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Algal Bloom off Tasmania
| Title |
Algal Bloom off Tasmania |
| Description |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] and Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellites helped scientists identify this large algal bloom off the eastern coast of Tasmania. Large blooms have not been detected in the Tasman Sea in the past, and scientists from CSIRO Marine Research, the largest marine research organization in Australia, believe this one resulted from the natural upwelling of nutrients along the island's coast. The bloom is made up of coccolithophores, and is not believed to be harmful to the coastal ecosystem. MODIS imagery, such as the image above, revealed just how large this bloom is. The bloom forms bright blue-green clouds in the water that stretch from Flinders Island in the north down the entire east coast of Tasmania. The color is caused by light reflecting off the chalky outer scales of millions of microscopic coccoliths. The effect is a cloud of bright blue or green water in satellite imagery. In addition to helping scientists identify algal blooms, the MODIS images "provide a valuable interpretation for researchers wanting to understand any impact this species may have in the coastal or offshore environments," said Dr Susan Blackburn, a CSIRO researcher, in a press release [ http://www.marine.csiro.au/media/04releases/27oct04.html ]. The above MODIS image was acquired on October 20, 2004, by NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC. |
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Dust Storm off Australia
| Title |
Dust Storm off Australia |
| Description |
A substantial plume of dust (light brown pixels) was blowing off the east coast of Australia, between Sydney and Brisbane, and out over the Tasman Sea. Winds that gusted up to 37 miles per hour carried the dust from the continent?s dry interior out over the coast in a rare dust storm. This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS), aboard NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, on October 28, 2003. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
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Fires in New South Wales, Au
…
| Title |
Fires in New South Wales, Australia |
| Description |
Several large fires were burning in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, on November 21, 2006. This image from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] shows the active fire locations outlined in red. Thick smoke blows eastward over the Tasman Sea. Northern Sydney is mostly hidden by clouds at bottom center of the scene. According to news reports, winds of 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) were causing fires to spread rapidly. Towns in the mountainous area could be threatened as the fires continued to spread. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides twice-daily images of the area at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Australia6/2006325 ] NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Fires in New South Wales, Au
…
| Title |
Fires in New South Wales, Australia |
| Description |
Several large fires were burning in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, on November 21, 2006. This image from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] shows the active fire locations outlined in red. Thick smoke blows eastward over the Tasman Sea. Northern Sydney is mostly hidden by clouds at bottom center of the scene. According to news reports, winds of 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) were causing fires to spread rapidly. Towns in the mountainous area could be threatened as the fires continued to spread. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides twice-daily images of the area at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Australia6/2006325 ] NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Fires in Northeastern Tasman
…
| Title |
Fires in Northeastern Tasmania |
| Description |
According to news reports, more than a dozen houses burned in small towns along the east coast of Tasmania when bushfires hit the island in December 2006. Like Victoria, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14036 ] to the north, Tasmania has been experiencing extreme fire conditions, with hot temperatures and gusty winds. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite shows a large fire burning south of St. Marys on December 13. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fire are outlined in red. A plume of smoke spreads southeast from the blaze over the Tasman Sea. A 250-meter-resolution KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Dec2006/tasmania_tmo_2006347.kmz ] of the Victoria fires is available for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Severe Bush Fires Near Sydne
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| Title |
Severe Bush Fires Near Sydney, Australia |
| Description |
Bush fires surrounding Sydney continue to burn feverishly, and vast smoke plumes ascend from the southeastern coastline of Australia and extend out over the Tasman Sea. This true-color image from NASA?s Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was made from data collected on January 2, 2002. More than a dozen active fires are burning in the region, as indicated by the thick plumes of greyish smoke streaming southeastward. The southern end of Sydney?s urban area is bounded by the third cluster of fires up from the bottom of the image, and the fires encircle the city, which stands out in tan against the surrounding green vegetation. Sydney is surrounded by several National Parks, many of which have been damaged by the fires. Reports indicate that the fires, which have been aided by daytime temperatures hovering around 100°F and winds blowing at nearly 40 miles per hour, have burned approximately 1.24 million acres of bush land as of January 2. Firefighters have shifted their efforts from attempting to extinguish the fires to preventing them from reaching the western edges of Sydney. Many of the fires are believed to have been set by arsonists, and police have arrested 21 people in connection with the devastating blazes. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://modis-land.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Severe Bush Fires Near Sydne
…
| Title |
Severe Bush Fires Near Sydney, Australia |
| Description |
Bush fires surrounding Sydney continue to burn feverishly, and vast smoke plumes ascend from the southeastern coastline of Australia and extend out over the Tasman Sea. This true-color image from NASA?s Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was made from data collected on January 5, 2002. More than a dozen active fires are burning in the region, as indicated by the thick plumes of greyish smoke streaming southeastward. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://modis-land.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Severe Bush Fires Near Sydne
…
| Title |
Severe Bush Fires Near Sydney, Australia |
| Description |
