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Images of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and United States of America from 2006
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Rise of the Three Gorges Dam
| Title |
Rise of the Three Gorges Dam |
| Abstract |
Some call it the eighth wonder of world, others say it's the next Great Wall of China. Upon completion in 2009, the Three Gorges Dam will be the world's largest hydroelectric power generator. One of the few man-made structures so enormous that it's actually visible to the naked eye from space, NASA's Landsat satellite has had a closer look, providing detailed, vivid views of the dam since its inception in 1994. The dam is built along the Yangtze River, the third largest in the world, stretching more than 3,900 miles across China before reaching its mouth near Shanghai. Historically, the river has been prone to massive flooding, overflowing its banks about once every ten years. During the 20th century alone, Chinese authorities estimate that some 300,000 people were killed from Yangtze River floods. The dam is designed to greatly improve flood control on the river and protect the 15 million people and 3.7 million acres of farmland in the lower Yangtze flood plains. Observations from the NASA-built Landsat satellites provide an overview of the dam's construction. The earliest data set, from 1987, shows the region prior to start of construction. By 2000, construction along each riverbank was underway, but sediment-filled water still flowed through a narrow channel near the river's south bank. The 2004 data shows development of the main wall and the partial filling of the reservoir, including numerous side canyons. By mid-2006, construction of the main wall was completed and a reservoir more than 2 miles (3 kilometers) across had filled just upstream of the dam. To read more about the Three Gorges Dam, please click here. This animation was designed in three parts: Part 1: The first part of this animation zooms in to the Three Gorges Dam and travels backward and foreward through time emphasizing the dam construction and filling of the reservoir. This animation then continues seemlessly into Part 2. Part 2: Starting where Part 1 leaves off, the camera flies up the 2006 data showing the high water levels that have already filled the multiple gorges upstream. Part 3: Identical to Part 2, except showing the 1987 data prior to the dam construction. |
| Completed |
2007-05-28 |
|
Rise of the Three Gorges Dam
| Title |
Rise of the Three Gorges Dam |
| Abstract |
Some call it the eighth wonder of world, others say it's the next Great Wall of China. Upon completion in 2009, the Three Gorges Dam will be the world's largest hydroelectric power generator. One of the few man-made structures so enormous that it's actually visible to the naked eye from space, NASA's Landsat satellite has had a closer look, providing detailed, vivid views of the dam since its inception in 1994. The dam is built along the Yangtze River, the third largest in the world, stretching more than 3,900 miles across China before reaching its mouth near Shanghai. Historically, the river has been prone to massive flooding, overflowing its banks about once every ten years. During the 20th century alone, Chinese authorities estimate that some 300,000 people were killed from Yangtze River floods. The dam is designed to greatly improve flood control on the river and protect the 15 million people and 3.7 million acres of farmland in the lower Yangtze flood plains. Observations from the NASA-built Landsat satellites provide an overview of the dam's construction. The earliest data set, from 1987, shows the region prior to start of construction. By 2000, construction along each riverbank was underway, but sediment-filled water still flowed through a narrow channel near the river's south bank. The 2004 data shows development of the main wall and the partial filling of the reservoir, including numerous side canyons. By mid-2006, construction of the main wall was completed and a reservoir more than 2 miles (3 kilometers) across had filled just upstream of the dam. To read more about the Three Gorges Dam, please click here. This animation was designed in three parts: Part 1: The first part of this animation zooms in to the Three Gorges Dam and travels backward and foreward through time emphasizing the dam construction and filling of the reservoir. This animation then continues seemlessly into Part 2. Part 2: Starting where Part 1 leaves off, the camera flies up the 2006 data showing the high water levels that have already filled the multiple gorges upstream. Part 3: Identical to Part 2, except showing the 1987 data prior to the dam construction. |
| Completed |
2007-05-28 |
|
Rise of the Three Gorges Dam
| Title |
Rise of the Three Gorges Dam |
| Abstract |
Some call it the eighth wonder of world, others say it's the next Great Wall of China. Upon completion in 2009, the Three Gorges Dam will be the world's largest hydroelectric power generator. One of the few man-made structures so enormous that it's actually visible to the naked eye from space, NASA's Landsat satellite has had a closer look, providing detailed, vivid views of the dam since its inception in 1994. The dam is built along the Yangtze River, the third largest in the world, stretching more than 3,900 miles across China before reaching its mouth near Shanghai. Historically, the river has been prone to massive flooding, overflowing its banks about once every ten years. During the 20th century alone, Chinese authorities estimate that some 300,000 people were killed from Yangtze River floods. The dam is designed to greatly improve flood control on the river and protect the 15 million people and 3.7 million acres of farmland in the lower Yangtze flood plains. Observations from the NASA-built Landsat satellites provide an overview of the dam's construction. The earliest data set, from 1987, shows the region prior to start of construction. By 2000, construction along each riverbank was underway, but sediment-filled water still flowed through a narrow channel near the river's south bank. The 2004 data shows development of the main wall and the partial filling of the reservoir, including numerous side canyons. By mid-2006, construction of the main wall was completed and a reservoir more than 2 miles (3 kilometers) across had filled just upstream of the dam. To read more about the Three Gorges Dam, please click here. This animation was designed in three parts: Part 1: The first part of this animation zooms in to the Three Gorges Dam and travels backward and foreward through time emphasizing the dam construction and filling of the reservoir. This animation then continues seemlessly into Part 2. Part 2: Starting where Part 1 leaves off, the camera flies up the 2006 data showing the high water levels that have already filled the multiple gorges upstream. Part 3: Identical to Part 2, except showing the 1987 data prior to the dam construction. |
| Completed |
2007-05-28 |
|
Rise of the Three Gorges Dam
| Title |
Rise of the Three Gorges Dam |
| Abstract |
