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Browse All : Terra of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and California from 2005

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National Map Showing Habitat …
Title National Map Showing Habitat Suitability for Tamarisk Invasion
Abstract The spread of invasive species is one of the most daunting environmental, economic, and human-health problems facing the United States and the World today. It is one of several grand challenge environmental problems being addressed by NASA's Science Mission Directorate through a national application partnership with the US Geological Survey. NASA and USGS are working together to develop a National Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) for the management and control of invasive species on Department of Interior and adjacent lands. The system provides a framework for using USGS's early detection and monitoring protocols and predictive models to process MODIS, ETM+, ASTER and commercial remote sensing data, to create on-demand, regional-scale assessments of invasive species likely habitats. Recent work on the Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) project has shown the importance of remotely-sensed time-series data in geostatistical models for mapping the distribution of Tamarisk and other invasive plant species. This video shows the habitat suitability for a Tamarisk invasion in the continental United States. Red indicates areas that are highly suitable and yellow indicates areas which are less suitable. Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada are the most highly suitable states. Utah and Arizona have the next greatest risk. California, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Ohio, Wyoming, and Florida also have a significant risk.
Completed 2005-10-18
National Map Showing Habitat …
Title National Map Showing Habitat Suitability for Tamarisk Invasion
Abstract The spread of invasive species is one of the most daunting environmental, economic, and human-health problems facing the United States and the World today. It is one of several grand challenge environmental problems being addressed by NASA's Science Mission Directorate through a national application partnership with the US Geological Survey. NASA and USGS are working together to develop a National Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) for the management and control of invasive species on Department of Interior and adjacent lands. The system provides a framework for using USGS's early detection and monitoring protocols and predictive models to process MODIS, ETM+, ASTER and commercial remote sensing data, to create on-demand, regional-scale assessments of invasive species likely habitats. Recent work on the Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) project has shown the importance of remotely-sensed time-series data in geostatistical models for mapping the distribution of Tamarisk and other invasive plant species. This video shows the habitat suitability for a Tamarisk invasion in the continental United States. Red indicates areas that are highly suitable and yellow indicates areas which are less suitable. Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada are the most highly suitable states. Utah and Arizona have the next greatest risk. California, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Ohio, Wyoming, and Florida also have a significant risk.
Completed 2005-10-18
Antarctic Plumbing: Lake Eng …
Title Antarctic Plumbing: Lake Englehardt's Subglacial Hydraulic System
Abstract ICESat satellite laser altimeter elevation profiles from 2003-2006 collected over West Antarctica reveal numerous regions of temporally varying elevation. MODIS satellite imagery over roughly the same time period collaborates where these subglacial fluctuations have occurred. These observations have led scientists to conclude that subglacial water movement is happening in this lake region, revealing a widespread, dynamic subglacial water system that could provide important insights into ice flow and the mass balance of Antarctica's ice.
Completed 2007-02-13
Death Valley
Title Death Valley
Description Now the driest place in North America, Death Valley was once a verdant, water-filled haven. Between 128,000 and 186,000 years ago, ice covered the Sierra Nevada and rivers flowed into the long valley, feeding Lake Manly. At nearly 100 miles long and 600 feet deep, this massive lake filled Death Valley. To the west, on the other side of the Panamint Range (capped with snow in the top image), was the slightly smaller Panamint Lake. Though the lake and rivers dried as the ice retreated and the climate warmed, water has left its mark on the landscape. Evaporating water left a white salt pan in its place, so the beds of both lakes are clearly visible in these images, acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on March 10, 2005, (top) and March 11, 2004 (bottom). Driven by a mild El Niño, winter 2005 was wet. Southern California was inundated with heavy rain from December through late February. The effects on the landscape hearken back to an earlier age when water was more prevalent. On March 10, 2005, water had pooled in the former Lake Manly and, less noticeably, in Lake Panamint. To the northwest, Owens Valley?another remnant of the last ice age?is also filling with water. Aside from darkening the dry salt pans with water, the winter weather had another effect on the landscape. The mountains are darker and slightly greener with growing vegetation. On average, Death Valley receives less than two inches of rain per year. When the rain does fall, the desert springs to life, blossoming with flowers. This year, Death Valley National Park received over six inches of rain, and the result is a rainbow of wildflowers?one of the best blooms in modern history, the National Park Service reports. For daily wildflower updates, visit the Death Valley National Park [ http://www.nps.gov/deva/ ] home page. NASA images created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team and the Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC.