Bush fires surrounding Sydney continue to burn feverishly, and vast smoke plumes ascend from the southeastern coastline of Australia and extend out over the Tasman Sea. This true-color image from NASA?s Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was made from data collected on January 3, 2002. More than a dozen active fires are burning in the region, as indicated by the thick plumes of greyish smoke streaming southeastward. The southern end of Sydney?s urban area is bounded by the third cluster of fires up from the bottom of the image, and the fires encircle the city, which stands out in tan against the surrounding green vegetation. Sydney is surrounded by several National Parks, many of which have been damaged by the fires. Reports indicate that the fires, which have been aided by daytime temperatures hovering around 100øF and winds blowing at nearly 40 miles per hour, had burned approximately 1.24 million acres of bush land as of January 2. Many of the fires are believed to have been set by arsonists, and police have arrested 21 people in connection with the devastating blazes. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://modis-land.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Fires in Victoria, Australia
| Title |
Fires in Victoria, Australia |
| Description |
A river of smoke more than 25 kilometers wide flowed southeast toward the Tasman Sea from fires burning in the Great Dividing Range Mountains in Victoria, Australia, on December 5, 2006. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite shows the smoke crossing Ninety Mile Beach and spreading out over the sea. Fires (red outlines) were detected across a broad area of the mountains between Lake Eildon and the Dartmouth Reservoir. According to news reports, 50 firesmost of them in remote forests and parkswere burning out of control across Victoria in early December, and fire conditions were predicted to worsen in subsequent days. Across Australia in 2006, fires sprang up before summer was even officially underway. An ongoing drought and high temperatures have created extremely risky conditions for fires in many parts of the country. In late November and early December, satellites captured numerous images of fires in places as far flung as northwestern Australia and Southern Queensland. (See other images in the Natural Hazards: Fires [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?topic=fire ] section.) In most of Victoria (among other places in the country), rainfall in the six months preceding the outbreak of these fires was categorized as either at a "severe deficiency" or "lowest on record," according to maps [ http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/rainmaps.cgi ] provided by the Website of the Australian government's Bureau of Meteorology. The Bureau's November 22, 2006, seasonal El Niño-Southern Oscillation update [ http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/ ] indicated that the current El Niño had strengthened throughout November. A strong El Niño could be bad news for firefighters in southeastern Australia. According to the Bureau of Meteorology Website, "El Niño events are associated with an increase in the number of extreme fire-risk days over southeastern Australia, that is, days which are hot, dry and windy." The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides twice-daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Australia6 ] of the area in additional resolutions. A 250-meter-resolution KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/Australia.A2006339.0050.250m.kmz ] of the Victorian fires is available for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires in Victoria, Australia
| Title |
Fires in Victoria, Australia |
| Description |
Thick smoke hung over Victoria and spread eastward to the Tasman Sea on December 8, 2006. When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite passed over head that morning and captured this image, only a few of the active fires (marked in red) could be detected through the smoke. Although Melbourne had been spared the thick smoke on previous days, on this morning, the plume was encroaching on the northeast edge of the metro area. Skies over the Snowy Range Mountains in New South Wales cleared to the north. At least 50 fires were burning in early December in Victoria, and many were threatening to merge into unified, large blazes. Weather conditions over the weekend were predicted to deteriorate, making the work of firefighters even more difficult. High temperatures and far-below-average rainfall in the area have elevated the late spring fire hazard across the region. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides twice-daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Australia6 ] of the area in additional resolutions. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires on Cape Barren Island
| Title |
Fires on Cape Barren Island |
| Description |
On October 13, 2006, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite captured this image of fires burning in a long line across southern Cape Barren Island, south of Australia. Places where the sensor detected active fire are outlined in red. A long plume of smoke widens out to the east over the Tasman Sea. According to the daily bushfire summary report from the Tasman Fire Service on October 16, two fireseach about 39,000 hectares (96,371 acres)were burning on Cape Barren Island. Neither was considered controlled. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. 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. |
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Fires on Cape Barren Island
| Title |
Fires on Cape Barren Island |
| Description |
On October 13, 2006, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite captured this image of fires burning in a long line across southern Cape Barren Island, south of Australia. Places where the sensor detected active fire are outlined in red. A long plume of smoke widens out to the east over the Tasman Sea. According to the daily bushfire summary report from the Tasman Fire Service on October 16, two fireseach about 39,000 hectares (96,371 acres)were burning on Cape Barren Island. Neither was considered controlled. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. 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. |
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Dust Storm off Australia: Na
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
A substantial plume of dust
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Australia2_TMO2003301
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2003-10-28 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
Australia2_TMO2003301 |
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Fires in Victoria, Australia
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Thick smoke hung over Victor
…
Australia6_TMO_2006342
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-12-08 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
Australia6_TMO_2006342 |
|
Fires in Northeastern Tasman
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
According to news reports, m
…
tasmania_tmo_2006347
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-12-13 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
tasmania_tmo_2006347 |
|
Fire Danger Extreme in New S
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Fires continue to burn in Ne
…
Australia2.TMOA2002296
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2002-10-23 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
Australia2.TMOA2002296 |
|
Fires in Victoria, Australia
…
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
A river of smoke more than 2
…
SEAustralia3_TMO_2006339
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-12-05 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA image courtesy the rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center |
| identifier |
SEAustralia3_TMO_2006339 |
|
Algal Bloom off Tasmania: Na
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
The Moderate Resolution Imag
…
ge_14176
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2004-10-20 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
ge_14176 |
|
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