Some call it the eighth wonder of world, others say it's the next Great Wall of China. Upon completion in 2009, the Three Gorges Dam will be the world's largest hydroelectric power generator. One of the few man-made structures so enormous that it's actually visible to the naked eye from space, NASA's Landsat satellite has had a closer look, providing detailed, vivid views of the dam since its inception in 1994. The dam is built along the Yangtze River, the third largest in the world, stretching more than 3,900 miles across China before reaching its mouth near Shanghai. Historically, the river has been prone to massive flooding, overflowing its banks about once every ten years. During the 20th century alone, Chinese authorities estimate that some 300,000 people were killed from Yangtze River floods. The dam is designed to greatly improve flood control on the river and protect the 15 million people and 3.7 million acres of farmland in the lower Yangtze flood plains. Observations from the NASA-built Landsat satellites provide an overview of the dam's construction. The earliest data set, from 1987, shows the region prior to start of construction. By 2000, construction along each riverbank was underway, but sediment-filled water still flowed through a narrow channel near the river's south bank. The 2004 data shows development of the main wall and the partial filling of the reservoir, including numerous side canyons. By mid-2006, construction of the main wall was completed and a reservoir more than 2 miles (3 kilometers) across had filled just upstream of the dam. To read more about the Three Gorges Dam, please click here. This animation was designed in three parts: Part 1: The first part of this animation zooms in to the Three Gorges Dam and travels backward and foreward through time emphasizing the dam construction and filling of the reservoir. This animation then continues seemlessly into Part 2. Part 2: Starting where Part 1 leaves off, the camera flies up the 2006 data showing the high water levels that have already filled the multiple gorges upstream. Part 3: Identical to Part 2, except showing the 1987 data prior to the dam construction. |
| Completed |
2007-05-28 |
|
Amazon River in the Atlantic
…
| Title |
Amazon River in the Atlantic Ocean |
| Description |
Tiny streams trickle down the east side of the glacier-clad peaks of the Andes, converging in a series of small rivers. As the rivers flow together, they wind across 6,516 kilometers (4,049 miles) of dense forest to form the world's largest river, the Amazon. Approximately 219,000 cubic meters (7,740,000 cubic feet) of water—roughly the equivalent of 88 Olympic-size swimming pools—flow from the river into the Atlantic Ocean every second. As this rapid rush of water sweeps through the Amazon Rainforest, it picks up leaves, seeds, fungi, animals, and various other bits of organic matter, as well as soil and minerals and dumps it all into the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. The huge influx of nutrients has an enormous impact on life in the Atlantic Ocean. Nutrients from the plume feed microscopic, surface-dwelling, ocean plants (phytoplankton [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Phytoplankton/ ]), which in turn feed a diverse population of fish. The impact of the Amazon plume is illustrated by this pair of images, made from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on September 30, 2006. The top image shows concentrations of chlorophyll (the energy-producing pigment that give plants their green color) in the ocean surface waters. Areas where chlorophyll concentrations are highest are yellow and correspond to the plume of water pouring from the mouth of the Amazon. Areas that are black show where chlorophyll concentrations could not be calculated because of clouds or sunglint, the glare off the ocean water that gives the upper left corner of the photo-like image (below) a washed-out appearance. Chlorophyll concentrations are likely high in the plume for two reasons. First, nutrients in the plume fertilize ocean plants, allowing them to grow more quickly near the plume. Second, the water within the plume has such a high volume and is moving so fast that it has not dispersed into the Atlantic, and plant matter from land is likely still concentrated within the plume. In fact, the Amazon plume remains concentrated enough that it can be seen meandering several kilometers across the Atlantic in the natural-color image. The plume is a band of dark water that first sweeps north on the North Brazil Current, a coastal ocean current similar to the Gulf Stream off the southeastern United States, and then snakes east in ever-fading loops on the North Equatorial Counter Current. NASA images created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC [ http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] and the Ocean Color Science Team. [ http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Amazon River in the Atlantic
…
| Title |
Amazon River in the Atlantic Ocean |
| Description |
Tiny streams trickle down the east side of the glacier-clad peaks of the Andes, converging in a series of small rivers. As the rivers flow together, they wind across 6,516 kilometers (4,049 miles) of dense forest to form the world's largest river, the Amazon. Approximately 219,000 cubic meters (7,740,000 cubic feet) of water—roughly the equivalent of 88 Olympic-size swimming pools—flow from the river into the Atlantic Ocean every second. As this rapid rush of water sweeps through the Amazon Rainforest, it picks up leaves, seeds, fungi, animals, and various other bits of organic matter, as well as soil and minerals and dumps it all into the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. The huge influx of nutrients has an enormous impact on life in the Atlantic Ocean. Nutrients from the plume feed microscopic, surface-dwelling, ocean plants (phytoplankton [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Phytoplankton/ ]), which in turn feed a diverse population of fish. The impact of the Amazon plume is illustrated by this pair of images, made from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on September 30, 2006. The top image shows concentrations of chlorophyll (the energy-producing pigment that give plants their green color) in the ocean surface waters. Areas where chlorophyll concentrations are highest are yellow and correspond to the plume of water pouring from the mouth of the Amazon. Areas that are black show where chlorophyll concentrations could not be calculated because of clouds or sunglint, the glare off the ocean water that gives the upper left corner of the photo-like image (below) a washed-out appearance. Chlorophyll concentrations are likely high in the plume for two reasons. First, nutrients in the plume fertilize ocean plants, allowing them to grow more quickly near the plume. Second, the water within the plume has such a high volume and is moving so fast that it has not dispersed into the Atlantic, and plant matter from land is likely still concentrated within the plume. In fact, the Amazon plume remains concentrated enough that it can be seen meandering several kilometers across the Atlantic in the natural-color image. The plume is a band of dark water that first sweeps north on the North Brazil Current, a coastal ocean current similar to the Gulf Stream off the southeastern United States, and then snakes east in ever-fading loops on the North Equatorial Counter Current. NASA images created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC [ http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] and the Ocean Color Science Team. [ http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Ash Plume from Karymsky
| Title |
Ash Plume from Karymsky |
| Description |