Death Valley
Title Death Valley
Description Now the driest place in North America, Death Valley was once a verdant, water-filled haven. Between 128,000 and 186,000 years ago, ice covered the Sierra Nevada and rivers flowed into the long valley, feeding Lake Manly. At nearly 100 miles long and 600 feet deep, this massive lake filled Death Valley. To the west, on the other side of the Panamint Range (capped with snow in the top image), was the slightly smaller Panamint Lake. Though the lake and rivers dried as the ice retreated and the climate warmed, water has left its mark on the landscape. Evaporating water left a white salt pan in its place, so the beds of both lakes are clearly visible in these images, acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on March 10, 2005, (top) and March 11, 2004 (bottom). Driven by a mild El Niño, winter 2005 was wet. Southern California was inundated with heavy rain from December through late February. The effects on the landscape hearken back to an earlier age when water was more prevalent. On March 10, 2005, water had pooled in the former Lake Manly and, less noticeably, in Lake Panamint. To the northwest, Owens Valley?another remnant of the last ice age?is also filling with water. Aside from darkening the dry salt pans with water, the winter weather had another effect on the landscape. The mountains are darker and slightly greener with growing vegetation. On average, Death Valley receives less than two inches of rain per year. When the rain does fall, the desert springs to life, blossoming with flowers. This year, Death Valley National Park received over six inches of rain, and the result is a rainbow of wildflowers?one of the best blooms in modern history, the National Park Service reports. For daily wildflower updates, visit the Death Valley National Park [ http://www.nps.gov/deva/ ] home page. NASA images created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team and the Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC.
Hurricane Kenneth
Title Hurricane Kenneth
Description This unusual mosiac of storms shows three well-formed tropical storms in the eastern Pacific off the coast of Baja California, Mexico. They are, from left to right, Hurricane Jova, Hurricane Kenneth, and Tropical Storm Max. Also shown is an intensifying tropical depression which later developed into Tropical Storm Norma, though it had not quite earned the name at the time the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) made this series of observations. None of the storms are predicted to affect land. The mosaic combines observations spanning the eastern Pacific from Mexico almost all the way to Hawaii. It was created by merging data obtained by both the Terra and Aqua MODIS instruments from two seperate satellite passes each. Small gray gaps show where the MODIS swaths did not quite overlap. These data were obtained by the two MODIS instruments on September 21, 2005, between 11:25 a.m. and 2:35 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The high resolution image linked to above is at 500 meter resolution. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team.
Record Hot April in Australi …
Title Record Hot April in Australia
Description Record heat stifled Australia in April 2005. The average temperature for the entire continent was 2.9 degrees Celsius above average, making this the warmest April on record. The high temperatures were accompanied by dry skies, with rainfall totals well below average for many areas. This image shows just how much of Australia sweltered under hotter-than-normal temperatures during April 2005. The image was created using surface temperature data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. Deep red over most of the continent reveal where temperatures were hotter in April 2005 than the average April temperature between 2000 and 2004. Darker red spots show where temperatures spiked, while tan and blues show temperatures much closer to average. The surface temperatures shown here are different from the air temperatures reported on the evening news. Because the ground absorbs energy from the sun, surface temperatures are often much warmer than air temperatures, for example, a sandy beach can be unbearably hot even though the air temperature is comfortable. While air temperatures may not have soared as high as 15 degrees Celsius above average as the image shows the ground temperatures doing in places, they did set new records throughout the country. NASA image by Jesse Allen, based on data from Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara
Record Hot April in Australi …
Title Record Hot April in Australia
Description Record heat stifled Australia in April 2005. The average temperature for the entire continent was 2.9 degrees Celsius above average, making this the warmest April on record. The high temperatures were accompanied by dry skies, with rainfall totals well below average for many areas. This image shows just how much of Australia sweltered under hotter-than-normal temperatures during April 2005. The image was created using surface temperature data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. Deep red over most of the continent reveal where temperatures were hotter in April 2005 than the average April temperature between 2000 and 2004. Darker red spots show where temperatures spiked, while tan and blues show temperatures much closer to average. The surface temperatures shown here are different from the air temperatures reported on the evening news. Because the ground absorbs energy from the sun, surface temperatures are often much warmer than air temperatures, for example, a sandy beach can be unbearably hot even though the air temperature is comfortable. While air temperatures may not have soared as high as 15 degrees Celsius above average as the image shows the ground temperatures doing in places, they did set new records throughout the country. NASA image by Jesse Allen, based on data from Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara
Rice Cultivation in Northwes …
Title Rice Cultivation in Northwest Italy
Description The lowlands of Lombardy and Piedmont in northwest Italy are some of the most highly developed irrigation areas in the world. Irrigated lands cover at least 160,000 acres in this part of Italy, where rice is the most important crop. These views of the region were acquired on May 8, 2005, by NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR). The multiple viewing angles provided by MISR's nine cameras make it possible to tell wet surfaces, including flooded lands, from other surfaces, and they also make cities easy to locate. The left-hand image is a natural-color view acquired by MISR's downward-looking (nadir) camera, and the right-hand image is a combination of red band data from MISR's 60-degree-backward-, nadir, and 60-degree-forward-viewing cameras. (Red band is what scientists call the "channel" on the sensor that detects red light.) Color changes indicate surface texture, which is influenced by terrain, vegetation structure, soil type, and surface wetness. Wet surfaces or areas with standing water appear in blue or purple-blue hues. The purple-blue areas that dominate the center-left part of the image are part of the extensive irrigation network that exists throughout the plains and meadows of the region. Cities with tall buildings appear in red-orange hues. In this type of image, the city of Milan is the most obvious. The small orange area in the center of the purple inundated area indicates the location of Vercelli, and the larger city of Milan is the orange area to the northeast, on the other side of the Ticino River. To a lesser extent, the cities of Novara, Pavia, Galliate, Mortara, and Vigevano are also identifiable by their orange hues. MISR can tell various surface features like cities or irrigated areas apart because of the way surfaces reflect light. A smooth water surface tends to reflect sunlight away from the Sun. This effect is most apparent when a satellite views the surface with the Sun in front of the camera. Similarly, rough surfaces tend to reflect light back towards the Sun, and this "backward scattering" is most obvious when a satellites views a surface with the Sun behind the camera. Clouds present over the high country to the west of the Lago Maggiore (upper left corner) and along the coast of the Golfo di Genova (bottom) appear in a different spot for each view angle, creating a rainbow-like appearance. Mountains also have a "wavy" look in the multi-angle combination because, like clouds, their height above the surface makes them appear in a different spot in each camera's view angle. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82 degrees North and 82 degrees South latitude every nine days. This image covers an area of about 131 kilometers by 191 kilometers. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 28660 and utilize data from block 54 within World Reference System-2 path 193. MISR was, built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology. Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team. [ http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] Text by Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/JPL)
San Miguel and Santa Rosa Is …
Title San Miguel and Santa Rosa Islands
Description Off the California coast lies a series of small islands, all part of the Channel Islands National Park. [ http://www.nps.gov/chis ] On May 29, 2005, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite captured this image of two of those islands: San Miguel and Santa Rosa. The westernmost island, San Miguel, is primarily a plateau, most of it with an elevation of approximately 150 meters (500 feet), although some hills on the island reach roughly 250 meters (800 feet). At just 9,500 acres (38 square kilometers), San Miguel faces a constant barrage of North Pacific winds. Strong stripes, resulting from linear sand dunes, cross this island from its northwestern beaches toward the southeast. In between the dunes, however, vegetation appears lush. According to the National Park Service, the island had been characterized as a "barren lump of sand" in the late nineteenth century, thanks to a century of overgrazing. Removal of the grazing animals eventually restored the island's flora. San Miguel's neighbor, Santa Rosa, sports no stripes, and seems slightly less lush. Santa Rosa is the second-largest island off the California coast, at 53,000 acres (214 square kilometers). Only its eastern neighbor, Santa Cruz, is larger. Santa Rosa has generally low elevation except for its central mountain range that reaches up to roughly 484 meters (1,589 feet). Like its elevation, Santa Rosa's coastline also varies, from wide sandy beaches to steep cliffs. In the water around the islands, kelp forests rise up from the ocean floor. You can download a 15-meter-resolution KMZ file of San Miguel Island [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/sanmiguel_ast_2005149.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.
