Lakes
Title Haze over the Great Lakes
Description Haze collected over the Great Lakes region at the end of July 2007. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on July 31. In this image, the haze appears as a blue-gray film, thickest over northern Michigan and Lake Superior. Haze also obscures the view of Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Although the exact source of the haze was uncertain, it could have resulted from fires in Canada [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14405 ] or the United States. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14398 ] An August 1, 2007, posting on the U.S. Air Quality [ http://alg.umbc.edu/usaq/ ] (Smog Blog) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, traced a trajectory of smoke from fires in Oregon, Idaho, and Montana passing over the Great Lakes region and continuing southeast toward Baltimore. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. The Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA3/ ] of this region.
Haze Over the Midwestern Uni …
Title Haze Over the Midwestern United States
Description An atmospheric high-pressure system transported moisture and pollutants over the Great Lakes and the region to the south, affecting air quality indexes, as forecasted by AirNow [ http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.DisplayTopStory&StoryType=1 ]. For individuals sensitive to air quality, some indexes could reach unhealthy levels. Hurricane Ophelia, a portion of which appears in the lower right, was expected to impact some local weather and air quality conditions. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on September 11, 2005. In this image, haze stretches southwards from Canada, over the Great Lakes, and into the Midwest. This picture is actually a mosaic of satellite images acquired by different passes of the Terra satellite. The sharp line running diagonally through the image shows where those different pictures were stitched together. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
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.
Drought on the Great Plains
Title Drought on the Great Plains
Description Across the Great Plains of the United States and Canada, devastating drought spread across grasslands and croplands in summer 2006. Poor winter snowfall and a blisteringly hot summer [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13742 ] following several years of dry conditions have created a dire situation for many farmers and ranchers across the region. According to a recent article [ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/us/29drought.html?ex=1157688000&en=13a216546b7d4243&ei=5070 ] on the New York Times Website, many people are comparing the conditions to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The widespread drought conditions are obvious in this vegetation anomaly image based on data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite. Places where vegetation is healthier or more abundant than average are green, places where vegetation is about the same as average are pale yellow, and places where vegetation is not as healthy or abundant as average are brown. Gray patches show where no data were available, probably because of persistent clouds. One of the most common satellite-based vegetation maps is a scale, or index, of vegetation greenness called the "NDVI," short for Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. This image compares NDVI values from July 28-August 12, 2006, to the average values from 2001-2005. Vegetation was faring worst along the Missouri River through North and South Dakota, but below-average vegetation conditions stretch across parts of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, northwestern Nebraska, and Minnesota as well. The plains of Canada's Saskatchewan and Manitoba provinces were suffering drought, too. A few small pockets of green in the image reveal where vegetation greenness values observed by MODIS were higher than average: the mountains of north-central Colorado, southeastern Nebraska, and the Red River Valley. The Red River Valley experienced widespread snowfall and heavy rains in the spring of 2006, leading to significant flooding. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13500 ] The early-season moisture may have helped the vegetation in the area withstand the hot summer. According to the August 29, 2006, update from the U.S. Drought Monitor, [ http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html ] most of the Northern Great Plains, as well as much of Oklahoma and Texas, was still in the midst of drought, with many areas falling into the highest category: exceptional drought. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided by Inbal Reshef as part of the Global Agricultural Monitoring Project [ http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/glam.cfm ] between NASA, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), and the University of Maryland.