The Karymsky Volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula showed considerable activity between March 10 and 17, 2006. The volcano emitted ash several times, and satellite imagery showed debris, most likely ash, draped along the sides of the mountain. When the skies were clear over the volcano, satellites also observed a thermal anomaly at the summit. In late March 2006, the United States Geological Survey placed Karymsky at code orange, the second-highest level of concern, meaning that the volcano was not erupting or posing a major hazard, but was clearly active and merited careful monitoring. When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite observed the volcano on March 19, 2006, the thermal sensors did not detect the hotspot that had been observed earlier, but the satellite did detect a plume of light ash blowing eastward over the Bering Sea. Shown here, the plume appears pale gray-beige over the snowy land surface, and pale gray over the ocean water. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. |
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Bear Fire in New Mexico
| Title |
Bear Fire in New Mexico |
| Description |
Nearly two weeks after it started, the Bear Fire had burned 51,307 acres of mixed conifer forest in western New Mexico's Gila National Forest, said the National Interagency Fire Center in its July 3, 2006, report. The fire was about 95 percent contained when the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA's EO-1 [ http://eo1.usgs.gov/index.php ] satellite captured this false-color image on June 30, 2006. (The image is made from ALI's observations of shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and blue light to make the burn scar more obvious than it would be in a photo-like image.) The newly burned area is deep reddish-brown, while the surrounding unburned vegetation is bright green. Places of naturally bare ground (or very sparse vegetation) appear orange. Clouds float overhead and cast black shadows to their west. No large plumes of smoke or glowing fire fronts indicated that the fire was still burning. The fire was detected on June 19. The Forest Service reports that it was started when a campfire burned out of control. Gila National Forest contains the Gila Wilderness Area, the first land designated as wilderness area in the United States. As this image shows, the landscape is dominated by steep mountains, the tallest of which reaches 3,321 meters (10,896 feet) in elevation. The Gila National Forest is the sixth largest National Forest in the contiguous United States. NASA image provided courtesy of Lawrence Ong, EO-1 Science Team. [ http://eo1.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Blizzard in Wyoming
| Title |
Blizzard in Wyoming |
| Description |
A spring blizzard in Wyoming brought near-zero visibility to Interstate 80 (I-80), one of the major East-West roads in the United States. A 160-kilometer (100-mile) stretch of the highway was closed on March 26, 2006, due to the hazardous conditions between Cheyenne and Rawlins. Before the closure, a 20-car pile-up reportedly resulted in 6 deaths and a large number of injuries, according to the AP wire service. A number of smaller pile-ups occurred elsewhere on the Interstate, and also on U.S. Route 30 near Laramie. Although snow conditions on I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie were not as severe as conditions west of Laramie, this section of road was nevertheless closed as stranded trucks in Laramie used up all the available parking space. I-80 was reopened to traffic in the morning on March 27, when weather conditions cleared. This natural-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on the morning of March 27, 2006, not long after state police in Wyoming declared conditions clear enough to permit traffic to flow again. The heavy snowfall through the mountains to the west of Laramie clearly shows where the blizzard blanketed the landscape in snow. The thin line of I-80 is just barely detectible at MODIS' 250-meter spatial resolution (level of detail). In the high-resolution image, the grid patterns of the streets of Cheyenne and Laramie can also be seen. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. |
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Floods in the Midwestern Uni
…
| Title |
Floods in the Midwestern United States |
| Description |
August 2007 was the wettest month ever recorded for many places in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, with rainfall totals ranging from 23.86 inches in Hokah, Minnesota, to 12.79 inches in Winona Dam, Minnesota, said the National Weather Service. [ http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crnews/display_story.php?wfo=arx&storyid=9990&source=0 ] While the entire month was rainy, much of the rain fell on August 18-20, when several thunderstorms rolled across the region. The thunderstorms triggered disastrous flooding in several Midwest communities, including La Crosse, Wisconsin. A little over 10 inches of rain fell in La Crosse in the 24-hour period that spanned August 18 and August 19, and flash floods resulted. Combined with rains from the rest of August, this rainfall let La Crosse set a new monthly precipitation record of 17 inches. By August 27, when the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]) captured the top image, the floods had largely retreated, though visible signs of flooding remained. Compared to the lower image, acquired on September 7, 2006, the landscape to the west of the Mississippi River is pocked with pools of water. The city of La Crosse, the bright white and gray grid on the east side of the river, appears to have dried out. The city appears much as it did nearly a year earlier with no visible sign of flooding. You can download a 15-meter-resolution KMZ file of the 2007 image of La Crosse [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Sep2007/lacrosse_ast_2007239.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Floods in the Midwestern Uni
…
| Title |
Floods in the Midwestern United States |
| Description |
August 2007 was the wettest month ever recorded for many places in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, with rainfall totals ranging from 23.86 inches in Hokah, Minnesota, to 12.79 inches in Winona Dam, Minnesota, said the National Weather Service. [ http://www.crh.noaa.gov/crnews/display_story.php?wfo=arx&storyid=9990&source=0 ] While the entire month was rainy, much of the rain fell on August 18-20, when several thunderstorms rolled across the region. The thunderstorms triggered disastrous flooding in several Midwest communities, including La Crosse, Wisconsin. A little over 10 inches of rain fell in La Crosse in the 24-hour period that spanned August 18 and August 19, and flash floods resulted. Combined with rains from the rest of August, this rainfall let La Crosse set a new monthly precipitation record of 17 inches. By August 27, when the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]) captured the top image, the floods had largely retreated, though visible signs of flooding remained. Compared to the lower image, acquired on September 7, 2006, the landscape to the west of the Mississippi River is pocked with pools of water. The city of La Crosse, the bright white and gray grid on the east side of the river, appears to have dried out. The city appears much as it did nearly a year earlier with no visible sign of flooding. You can download a 15-meter-resolution KMZ file of the 2007 image of La Crosse [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Sep2007/lacrosse_ast_2007239.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Charleston Fire, Northern Ne
…
| Title |
Charleston Fire, Northern Nevada |
| Description |