Southern Asia Heat Wave
Title Southern Asia Heat Wave
Description A pre-monsoon heat wave left India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh baking for much of June 2005. The heat wave, which started at the end of May, has claimed more than 200 lives in India alone, according to news reports, and has also caused deaths in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The top surface temperature image, created from data gathered by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite between May 25 and June 1, 2005, shows the start of the heat wave. Compared to images collected during the same time in 2004, there is less gradation between the hot plateaus of south Asia and the frigid peaks of the Himalaya. In 2005, searing heat, shown in yellow, spread across India?s northern plains and along the southern base of the Himalaya in Pakistan and Nepal. In agreement with this image, temperatures stayed between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius (104 ? 122 degrees F) for much of June. Monsoon rains starting on June 21 brought relief to some of the region. NASA image by Jesse Allen, based on data from Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara
Southern Asia Heat Wave
Title Southern Asia Heat Wave
Description A pre-monsoon heat wave left India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh baking for much of June 2005. The heat wave, which started at the end of May, has claimed more than 200 lives in India alone, according to news reports, and has also caused deaths in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The top surface temperature image, created from data gathered by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite between May 25 and June 1, 2005, shows the start of the heat wave. Compared to images collected during the same time in 2004, there is less gradation between the hot plateaus of south Asia and the frigid peaks of the Himalaya. In 2005, searing heat, shown in yellow, spread across India?s northern plains and along the southern base of the Himalaya in Pakistan and Nepal. In agreement with this image, temperatures stayed between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius (104 ? 122 degrees F) for much of June. Monsoon rains starting on June 21 brought relief to some of the region. NASA image by Jesse Allen, based on data from Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara
Southern Asia Heat Wave
Title Southern Asia Heat Wave
Description A pre-monsoon heat wave left India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh baking for much of June 2005. The heat wave, which started at the end of May, has claimed more than 200 lives in India alone, according to news reports, and has also caused deaths in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The top surface temperature image, created from data gathered by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite between May 25 and June 1, 2005, shows the start of the heat wave. Compared to images collected during the same time in 2004, there is less gradation between the hot plateaus of south Asia and the frigid peaks of the Himalaya. In 2005, searing heat, shown in yellow, spread across India?s northern plains and along the southern base of the Himalaya in Pakistan and Nepal. In agreement with this image, temperatures stayed between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius (104 ? 122 degrees F) for much of June. Monsoon rains starting on June 21 brought relief to some of the region. NASA image by Jesse Allen, based on data from Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara
Topanga Fire
Title Topanga Fire
Description Northwest of Los Angeles, California, a brush fire exploded in late September 2005. Growing to more than 16,000 acres in around 2 days, the blaze threatened homes, natural resources, power lines, and communications equipment in the Thousand Oaks region north of the Santa Monica Mountains. This image of the Topanga Fire was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite on September 29, 2005. The actively burning part of the fire that MODIS detected is outlined in red. Although the wind, dry conditions, and steep terrain have made the work of firefighters difficult, so far the loss of property has been low, according to news reports from Friday, September 30, one home and handful of outbuildings had been lost. Mandatory evacuations were in place, involving at least 1,500 residents of the area. Calmer winds on Friday might help firefighters gain better control of the blaze, which the National Interagency Fire Center was reporting as 12 percent contained as of Friday morning. The image above is shown at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center.