Heavy Snow in U.S. Midwest
Title Heavy Snow in U.S. Midwest
Description A severe winter storm hammered the Midwestern United States on December 1, 2006. According to news reports, the storm iced roads, canceled flights, broke tree branches, left more than two million homes and businesses without electricity, and temporarily shut down part of Interstate 40 in central Oklahoma. Several deaths were linked to the storm, including deaths from traffic accidents and carbon monoxide poisoning. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image of the storm's aftermath on December 3, 2006. By the time MODIS took this picture, the storm had moved off to Canada, and skies over the U.S. Midwest had largely cleared. In this image, the lingering snow looks like a giant finger-paint smear of white on a tan background. Streaks of clouds hover in the east, and lighter cloud cover remains in the north. Besides power outages, the storm caused headaches for air travelers, according to The New York Times. Freezing rains followed by snowflakes built up thick ice at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Besides heavy snow and grounded flights, O'Hare International Airport in Chicago saw the unusual occurrence of a lightning strike to a cargo plane. Although rare, thundersnow [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thundersnow ] can mix electrical storm activity with snow rather than rain. A 250-meter-resolution KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/UnitedStates.A2006337.1710.250m.kmz ] of the snow storm is available for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center
Lake Effect Snow in the Unit …
Title Lake Effect Snow in the United States
Description Like light radiating from the Sun, streamers of snow streak southeast from the Great Lakes in this photo-like image, collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on December 9, 2006. The snow seen here came from two different storms. The broad swath of white extending from the left edge of the image to Lake Michigan was deposited on December 1 by a powerful winter storm [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17480 ] that left thousands without power for many days. The snow on the southeastern side of the Great Lakes, however, fell on December 7 and December 8 as lake-effect snow. Lake-effect snow occurs along the southeastern edge of the Great Lakes when icy wind blows across the lakes from Canada. The wind picks up relatively warm, moist air over the lakes and pushes it over land, where the air is cooler. When the moist air encounters cooler temperatures over land, the water condenses into precipitation, which in this case fell as snow. The signature of lake-effect snow is striking in this image. A field of white lines the southeastern shores of each of the Great Lakes. The strong winds that generated the snow left their imprint in the form of long streamers of snow that extend all the way to the deep brown folds of the Appalachian Mountains along the right edge of the image.Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/ ] of the United States can be viewed on the MODIS Rapid Response web site. The tiny red dots in this image indicate where MODIS detected fires. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Fall Colors around Lake Supe …
Title Fall Colors around Lake Superior
Description The calendar may have set September 23 as the first day of autumn in 2007, but the forests that line the eastern shore of Lake Superior had already started to mark the turning of the season. By September 23, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this photo-like image, the forests of northern Michigan and southern Ontario flamed orange as the first trees of the season—maples—began to display their brilliant red and orange fall colors. Veins of green run through the sea of orange where the deciduous forest gives way to deep green pine trees. The most vivid color is concentrated in Canada's province of Ontario. Located farther south, Michigan's trees show only a hint of color. The St. Mary's River seems to be the dividing line between the brightest colors and the as-yet-unchanged forest. The river is also the border between the United States and Canada, as well as the only waterway linking Lake Superior to the rest of the Great Lakes. Orange and green forest gives way to gray along the banks of the river where the cities of Sault St. Marie, Ontario, and Sault St. Marie, Michigan, are located. Separated into two cities by the split between Canada and the United States after the Revolutionary War, the city was the first permanent European settlement in either Ontario or Michigan. A faint tan line spanning the river is the bridge that links the two cities. The pale green grid south of Sault St. Marie, Michigan, reveals patterns of land use, either from agriculture or forestry. The large image provides an unusually cloud-free view of all of the Great Lakes. Similar spots of color stretch across southern Canada and parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The northern plains of the United States have started to turn yellow as grasses ripen, but the eastern forests in Pennsylvania and New York remain deep green. Red squares scattered throughout the large image mark the locations of fires. The large image is at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The image is available in additional resolutions from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC
Fires Across the United Stat …
Title Fires Across the United States
Description This expansive image of the United States was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) on NASA?s Terra and Aqua satellites. The left hand portion of the image comes from Aqua MODIS observations captured on the afternoon of October 22, 2003, while the right hand part of the image is from Terra MODIS observations captured a few hours earlier. Several geographic regions are experiencing fires, which were detected by the sensors and are marked with red dots. At upper left, fires are still burning across the Northern Rockies, the highest concentration is in Idaho, with additional fires in Montana to its east, and southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon, to the west. In the Southwest, fires are burning in southern California near Los Angeles (gray patch right at edge of image to the north of the Baja Peninsula), as well as in the arc of mountains running through Arizona. At top center, fires are scattered across the northern Great Plains, from North Dakota and across the United States? border into Canada. Far to the south, dozens more fires are burning in the Mississippi River Valley in Mississippi (against right edge), Louisiana (to the west) and Arkansas (north of Louisiana). The high-resolution image provided above is 2 kilometers per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Fires Across the United Stat …