In northeastern Nevada, a 20,000-acre fire was racing through sagebrush, grass, and juniper on August 16, 2006. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] a power line, residences, and grazing allotments were being threatened by the Charleston Fire. The fire was exhibiting extreme behavior according to the August 17 report. This pair of images of the Charleston Fire, burning in the area between Nevada's Matterhorn and the Marys River, was captured on August 16 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite. The photo-like, "natural-color" image on top shows places where MODIS detected active fire outlined in red. Thick smoke pours northeastward into Idaho. The bottom image has been enhanced using MODIS' observations of shortwave and near-infrared light to penetrate the smoke, to emphasize extremely hot areas (bright pink), and to distinguish burned vegetation (brick red) from unburned vegetation (bright green). In this kind of false-color image, the bright pink glow inside some of the active-fire perimeters often indicates open flame. According to the Western Great Basin Coordination Center of the National Interagency Fire Center, the region was primed for big fires in summer 2006 because of poor snowfall over the winter. A prolific grass crop from 2005, which normally would have been flattened and compacted by winter's heavy snow, remained standing across grasslands in spring 2006. In addition, a wet spring produced luxuriant new growth, which dried as the summer progressed. The standing grass from 2005 combined with the abundant early-2006 growth created a dangerously high load of fuel for summer fires. In July, the agency issued a fuel and fire behavior advisory, [ http://gacc.nifc.gov/wgbc/safetywarning/FireAdvisory_GB-05Jul06%5b1%5d.pdf ] warning that the accumulation of such large amounts of "fine fuels" like grass had increased the risk of intense, severe, and rapidly spreading fires across much of the Western Great Basin, including northern Nevada. 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 entire western United States at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Gobi Dust Storm
| Title |
Gobi Dust Storm |
| Description |
In early and mid-April 2006, waves of dust washed out of the Gobi Desert and spread across eastern China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan. According to news reports, a dust storm that hit South Korea [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13484 ] over the weekend of April 8 was the worst the country had seen in four years. This pair of images shows a massive wave of dust that blew out of deserts in north-central China on April 10, 2006. The top image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] on April 7, 2006, shows the landscape of north-central China, including two large, sandy deserts that are part of the Gobi Desert region. Just a few days later, an image from the MODIS sensor on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite shows that the area was completely hidden by a wave of bright dust that reached beyond the Yellow River. Gobi dust is whipped eastward with prevailing winds by spring storms and can spread all the way to the United States. The storms can be hazardous to public health both in terms of air quality and visibility. In addition, the dust storms can devastate croplands and contaminate sensitive electronic equipment. Dust storms in China are on the rise, probably as a result of land degradation, such as deforestation and overgrazing, and drought. The Chinese government has undertaken a large reforestation effort to combat the spread of deserts and to mitigate the effects of dust storms, particularly around urban areas such as Beijing. The large images above are provided at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_China3 ] of this area of China in a variety of formats and resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Gobi Dust Storm
| Title |
Gobi Dust Storm |
| Description |
In early and mid-April 2006, waves of dust washed out of the Gobi Desert and spread across eastern China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan. According to news reports, a dust storm that hit South Korea [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13484 ] over the weekend of April 8 was the worst the country had seen in four years. This pair of images shows a massive wave of dust that blew out of deserts in north-central China on April 10, 2006. The top image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] on April 7, 2006, shows the landscape of north-central China, including two large, sandy deserts that are part of the Gobi Desert region. Just a few days later, an image from the MODIS sensor on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite shows that the area was completely hidden by a wave of bright dust that reached beyond the Yellow River. Gobi dust is whipped eastward with prevailing winds by spring storms and can spread all the way to the United States. The storms can be hazardous to public health both in terms of air quality and visibility. In addition, the dust storms can devastate croplands and contaminate sensitive electronic equipment. Dust storms in China are on the rise, probably as a result of land degradation, such as deforestation and overgrazing, and drought. The Chinese government has undertaken a large reforestation effort to combat the spread of deserts and to mitigate the effects of dust storms, particularly around urban areas such as Beijing. The large images above are provided at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_China3 ] of this area of China in a variety of formats and resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Columbia Complex Fire
| Title |
Columbia Complex Fire |
| Description |
In the southeastern corner of Washington, where the Blue Mountains slope down to the Snake River plain, a large fire was burning on August 23, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite passed overhead and captured this image. Places where the sensor detected atively burning fires are outlined in red. The fire is the Columbia Complex Fire, and according to reports from the National Interagency Fire Center [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] on August 24, the fire was threatening residences, a watershed, and fisheries. The fire had burned 34,000 acres and was completely uncontained. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides images of the entire western United States at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Haze along the Himalaya
| Title |
Haze along the Himalaya |
| Description |
Thick haze clouded the skies over Pakistan on December 20, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image. Several of Pakistan's largest cities, including Lahore and Islamabad, are sandwiched between the Indus River and the Indian border in the area shown in this image. Cars burning low-quality fuel pump out pollutants in these densely populated regions, making air pollution a serious problem, reports the Energy Information Administration, [ http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Pakistan/Environment.html ] a part of the United States Department of Energy. As this image shows, geography compounds the problem. Grey, pollution-laden air concentrates at the foot of the Himalaya Mountains. This polluted air will eventually blow east over India and dissipate over the Bay of Bengal. For daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_India1 ] of Pakistan, please visit the MODIS Rapid Response web site. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Haze off the U.S. East Coast