Topanga Fire
Title Topanga Fire
Description A charcoal-colored burn scar sprawls across the mountainous terrain northwest of Los Angeles, California, in this infrared-enhanced satellite image collected by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite on October 4, 2005. The image makes it clear how close the fire came to cities and towns including Simi Valley near the northern edge and Thousand Oaks at the southwestern edge. The fire burned down a ridge that separates two more developed areas. Within the burned area, some pockets of vegetation (which appears red in this kind of image), have been spared. The large image shows the entire burned area, which, according to reports from the National Interagency Fire Center, exceeded 24,000 acres. NASA image created from data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]
Winter Storms Lash the Weste …
Title Winter Storms Lash the Western United States
Description Between late December 2004 and mid-January 2005, many places in the U.S. West received snowfall daily. The area around Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, for example, received snow every day from December 24 through January 11, and had accumulations around 19 feet. The rapid accumulation of such large amounts of snow increases avalanche risk, and land managers at ski resorts and state and national parks have been busy assessing snow pack stability and setting off explosives at avalanche- prone locations to release snow and to test the stability of the snow layers. This pair of images uses visible and short-wave infrared observations form the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors on NASA?s Terra and Aqua satellites to show the widespread snow cover in California, Nevada, and Utah on January 12, 2005 (top), compared to December 23, 2004 (bottom). Snow appears bright blue, water appears deep blue, vegetation appears bright green, and clouds appear white. In addition to the widespread blanket of snow stretching all the way across the January 12 image, a few areas of standing water appear more clearly than in the December image. Water on the ground increased in the northern end of the California Central Valley, as well as in the salt pans to the west-southwest of the Great Salt Lake. The high-resolution image provided above is the January 12 image at a spatial resolution of 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides both images at additional resolutions and color combinations: January 12, 2005, and December 23, 2004. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1/2004358 ] Image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
Rice Cultivation in Northwes …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
The lowlands of Lombardy and …
PIA04380
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005-05-08
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ MISR Team. Text by Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/JPL)
identifier PIA04380
Where on Earth...? MISR Myst …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
.gov/education/answer.cfm Qu …
PIA04375
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ MISR Team. Text by Mike Garay (JPL), Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/ JPL) and David Diner (JPL).
identifier PIA04375
Seasonal Changes in Earth's …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Triggered by seasonal change …
misr_albedo_2004
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ MISR Team. Text by John Martonchik (JPL) and Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/JPL).
identifier misr_albedo_2004
Winter Storms Lash the Weste …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Between late December 2004 a …
ca_snow.TMOA2005012
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005-01-12
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier ca_snow.TMOA2005012
Saharan Dust Cloud Sails Tow …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
A huge dust cloud blown west …
PIA03539
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005-07-20
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ MISR Team
identifier PIA03539
Saharan Dust Cloud Sails Tow …
PIA03539
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Saharan Dust Cloud Sails Toward U.S.
Original Caption Released with Image A huge dust cloud blown westward from the Algerian desert is now wafting over the southeastern United States. The cloud, about the size of the entire continent, was expected to produce dramatic sunsets and possibly a light coating of red-brown dust on vehicles from Florida to Texas. This image, captured by JPL's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) aboard the NASA Earth Observing System's Terra Satellite on July 20, 2005, shows the dust cloud just off the west coast of Africa near Mauritania and Senegal. The image covers about 1,800 kilometers (1,200 miles) north-south, and 400 kilometers (260 miles) east-west. MISR, which views Earth at nine different angles in four wavelengths, can derive the amount, size and shape of airborne particles. This means it can distinguish desert dust, by far the most common non-spherical atmospheric aerosol, from pollution and forest fire particles, which are typically spherical. This image was taken by MISR's 26 degree forward-viewing camera on Terra Orbit 29724, Path 208, Blocks 69-81. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer [ http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] observes the daylit Earth continuously from pole to pole, and the entire globe about once per week. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.
Tracking Hurricane Wilma Acr …
PIA04386
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Tracking Hurricane Wilma Across the Caribbean