Title Fires Across the United States
Description This expansive image of the United States was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) on NASA?s Terra and Aqua satellites. The left hand portion of the image comes from Aqua MODIS observations captured on the afternoon of October 22, 2003, while the right hand part of the image is from Terra MODIS observations captured a few hours earlier. Several geographic regions are experiencing fires, which were detected by the sensors and are marked with red dots. At upper left, fires are still burning across the Northern Rockies, the highest concentration is in Idaho, with additional fires in Montana to its east, and southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon, to the west. In the Southwest, fires are burning in southern California near Los Angeles (gray patch right at edge of image to the north of the Baja Peninsula), as well as in the arc of mountains running through Arizona. At top center, fires are scattered across the northern Great Plains, from North Dakota and across the United States? border into Canada. Far to the south, dozens more fires are burning in the Mississippi River Valley in Mississippi (against right edge), Louisiana (to the west) and Arkansas (north of Louisiana). The high-resolution image provided above is 2 kilometers per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Fires and Thick Smoke over S …
Title Fires and Thick Smoke over South America
Description The skies over the heart of South America were thick with the smoke from thousands of fires on September 9, 2007. In this image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ], challenging for scientists to say what the overall effect of smoke on clouds and rainfall is. NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] and Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellites each have a MODIS sensor capable of detecting fires and mapping the extent of smoke aerosols on a daily basis. Scientists from around the world are using these data to advance our understanding of how natural and human-caused fires are changing our planet. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team., satellite, locations where the sensor detected actively burning fires are marked with red dots. The skies are flooded with smoke, which pools along the eastern foothills of the Andes Mountains for thousands of kilometers. (North-to-south this image covers 3,050 kilometers, if we laid it over a map of the central United States, it would spill over the borders into both Canada and the Gulf of Mexico for at least a hundred kilometers in both directions.) Although naturally occurring fires are not uncommon in the drier forests and grasslands of South America, this type of intense, continent-spanning fire activity is almost certainly a product of human activities. Some fires are intentional, set by people to clear forest, savannas, and grasslands for ranching or farming. Other fires occur accidentally from human activities. Landscapes that have been disturbed by logging, fragmentation, or previous accidental fire are more prone to catch fire accidentally. In these situations, planned fires (such as brush clearing fires on already cleared land) can easily get out of control and invade other areas, especially during drought years. The image spans a variety of ecological regions. The top of the scene, including Peru, northern Bolivia, and western Brazil is home to the southernmost portions of the Amazon Rainforest. These wetter forests give way to the south to drier forests and more open woodlands in southern Bolivia, northwestern Paraguay and northern Argentina east of the Andes, this area is called the Chaco. In Uruguay and southern Brazil, the natural vegetation is savannas and grasslands. Even in ecosystems where fires occur naturally (the Chaco, savannas, and grasslands), human activities may change the frequency and intensity of fires. The number and different kinds of plants and animals may change as a result. And in the Amazon, naturally occurring fire was historically very rare, and trees and other plants have no real adaptations to fire. Fires in the rainforest have the potential to completely transform the Southern Amazon forests into a savanna. Fires influence not only the land surface, but the atmosphere as well. Research suggests that the impacts of smoke on the tropical atmosphere vary from place to place, season to season, and year to year. Studies have shown smoke reducing cloudiness over the Amazon itself, but not over the nearby ocean and not every year. The net impact on rainfall is also uncertain. Smoke particles suppress cloud formation by providing an over-abundance of condensation sites for water vapor. The water vapor spreads out over these particles, and it takes the cloud droplets longer to get big enough to fall as rain. The flip side, however, is that the smaller, lighter cloud droplets can rise much higher into the atmosphere, which ultimately invigorates updrafts, intensifies thunderstorms, and produces large hail and heavy rain. The competing effects in different areas and weather conditions make it extremely
Fires In Alaska and Northern …
Title Fires In Alaska and Northern Canada
Description Numerous lightning-ignited fires have been burning in east-central Alaska since mid-June 2004. The carbon monoxide generated by the fires is blowing south over western Canada and the northwestern United States, as shown by this image, which is based on a composite of data collected over a 10 day period, from June 14 to June 24, 2004, by the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument aboard NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The colors represent the mixing ratio of carbon monoxide in parts per billion by volume (ppbv) at an altitude of roughly 3 km (700 mbar). Red and yellow indicate high levels of pollution. NASA image created from data provided by the NCAR MOPITT Team
Fires in Canada's Prairie Pr …
Title Fires in Canada's Prairie Provinces
Description Smoke is billowing from fires in Canada?s Saskatchewan region and may be mixing with smoke from wildfires in the western United States at the lower right of this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from June 26, 2002. According to reports from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center, lightning ignited 15 fires in a single 24-hour period from Tuesday, June 25, 2002, to Wednesday, June 26. Image courtesy Liam Gumley, Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Fires in Quebec, Canada, Sen …
Title Fires in Quebec, Canada, Send Smoke to U.S.