| Title |
Haze off the U.S. East Coast |
| Description |
Thick haze blew off the coastlines of North and South Carolina on June 11, 2006. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture the same day. In this image, the haze appears as a blue-green blur blowing eastward off the coast and over the Atlantic. This haze could result from a mixture of smoke and pollution, and might have originated west of the Carolinas. According to the Infusing satellite Data into Environmental Applications (IDEA) [ http://idea.ssec.wisc.edu/ ] project, air quality across the southeastern United States was moderate (as opposed to good) on June 10, 2006. In the eastern portion of the image, a different phenomenon causes the ocean to look lighter. This is sunglint, and it results from the light of the Sun bouncing off the ocean surface and back into the satellite sensor. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA8 ] of this region. |
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Haze over Eastern China
| Title |
Haze over Eastern China |
| Description |
A thick band of haze hung over the low-lying coastal basin of eastern China on September 17, 2006. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture the same day. The smoggy blanket stretched from Beijing in the north to beyond Shanghai (hidden by clouds and haze in the lower right corner of the scene). The haze is especially thick just east of the Taihang Shan range that runs southward from the capital city along the western edge of the coastal plain. The haze is darker and fuzzier than the bright white clouds in this image. Also visible is thick, tan-colored sediment in the waters along the coastline. The Beijing region of China is one of the world's most densely populated areas, producing its share of urban and industrial smog. Beneath the haze, a scattering of small tan circles—cities—dot the green vegetation of the plain. Agricultural fires in the region may have added to the haze. Even though the amount of haze being generated at the time of the image might not have been above normal, weather conditions may have been responsible for keep the pollution trapped over the area. Typhoon Shanshan, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13864 ] located offshore to the east, may have been trapping the air over the region, preventing the haze from dispersing over the ocean. A similar situation occurred in the United States in the summer of 2002, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/IDEA/ ] when Hurricane Gustav off the Carolinas prevented hazy air in the Southeast from dispersing over the Atlantic Ocean, and then Tropical Storm Hannah in the Gulf of Mexico kept it from escaping to the south. Air quality across the South and Southeast was compromised for many days during the event. 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/?FAS_China4 ] of this region. |
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Day Fire in Southern Califor
…
| Title |
Day Fire in Southern California |
| Description |
A shift in the winds affecting the Day Fire [ http://www.inciweb.org/incident/475/ ] northwest of Los Angeles swept smoke to the northeast on September 19, 2006. On the previous day, winds had pushed a thick plume of smoke westward over the Pacific Ocean. This pair of images of the fire on September 19 was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite. The natural-color image at top is similar to a digital photo, and uses only visible light. The image at bottom has been enhanced with MODIS' observations of shortwave- and near-infrared light to make the burned areas (deep red) stand out from unburned vegetation (green). In both images the actively burning parts of the fire are outlined in red. In the false-color image, bright pink glows within the fire perimeters are probably areas of open flame. According to the September 20 report from the National Interagency Fire Center, [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] the Day Fire was 93,339 acres and 20 percent contained. Parts of the Angeles and Los Padres National Forests were closed, and evacuations and road closures in the area continued. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides daily images of the entire western United States at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA5 ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Haze over the Eastern United
…
| Title |
Haze over the Eastern United States |
| Description |
Air quality in the heavily populated mid-Atlantic region of the United States reached unhealthy levels on August 2, 2006, warned the Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to trapping particulate pollution near the Earth, high heat, stagnant air, and humidity generate more ground level ozone, probably contributing to the filmy haze seen in this image. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on the morning of August 2, as temperatures were beginning to climb. At the time, a high heat advisory was in effect for the region. The haze appears to be concentrated over the Atlantic Ocean east of Washington, D.C., but this may be an illusion. The white-grey air is easier to see against the dark blue water than over the green and tan land. A string of cement-grey cities, the most probable source of the pollution, line the coast in an arc from Philadelphia in the north to Virginia Beach in the south. However, like weather systems, air pollution can travel across the country, and some of this haze may come from locations farther west. Smoke from a few fires (red dots) may also be adding to the haze. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Haze over the Eastern United
…
| Title |
Haze over the Eastern United States |
| Description |
Air quality in the heavily populated mid-Atlantic region of the United States reached unhealthy levels on August 2, 2006, warned the Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to trapping particulate pollution near the Earth, high heat, stagnant air, and humidity generate more ground level ozone, probably creating the filmy haze seen in this image. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on the morning of August 2, as temperatures were beginning to climb. At the time, a high heat advisory was in effect for the region. The haze appears to be concentrated over the Atlantic Ocean east of Washington, D.C., but this may be an illusion. The white-grey air is easier to see against the dark blue water than over the green and tan land. A string of cement-grey cities, the most probable source of the pollution, line the coast in an arc from Philadelphia in the north to Virginia Beach in the south. However, like weather systems, air pollution can travel across the country, and some of this haze may come from locations farther west. Smoke from a few fires (red dots) may also be adding to the haze. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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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. |
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Drought in Northern China
| Title |
Drought in Northern China |
| Description |