Original Caption Released with Image Information on cloud top heights at different stages in the life cycle of the rapidly intensifying Hurricane Wilma may prove useful for evaluating the ability of numerical weather models to predict the intensity changes of hurricanes. NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) acquired this sequence of images and cloud-top height observations for Hurricane Wilma as it progressed across the Caribbean in October 2005. Each pair in the sequence has a photo-like view of the storm on the left and a matching color-coded image of cloud-top height on the right. Cloud-top heights range from 0 (purple) to 18 (red) kilometers altitude. Areas where cloud heights could not be determined are shown in dark gray. The pair on the left show Wilma on Tuesday, October 18, when Hurricane watches were posted for Cuba and Mexico. The central pair shows the eye of Hurricane Wilma just hours before the storm began to cross the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, October 21. At that time, Wilma was a powerful Category 4 Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and had a minimum recorded central pressure of 930 millibars. Hurricane Wilma surged from tropical storm to Category 5 hurricane status in record time, but the storm slowed and weakened considerably after battering Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the Caribbean. The right-hand image pair displays the eastern edges of a weakened Wilma, when Wilma had been reduced to Category 2 status and was just starting to reach southern Florida on the morning of Sunday, October 23. Wilma gathered speed and strengthened on Sunday night, crossing Florida as a Category 3 storm on Monday, October 24. On the 18th, Wilma looked a bit ragged. Its eye is located at the center of the left edge, and its outer bands of clouds appear to be dominated by a rather loose collection of thunderstorms. In the photo-like images, these look like areas of "boiling clouds," and in the cloud-height image, these appear as orange blobs, sometimes topped with pinkish-red. On October 21 (center), when Wilma was a Category 4 storm, cloud-top height on the eastern side of the storm near the eye reached 18 kilometers in altitude, with lower heights on the western side. The image from the 23rd shows the eastern edge of Wilma as it approached Florida (upper right) and Cuba (center right). MISR has nine different cameras which view the Earth from a variety of angles. Shifts in the clouds' apparent position from one camera's perspective to another's allows MISR to measure the height of the cloud-tops. MISR scientists have programmed computers to compare the different views, identify features that appear to shift from view to view, and use that information to calculate cloud height automatically. The height fields pictured have not been corrected for the effects of cloud motion. Wind-corrected heights (which have higher accuracy but sparser spatial coverage) are within about 1 kilometer of the heights shown here. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer, observes the daylit Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82° north and 82° south latitude every nine days. Each image covers an area of about 380 kilometers by 1830 kilometers. The data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbits 31037, 31081 and 31110, and utilize data from within blocks 68-83 within World Reference System-2 paths 13, 16 and 18, respectively. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology.
St. Louis, Missouri
PIA09362
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title St. Louis, Missouri
Original Caption Released with Image St. Louis is tucked in a bend of the Mississippi River, just south of the point at which the Illinois River joins the larger Mississippi, and where the Missouri River flows in from the west. Drainage patterns to the east, on the Illinois side, are highlighted with green vegetation. Meandering rivers in the verdant Ozark Plateau appear to the south and west. This true-color view from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) was taken with the instrument's downward looking (nadir) camera on October 15, 2005. The urban areas of greater St. Louis show up as grey-white, including nearby Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Clayton, University City, Ferguson, St. Ann, St. Charles, and East St. Louis. The region is home to nearly three million people. 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. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.
Cloud Spirals and Outflow in …
PIA04384
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Cloud Spirals and Outflow in Tropical Storm Katrina
Original Caption Released with Image On Tuesday, August 30, 2005, NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer retrieved cloud-top heights and cloud-tracked wind velocities for Tropical Storm Katrina, as the center of the storm was situated over the Tennessee valley. At this time Katrina was weakening and no longer classified as a hurricane, and would soon become an extratropical depression. Measurements such as these can help atmospheric scientists compare results of computer-generated hurricane simulations with observed conditions, ultimately allowing them to better represent and understand physical processes occurring in hurricanes. Because air currents are influenced by the Coriolis force (caused by the rotation of the Earth), Northern Hemisphere hurricanes are characterized by an inward counterclockwise (cyclonic) rotation towards the center. It is less widely known that, at high altitudes, outward-spreading bands of cloud rotate in a clockwise (anticyclonic) direction. The image on the left shows the retrieved cloud-tracked winds as red arrows superimposed across the natural color view from MISR's nadir (vertical-viewing) camera. Both the counter-clockwise motion for the lower-level storm clouds and the clockwise motion for the upper clouds are apparent in these images. The speeds for the clockwise upper level winds have typical values between 40 and 45 m/s (144-162 km/hr). The low level counterclockwise winds have typical values between 7 and 24 m/s (25-86 km/hr), weakening with distance from the storm center. The image on the right displays the cloud-top height retrievals. Areas where cloud heights could not be retrieved are shown in dark gray. Both the wind velocity vectors and the cloud-top height field were produced by automated computer recognition of displacements in spatial features within successive MISR images acquired at different view angles and at slightly different times. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82° north and 82° south latitude every nine days. This image covers an area of about 380 kilometers by 1970 kilometers. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 30324 and utilize data from blocks 55-68 within World Reference System-2 path 22. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology.