Description This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from July 7, 2002, shows smoke from wildfires (red dots) in Quebec, Canada, drifting southward over the United States. Please note that the high-resolution scene provided here is 500 meters per pixel. For a copy of the scene at the sensor's fullest resolution, visit the MODIS Rapid Response Image Gallery. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
Fires in Quebec, Canada, Sen …
Title Fires in Quebec, Canada, Send Smoke to U.S.
Description This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from July 8, 2002, shows smoke from wildfires (red dots) in Quebec, Canada, drifting southward over the United States. Please note that the high-resolution scene provided here is 500 meters per pixel. For a copy of the scene at the sensor's fullest resolution, visit the MODIS Rapid Response Image Gallery. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
Fires in Quebec, Canada, Sen …
Title Fires in Quebec, Canada, Send Smoke to U.S.
Description In central Quebec, Canada, numerous wildfires (red dots) are billowing thick smoke toward the southwest. Within days, the smoke had reached the Great Lakes and New England regions of the United States. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image was acquired on July 5, 2002. Please note that the high-resolution scene provided here is 500 meters per pixel. For a copy of the scene at the sensor's fullest resolution, visit the MODIS Rapid Response Image Gallery. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
Smoke from Alaska Fires
Title Smoke from Alaska Fires
Description This large-scale image was made by stitching together four images collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments aboard both the Terra and Aqua satellites. The mosaic shows the extent to which smoke from fires burning in Alaska has spread all the way across Canada and into the Great Lakes region of the United States. The high-resolution version available here is 1 kilometer per pixel. NASA image by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data courtesy MODIS Rapid Response
Smoke from Alaska Fires
Title Smoke from Alaska Fires
Description This large-scale image was made by stitching together four images collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments aboard both the Terra and Aqua satellites. The mosaic shows the extent to which smoke from fires burning in Alaska has spread all the way across Canada and into the Great Lakes region of the United States. The high-resolution version available here is 1 kilometer per pixel. NASA image by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data courtesy MODIS Rapid Response
Smoke from Canadian Fires Bl …
Title Smoke from Canadian Fires Blankets Eastern U.S.
Description These images from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) illustrate the abundance of smoke over the northeastern United States from fires burning in Qu?bec on July 6, 2002. The images at left and center are natural color views acquired by MISR's vertical-viewing (nadir), and 70-degree forward-viewing cameras, respectively. Although smoke is visible in the nadir image, the oblique view angle greatly enhances the appearance of smoke. The abundance of atmospheric particulates (aerosols) can be derived from the variation of scene brightness and contrast as a function of observation angle, and is displayed by the map of aerosol optical depth on the right. Using the current automated algorithms, reliable retrievals are not feasible for land areas covered by aerosols which totally obscure the underlying surface. In these areas, no retrievals were obtained (shown in dark gray) or a sporadic false result was returned (shown in red). Areas where clouds were successfully screened are also shown in dark gray. Elevated aerosol amounts (shown in blue-green and green) are visible over New York City and the Atlantic Ocean. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer views almost the entire Earth every 9 days. These images were acquired during Terra orbit 13562 and cover an area of about 380 kilometers x 916 kilometers. Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]
Smoke over Hudson Bay
Title Smoke over Hudson Bay
Description Thick smoke choked the skies over Manitoba, Ontario, and Hudson Bay on Tuesday, July 24, 2007. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture the same day. In this image, thick swaths of smoke hundreds of kilometers across stretch eastward over Canada's land and water. In the south, a smoke plume arcs in a clockwise direction toward the southwest before changing direction and heading east. The smoke can be distinguished from the nearby clouds by the difference in color. Whereas clouds are bright white, the smoke is dingy gray. Besides smoke, this image shows hotspots—areas with anomalously warm surface temperatures detected by the satellite sensor. Hotspots are associated with volcanoes or, in this case, fires. Two fires appear in Ontario, near the coast and the border with Manitoba. These diminutive fires, however, are not responsible for the smoke spreading across the region. The smoke results from wildfires [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14405 ] to the west, north of Lake Winnipeg. According to a news report from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, up to 1,000 people in Manitoba were fleeing smoke and fires as of July 25, 2007. Manitoba Conservation officials said some 50 forest fires were burning, nine of them out of control. Hot temperatures, high winds, and lightning strikes all contributed to the situation. Smoke from wildfires is a regular contributor to air pollution, and NASA satellites have helped researches estimate the extent of that contribution. A 2005 study, for instance, determined that Alaskan wildfires in the summer of 2004 produced as much carbon monoxide as human-related activity throughout the continental United States during the same period, and the carbon monoxide increased ground-level ozone in North America and Europe. See Tracking Nature's Contribution to Pollution [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ContributionPollution/ ] for more information. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center