A mild drought set in over the Yellow River Basin and parts of the North China Plain during the first five months of 2006. Dry weather and warmer-than-average temperatures in February, March, and much of April left soil dry, reported the United States Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service. The effect of the dry weather on crops and other vegetation is apparent in this vegetation anomaly (difference from normal) image. The image was created from data taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite between April 23 and May 8, and it shows the relative health of plants in 2006 compared to the average for 2000-2005. Wide pockets of brown indicate regions where plants were growing more slowly than average, while brushes of green show more growth than average. The cream-colored background reveals where plants were growing normally, and regions that were cloud-covered during the entire sixteen-day period are gray. According to the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), the drought-affected region accounts for about 38 percent of China's winter wheat production. Despite the drought, the FAS predicted that the winter wheat harvest in the country as a whole, scheduled to peak in early June, would be slightly larger than it was in 2004 or 2005. 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. |
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Heavy Rain in the Mid-Atlant
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| Title |
Heavy Rain in the Mid-Atlantic States |
| Description |
After six days of torrential rain, the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States got a break on June 29, 2006. Skies were mostly clear when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image at noon Eastern Daylight Time. The image shows the region around Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, including the northern half of the Chesapeake Bay. The cities are cement grey, blending with the murky color of the water flowing through the Potomac and Susquehanna Rivers and into the bay. The rivers are a muddy brown after swollen creeks and run-off swept sediment into their waters. Red boxes outline three fires MODIS detected in the region. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
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Heavy Rain in the Mid-Atlant
…
| Title |
Heavy Rain in the Mid-Atlantic States |
|
Drought in the Southern Unit
…
| Title |
Drought in the Southern United States |
| Description |
Rainfall across the United States in the winter of 2005-06 has shown the classic pattern of a La Niña event. La Niña is a climate anomaly (departure from average conditions) that consists of cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) across the central and eastern Pacific and warmer-than-average SSTs over the western Pacific. Changes in the atmospheric circulation occur during La Niña events, as well. These combined ocean-atmosphere changes are likely responsible for the drought in the Southwest, the South, the central Plains, and Florida that has led to several devastating wildfires this season. This image shows where daily rainfall was above and below average in the United States between October 2005 and January 2006 compared to the eight-year average for that time frame. Places where rainfall was above average are in blue and green, while places rainfall was below average are in orange and red. The data are from the Tropical-Rainfall-Measuring-Mission-based, near-real-time, Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The Pacific Northwest (green and blue areas), especially along the coast and over the coastal ranges of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington (blue areas) received more precipitation than usual. Almost the entire rest of the country, barring New England, had below-normal rainfall. The most intense rainfall deficits (orange and red areas) include the area stretching from Texas up through the central Plains and Upper Midwest, as well as the Gulf Coast, most of Florida, and along the southern Atlantic coast. In the Southwest, the rainfall deficit added to the stress of several years of below-average rainfall. Most of Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas, and central Oklahoma have received less than 25 percent of their normal rainfall for the period. The current La Niña is expected to persist for the next several months. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was launched in November 1997. It measures rainfall over the global tropics using both passive and active sensors, including the first precipitation radar in space. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
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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. |
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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 |
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Hurricane Helene
| Title |
Hurricane Helene |
| Description |
The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season had a slow start, with few named storms—and no hurricanes—in the first months of the season. But in September, the season threw out four hurricanes in a row. The first two hurricanes were both short-lived and relatively weak Category 1 [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] hurricanes, Ernesto [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13827 ] and Florence. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13865 ] But in mid-September, Hurricanes Gordon and Helene formed in quick succession, both reaching Category 3 strength a few days from each other. Of the four hurricanes, only Ernesto made landfall, a persistent ridgeline of high air pressure over the U.S. East Coast in September steered storms away from the United States into the North Atlantic. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on September 16, 2006, at 12:55 p.m. local time (16:55 UTC). Gordon is a very large and well-defined hurricane in this image, possessing a distinct and tightly wound central portion, a strong and complete eyewall (cloud ring) around the eye of the storm, and a well-defined eye. South and east of the more mature Hurricane Gordon lies the larger, more sprawling, and younger Hurricane Helene. Both were Category 3 strength at the time, but Helene had only reached Category 3 status a few hours before, while Gordon had been at Category 3 stage for two days. This duet provides a glimpse of how storms' appearances change as they mature. The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' full spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2006259-0916/GordonHelene.A2006259.1655 ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Hurricane Paul
| Title |
Hurricane Paul |
| Description |
Hurricane Paul formed on October 21, 2006, in the eastern Pacific near the coast of Mexico. It grew quickly to hurricane strength as it spun off the coast near Baja California for the next several days. The sixteenth named storm of the Pacific storm season, Paul remained offshore as of October 24, though residents of southern Baja California were eyeing it warily for signs it might shift and come ashore there. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on October 23, 2006, at 12:30 p.m. local time (20:30 UTC). Paul at the time of this image was a small, well-defined swirl. However, cloud patterns over a wide area appear to be under the storm's influence, with clouds reaching as far as southern Baja. Winds around the center of Hurricane Paul were whipping around at 160 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour), according to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center. [ http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/ ] In 2005, the record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season was the focus of attention, with the number of named storms exhausting the letters of the alphabet. But as of late October 2006, the hurricane activity in the eastern Pacific Ocean was outpacing the Atlantic: 16 named storms (9 of them hurricanes) versus 9 named storms (5 of them hurricanes). On average, the eastern Pacific Ocean experiences more tropical storms and hurricanes than the Atlantic Basin, 16.4 compared to 10.1. Powerful hurricanes in the eastern Pacific rarely make landfall in the western United States. Persistent easterly winds not only tend to steer storms away from the coast, but they also "shove" the ocean's surface water westward, away from the coast, allowing cool water to well up to replace it. The cool water weakens any storms that do approach the coast. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