Flooding in the Aftermath of …
PIA04385
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Flooding in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Original Caption Released with Image These views of the Louisiana and Mississippi regions were acquired before and one day after Katrina made landfall along the Gulf of Mexico coast, and highlight many of the changes to the rivers and vegetation that occurred between the two views. The images were acquired by NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on August 14 and August 30, 2005. These multiangular, multispectral false-color composites were created using red band data from MISR's 46° backward and forward-viewing cameras, and near-infrared data from MISR's nadir camera. Such a display causes water bodies and inundated soil to appear in blue and purple hues, and highly vegetated areas to appear bright green. The scene differentiation is a result of both spectral effects (living vegetation is highly reflective at near-infrared wavelengths whereas water is absorbing) and of angular effects (wet surfaces preferentially forward scatter sunlight). The two images were processed identically and extend from the regions of Greenville, Mississippi (upper left) to Mobile Bay, Alabama (lower right). There are numerous rivers along the Mississippi coast that were not apparent in the pre-Katrina image, the most dramatic of these is a new inlet in the Pascagoula River that was not apparent before Katrina. The post-Katrina flooding along the edges of Lake Pontchartrain and the city of New Orleans is also apparent. In addition, the agricultural lands along the Mississippi floodplain in the upper left exhibit stronger near-infrared brightness before Katrina. After Katrina, many of these agricultural areas exhibit a stronger signal to MISR's oblique cameras, indicating the presence of inundated soil throughout the floodplain. Note that clouds appear in a different spot for each view angle due to a parallax effect resulting from their height above the surface. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82° north and 82° south latitude every nine days. Each image covers an area of about 380 kilometers by 410 kilometers. The data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbits 30091 and 30324 and utilize data from blocks 64-67 within World Reference System-2 path 22. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology.
The Size of Dust and Smoke
PIA04382
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title The Size of Dust and Smoke
Original Caption Released with Image Desert dust particles tend to be larger in size than aerosols that originate from the processes of combustion. How precisely do the size of the aerosol particles comprising the dust that obscured the Red Sea on July 26, 2005, contrast with the size of the haze particles that obscured the United States eastern seaboard on the same day? NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), which views Earth at nine different angles in four wavelengths, provides information about the amount, size, and shape of airborne particles. Here, MISR aerosol amount and size is presented for these two events. These MISR results distinguish desert dust, the most common non-spherical aerosol type, from pollution and forest fire particles. Determining aerosol characteristics is a key to understanding how aerosol particles influence the size, abundance, and rate of production of cloud droplets, and to a better understanding of how aerosols influence clouds and climate. The left panel of each of these two image sets (Red Sea, left, U.S. coastline, right) is a natural-color view from MISR's 70-degree forward viewing camera. The color-coded maps in the central panels show aerosol optical depth, the right panels provide a measure of aerosol size, expressed as the "Angstrom exponent." For the optical depth maps, yellow pixels indicate the most optically-thick aerosols, whereas the red, green and blue pixels represent progressively decreasing aerosol amounts. For this dramatic dust storm over the Red Sea, the aerosol is quite thick, and in some places, the dust over water is too optically thick for MISR to retrieve the aerosol amount. For the eastern seaboard haze, the thickest aerosols have accumulated over the Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia. Cases where no successful retrieval occurred, either due to extremely high aerosol optical thickness or to clouds, appear as dark gray pixels. For the Angstrom exponent maps, the blue and green pixels (smaller values) correspond with more large particles, whilst the yellow and red pixels, representing higher Angstrom exponents, correspond with more small particles. Angstrom exponent is related to the way the aerosol optical depth (AOD) changes with wavelength -- a more steeply decreasing AOD with wavelength indicates smaller particles. The greater the magnitude of the Angstrom exponent, the greater the contribution of smaller particles to the overall particle distribution. For optically thick desert dust storms, as in this case, the Angstrom exponent is expected to be relatively low -- likely below 1. For the eastern seaboard haze, the Angstrom exponent is significantly higher, indicating the relative abundance of small pollution particles, especially over the Atlantic where the aerosol optical depth is also very high. With a nearly simultaneous data acquisition time, the MODIS instrument also collected data for these events, and image features for both the dust storm and the haze are available., The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously, viewing the entire globe between 82° north and 82° south latitude every nine days. This image covers an area of about 1,265 kilometers by 400 kilometers. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbits 29809 and 29814 and utilize data from blocks 60 to 67 and 71 to 78 within World Reference System-2 paths 17 and 170, respectively. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology.