Smoke over the Midwestern U. …
Title Smoke over the Midwestern U.S. and Canada
Description This true-color image shows smoke spreading eastward over a large area over central North America, extending from the Pacific Northwest all the way over the Great Lakes region. The smoke was generated from a number of intense wildfires [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11688 ] burning in the western United States and Canada. This scene was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), aboard NASA?s Terra satellite, on Sept. 6, 2003. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Smoke Plume over Eastern Can …
Title Smoke Plume over Eastern Canada
Description In late May, a massive smoke plume hundreds of kilometers across blew eastward over New Brunswick toward the Atlantic Ocean. On May 26, 2007, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite captured this image at 11:40 a.m. local time. By the time MODIS took this picture, the smoke appeared to have completely detached itself from the source, a large fire burning in southwestern Quebec, beyond the western edge of this image. In this image, the smoke appears as a gray-beige opaque mass with fuzzy, translucent edges. The plume is thickest in the southwest and diminishes toward the northeast. Just southwest of the plume is a red outline indicating a hotspot—an area where MODIS detected anomalously warm surface temperatures, such as those resulting from fires. This hotspot, however, is not the source for this smoke plume. According to a bulletin [ http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/DATA/SMOKE/2007E261650.html ] from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the southwestern Quebec fire (visible in this wider-area view [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA4/2007146/USA4.2007146.terra ] as a semi-circular arrangement of hotspots at image left) was the source. According to reports from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre [ http://www.ciffc.ca/firewire.htm ] on May 29, that fire was estimated at 63,211 hectares (156,197 acres), and it was classified as "being held." At the same time, more than 20 wildfires burned in Quebec, news sources reported, and firefighters from other Canadian provinces and the United States had been brought in to provide reinforcements for the area's firefighters. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center.
Fires in Western Canada
Title Fires in Western Canada
Description The large fires currently burning in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States are producing a significant amount of air pollution, as indicated by the elevated levels of carbon monoxide over the region. This false-color image shows the concentrations of carbon monoxide at an altitude of roughly 3 km (700 millibars) in the atmosphere. These data were taken by the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) instrument aboard NASA?s Terra satellite for the period Aug. 1-7, 2003. The colors represent the mixing ratios of carbon monoxide in the air, given in parts per billion by volume. The gray areas in the image show where no data were collected, either due to persistent cloud cover or gaps between satellite viewing swaths. Carbon monoxide is produced as a result of incomplete combustion during burning. It is important to scientists due to its impact on the chemistry in the lower atmosphere. Carbon monoxide is a good indicator of air pollution and its presence adversely affects the atmosphere's ability to cleanse itself. The regions of high carbon monoxide are observed downwind of the fires currently burning in Canada's British Columbia (left) and Alberta (right) provinces, while across the border in the United States, intense plumes of carbon monoxide are being emitted from the fires burning in Idaho and Montana. Because carbon monoxide is persistent in the air for several weeks, it clearly shows the transport of pollution plumes from the region of the fires northeastwards over Canada. Image courtesy the NCAR [ http://www.eos.ucar.edu/mopitt/ ] and University of Toronto [ http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/MOPITT/home.html ] MOPITT Teams
Flooding on the Red River
Title Flooding on the Red River
Description Major flooding swamped the Red River on April 13, 2006, and the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for most communities that lined either side of the river. As the floods swept north into Canada, Winnipeg was bracing for the inundation, expected to peak around April 20. Along the border between the United States and Canada, the Pembina River was also swollen. Flooding at the confluence of the two rivers was nearing its peak when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took the top image. The Red River spanned several kilometers in North Dakota and Minnesota in contrast to the thin blue line it formed during the same period in 2005 (lower image). The floods were caused by snow melt and rain. For official flood forecasts and warnings, please visit the National Weather Service [ http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=fgf ]. The large images provided above have a resolution of 500 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/fas/?USA2/2006103 ] are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in a variety of resolutions, including MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Flooding on the Red River
Title Flooding on the Red River
Description Major flooding swamped the Red River on April 13, 2006, and the National Weather Service issued flood warnings for most communities that lined either side of the river. As the floods swept north into Canada, Winnipeg was bracing for the inundation, expected to peak around April 20. Along the border between the United States and Canada, the Pembina River was also swollen. Flooding at the confluence of the two rivers was nearing its peak when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took the top image. The Red River spanned several kilometers in North Dakota and Minnesota in contrast to the thin blue line it formed during the same period in 2005 (lower image). The floods were caused by snow melt and rain. For official flood forecasts and warnings, please visit the National Weather Service [ http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=fgf ]. The large images provided above have a resolution of 500 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/fas/?USA2/2006103 ] are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in a variety of resolutions, including MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Flooding on the Red River