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Hurricane Paul
| Title |
Hurricane Paul |
| Description |
As October drew to a close, Hurricane Paul was approaching the southern tip of Mexico's Baja Peninsula. The sixteenth named Pacific storm of the 2006 season, Paul was whipping up sustained winds of 165 kilometers per hour (105 miles per hour) at the time of the National Hurricane Center's 11:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time briefing on October 23. The storm track and intensity forecasts for Paul were still uncertain at that time, but landfall along the southern tip of Baja Peninsula as a strong storm was still a possibility. In this image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra satellite on October 22, 2006, the eye of Hurricane Paul was several hundreds kilometers southwest of Baja. A bright disk of clouds spirals counter-clockwise into a cloudy eye at the heart of the storm. In places, this smooth-seeming cloud deck is rippled by puffy cloud tops—a sign of thunderstorms lofting heat and moisture high into the atmosphere. The southern tip of Baja Peninsula appears along the top edge of the image. In 2005, the record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season was the focus of attention, with the number of named storms exhausting the letters of the alphabet. But as of late October 2006, the hurricane activity in the eastern Pacific Ocean was outpacing the Atlantic: 16 named storms (9 of them hurricanes) versus 9 named storms (5 of them hurricanes). On average, the eastern Pacific Ocean experiences more tropical storms and hurricanes than the Atlantic Basin, 16.4 compared to 10.1. Powerful hurricanes in the eastern Pacific rarely make landfall in the western United States. Persistent easterly winds not only tend to steer storms away from the coast, but they also "shove" the ocean's surface water westward, away from the coast, allowing cool water to well up to replace it. The cool water weakens any storms that do approach the coast. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
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Earthquake Raises Reefs in t
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| Title |
Earthquake Raises Reefs in the Solomon Islands |
| Description |
The massive magnitude 8.1 earthquake [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17603 ] that jolted the Solomon Islands on April 1, 2007, permanently changed the shoreline on Ranongga Island, west of the epicenter. New beach was added to the western shore of the island when the earthquake lifted the island as much as three meters, exposing near-shore coral reefs, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. [ http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1892185.htm ] The freshly exposed reefs are visible beneath a veil of clouds in the top image, acquired 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 April 11, 2007. The lower image, taken on March 31, 2006, shows the island's former shoreline. Lush tropical vegetation is red in these images, while the exposed reef is dark grey. Water is black and clouds range from light blue lavender to white. The exposed reef adds tens of meters to most of the shoreline, and more than 150 meters at the tip of the spit of land shown in this image. The earthquake occurred along the plate boundary, where the Australia/Woodlark/Solomon Sea plates slide beneath the denser Pacific plate. Friction between the sinking (subducting) plates and the overriding Pacific plate led to the large earthquake on April 1, said the United States Geological Survey (USGS) summary of the earthquake. [ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2007/us2007aqbk/#summary ] Large earthquakes are common in the region, though the section of the plate that produced the April 1 earthquake had not caused any quakes of magnitude 7 or larger since the early 20th century, said the USGS. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Earthquake Raises Reefs in t
…
| Title |
Earthquake Raises Reefs in the Solomon Islands |
| Description |
The massive magnitude 8.1 earthquake [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17603 ] that jolted the Solomon Islands on April 1, 2007, permanently changed the shoreline on Ranongga Island, west of the epicenter. New beach was added to the western shore of the island when the earthquake lifted the island as much as three meters, exposing near-shore coral reefs, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. [ http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1892185.htm ] The freshly exposed reefs are visible beneath a veil of clouds in the top image, acquired 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 April 11, 2007. The lower image, taken on March 31, 2006, shows the island's former shoreline. Lush tropical vegetation is red in these images, while the exposed reef is dark grey. Water is black and clouds range from light blue lavender to white. The exposed reef adds tens of meters to most of the shoreline, and more than 150 meters at the tip of the spit of land shown in this image. The earthquake occurred along the plate boundary, where the Australia/Woodlark/Solomon Sea plates slide beneath the denser Pacific plate. Friction between the sinking (subducting) plates and the overriding Pacific plate led to the large earthquake on April 1, said the United States Geological Survey (USGS) summary of the earthquake. [ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/eqinthenews/2007/us2007aqbk/#summary ] Large earthquakes are common in the region, though the section of the plate that produced the April 1 earthquake had not caused any quakes of magnitude 7 or larger since the early 20th century, said the USGS. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
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East Amarillo Complex Fires,
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| Title |
East Amarillo Complex Fires, Texas |
| Description |
Strong winds and dry weather propelled fast-moving grass fires in northern Texas on March 12, 2006. This image, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, outlines active fires in red. Thick plumes of grey and white smoke stream away from the fires. These fires are burning in the northern panhandle of Texas, northeast of the city of Amarillo. The northern part of the fire complex is burning near Borger, Texas, about 10 kilometers east of Lake Meredith (shown in the large image). The southern fire is near Interstate 40, near the town of Jericho. At least seven people have died in fires across the Southern Plains, four in a traffic accident on Interstate 40 when thick smoke suddenly shifted across the road, the Associated Press reported. The National Interagency Fire Center reported 168 fires in the Southern United States early on March 13, and one of the largest was the East Amarillo Complex fire, shown here. The fire had burned 100,000 acres of grassland, and forced the evacuation of multiple towns. The large image provided above has a resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides the image in additional resolutions. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.n,asa.ov ], NASA-GSFC |