Drought in the Black Hills
PIA04379
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Drought in the Black Hills
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Color-Coded Map Despite good rainfall and record-setting snowstorms in the spring of 2005, most of northeastern Wyoming, the Black Hills, and western South Dakota remain in the midst of a severe drought. This set of images and maps from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) contrast the appearance of the Black Hills region of northwestern South Dakota on July 12, 2000 (left column), with views acquired four years later, on July 14, 2004 (right column). The natural-color images along the top are from MISR's nadir (downward-looking) camera. The browning that appears in 2004 compared with 2000 indicates that the vigor of green vegetation was significantly diminished in 2004. The color-coded maps (along the bottom) provide a quantitative measurement of the sunlight reflected from these surfaces, and the loss of sunlight-absorbing vegetation between the 2000 and 2004 dates. As the vegetation faded with the drought, the albedo at the surface increased. Albedo measures the fraction of incident sunlight that is reflected by a surface, and can vary between zero (if all the incident sunlight is absorbed and none is reflected) and one (if all sunlight is reflected and none is absorbed). Dense forest has a low albedo, bright desert, snow and clouds, have a high albedo. Here, albedo is provided for the wavelengths of sunlight that plants use for photosynthesis (400 - 700 nanometers). This measurement is known as the albedo for Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR). Surfaces with greater absorption of PAR appear here in blue hues, whereas surfaces with lower absorption appear as green, yellow, orange or red. Black pixels indicate areas where albedo could not be derived, usually due to the presence of clouds. In July 2004, low albedo areas (blue pixels) are notably reduced in extent, and higher albedo areas (yellow, orange and red pixels) have increased. Because incoming sunlight is scattered by tiny particles in the atmosphere, satellite measurements of albedo and other surface properties must correct for the effects of the intervening atmosphere. These albedo retrievals make use of MISR's simultaneously derived aerosol properties to make these corrections. The multiangular nature of MISR data is also used to account for the fact that most surfaces reflect sunlight into all upward directions, with intensities that vary with angle of view. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82° north and 82° south latitude. This image area covers about 243 kilometers by 259 kilometers. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbits 3020 and 24325 and utilize data from within blocks 54 to 56 within World Reference System-2 paths 33 and 34. 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.
Drought in the Black Hills
PIA04379
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title Drought in the Black Hills
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Color-Coded Map Despite good rainfall and record-setting snowstorms in the spring of 2005, most of northeastern Wyoming, the Black Hills, and western South Dakota remain in the midst of a severe drought. This set of images and maps from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) contrast the appearance of the Black Hills region of northwestern South Dakota on July 12, 2000 (left column), with views acquired four years later, on July 14, 2004 (right column). The natural-color images along the top are from MISR's nadir (downward-looking) camera. The browning that appears in 2004 compared with 2000 indicates that the vigor of green vegetation was significantly diminished in 2004. The color-coded maps (along the bottom) provide a quantitative measurement of the sunlight reflected from these surfaces, and the loss of sunlight-absorbing vegetation between the 2000 and 2004 dates. As the vegetation faded with the drought, the albedo at the surface increased. Albedo measures the fraction of incident sunlight that is reflected by a surface, and can vary between zero (if all the incident sunlight is absorbed and none is reflected) and one (if all sunlight is reflected and none is absorbed). Dense forest has a low albedo, bright desert, snow and clouds, have a high albedo. Here, albedo is provided for the wavelengths of sunlight that plants use for photosynthesis (400 - 700 nanometers). This measurement is known as the albedo for Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR). Surfaces with greater absorption of PAR appear here in blue hues, whereas surfaces with lower absorption appear as green, yellow, orange or red. Black pixels indicate areas where albedo could not be derived, usually due to the presence of clouds. In July 2004, low albedo areas (blue pixels) are notably reduced in extent, and higher albedo areas (yellow, orange and red pixels) have increased. Because incoming sunlight is scattered by tiny particles in the atmosphere, satellite measurements of albedo and other surface properties must correct for the effects of the intervening atmosphere. These albedo retrievals make use of MISR's simultaneously derived aerosol properties to make these corrections. The multiangular nature of MISR data is also used to account for the fact that most surfaces reflect sunlight into all upward directions, with intensities that vary with angle of view. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82° north and 82° south latitude. This image area covers about 243 kilometers by 259 kilometers. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbits 3020 and 24325 and utilize data from within blocks 54 to 56 within World Reference System-2 paths 33 and 34. 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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