Title Flooding on the Red River
Description Fast-melting snow caused floods on the Red River of North Dakota and Minnesota during the first and second week of April 2006. The river was bulging with flood water when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on April 10, 2006. The flood peak had passed Grand Forks, North Dakota, the cement-colored area west of the river along the lower edge of the image, and was flowing north into Canada. The next city to be inundated by the flood shown here was Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada, beyond the north edge of the image. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, residents of Winnipeg were preparing for the floods, expected to hit the city by the third week of April. In the top image, the Red River cuts a wide blue swath across dark red farmland. The land most likely has this hue because agricultural fires commonly scorch away stubble, leaving charcoal behind. In this false-color image, the burnt land looks red. A few wispy clouds, pale blue, drift over the flooded region. The lower image shows North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba three weeks before the floods started. At that time, the river blended with the frozen, snow-covered landscape around it. The river is faintly visible in Canada, but is masked by the state boundary in the United States. To see daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA2/2006100 ] of the floods, please visit the MODIS Rapid Response Web site. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Flooding on the Red River
Title Flooding on the Red River
Description Fast-melting snow caused floods on the Red River of North Dakota and Minnesota during the first and second week of April 2006. The river was bulging with flood water when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on April 10, 2006. The flood peak had passed Grand Forks, North Dakota, the cement-colored area west of the river along the lower edge of the image, and was flowing north into Canada. The next city to be inundated by the flood shown here was Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada, beyond the north edge of the image. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, residents of Winnipeg were preparing for the floods, expected to hit the city by the third week of April. In the top image, the Red River cuts a wide blue swath across dark red farmland. The land most likely has this hue because agricultural fires commonly scorch away stubble, leaving charcoal behind. In this false-color image, the burnt land looks red. A few wispy clouds, pale blue, drift over the flooded region. The lower image shows North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba three weeks before the floods started. At that time, the river blended with the frozen, snow-covered landscape around it. The river is faintly visible in Canada, but is masked by the state boundary in the United States. To see daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA2/2006100 ] of the floods, please visit the MODIS Rapid Response Web site. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Fall Colors around Lake Supe …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
The calendar may have set Se …
Ontario_TMO_2007266
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-09-23
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Ontario_TMO_2007266
Snow over the Northeastern U …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
On February 14-15, 2007, a s …
ge_07431
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-02-19
creator NASA -- NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
identifier ge_07431
Sub-Zero Temperatures across …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
In the second week of Januar …
lst_jan9-16_2004
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-01-09
creator NASA -- Image by the Earth Observatory Team, based on data from Dr. Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Product Principal Investigator.
identifier lst_jan9-16_2004
Haze over the Great Lakes: N …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Haze collected over the Grea …
grlakes_tmo_2007212
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-07-31
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier grlakes_tmo_2007212
Haze over the Eastern United …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Thick haze streamed from Nor …
atlantic_mop_2006219
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2006-08-07
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier atlantic_mop_2006219
First Snow in US Northeast: …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
A string of storms brought t …
UnitedStates_TMO_2007340
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-12-06
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier UnitedStates_TMO_2007340
Smoke Plume over Eastern Can …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
In late May, a massive smoke …
ecanada_tmo_2007146
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-05-26
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier ecanada_tmo_2007146
Spring Migration: Ruby-throa …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
The sunlight dawdles a littl …
rubymigration_tmo_2007077
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-03-21
creator NASA -- NASA image by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ MODIS Rapid Response team. Hummingbird sightings taken from the Journey North project Website.
identifier rubymigration_tmo_2007077
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