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El Nino Rainfall Patterns ov
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| Title |
El Nino Rainfall Patterns over the United States |
| Description |
An anomalous warming of the central and eastern Pacific along the equator is part of a well-known climate event called El Niño. An El Niño began in the spring of 2006 and reached its peak in November and December. El Niño has far reaching effects. The anomalous warming of sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific affects general atmospheric circulation patterns, which impacts both temperature and precipitation patterns well into middle latitudes. Deviations in the rainfall patterns across the United States due to El Niño are well-established based on past events. The northern Gulf Coast experiences above-average rainfall, as do California and the Southwest due to a stronger-than-average subtropical jet stream. The Ohio Valley and the Northwest tend to see below-normal rainfall. These deviations from the normal rainfall pattern are illustrated in this image, made from the near-real-time, Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA), which is produced at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, based in part on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ]) satellite. MPA rainfall anomalies across the United States are shown here for December 25, 2006, through January 25, 2007. The anomalies are obtained by subtracting the average rainfall from the recent values. The average rainfall measurements are based on data collected since TRMM's launch in November 1997. Several of the notable features associated with El Niño are evident. The northern Gulf Coast west of Florida is wetter than average as is southern California. The Four Corners region in the Southwest is also very moist, which is typical for El Niño. Drier-than-normal conditions are evident over the Ohio Valley. There are some exceptions to the expected El Niño rainfall patterns, however. Montana, for example, is usually drier than average during El Niño but appears relatively moist, and Florida is usually wetter than average but shows below-normal rainfall for the period. Also, the dry anomaly in the Northwest is concentrated over northern California instead of spreading over Washington and Oregon as might be expected. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
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Lake Effect Snow in the Unit
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| 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. |
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Marcial Fire in New Mexico
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Marcial Fire in New Mexico |
| Description |
Just to the south of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge along the Rio Grande in southwestern New Mexico, a large fire was billowing out a thick plume of smoke when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite passed overhead on May 4, 2006. The actively burning area that MODIS detected is outlined in red. According to a local news report, the fire is burning in salt cedar along the banks of the river, and fire fighters were conducting "burn out" operations (carefully burning vegetation in the fire's path to starve it of fuel) to prevent the spread of the fire northward into the refuge. Salt cedar, also known as tamarisk, is the common name for several species of non-native, small trees or shrubs that have invaded river and streambank ecosystems in many places in the United States. Nowhere is their impact more severe than in the Southwest, where their persistent ability to survive drought, flood, and fire allows them to rapidly colonize riparian (river- and stream-bank) habitat and prevent native plants from germinating. The loss of native plants has a cascading effect on the rest of the ecosystem. Salt cedar was introduced to the United States from Asia as an ornamental plant in the early 1800s, and its spread has radically transformed riparian ecosystems throughout the Southwest. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires in Idaho
| Title |
Fires in Idaho |
| Description |
In wilderness areas of central Idaho's Salmon River, Bitterroot, and Sawtooth Mountain Ranges, numerous fires were burning in mid-August 2006. When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite passed overhead on August 14, the sensor detected more than a dozen active fires (locations marked in red) burning in the area. Across the state line in Montana, several fires are visible as well. Although there are no large cities in the area, residences, ranches, communications and power infrastructure, historic and recreational sites, and mining resources are threatened by the various blazes. The remote location and rugged terrain make fires in the area difficult to contain. For more information about the fires in Idaho and the rest of the United States, visit the Website of the National Interagency Fire Center. [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] 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/?AERONET_Rimrock ] of the area at 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 in Idaho
| Title |
Fires in Idaho |
| Description |
Parallel plumes of smoke blow northeast from several fires burning in central Idaho's Salmon River Mountains in this image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite on August 23, 2006. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. Although much of the Salmon River Mountains region is wilderness area, there are scattered communities, and some of the fires are threatening homes, campgrounds, and power lines. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides images of the entire western United States at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Record Rain over the U.S. No
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| Title |
Record Rain over the U.S. Northwest |
| Description |
Record rainfall fell over parts of the northwestern United States during the first week of November 2006. Stampede Pass in western Washington received 8.22 inches of rain on Monday, November 5, to set a new all-time, one-day total. Six rivers reached record crests in the region. By early on November 8, one person had died, and two were missing as a result of the flooding, said news reports. This image shows rainfall totals for October 31 through November 8, 2006, based in part on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. According to the TRMM-based, near-real time, Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis produced at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the highest rainfall totals for the period are near 250 millimeters (~10 inches, shown in darker red) and occur over Mount Olympus west of Seattle, Washington. The image illustrates the influence of mountains on the storm. Stripes of red, representing the heaviest rainfall, cover the Coastal Range (left) and the windward slopes of the Cascade Mountains (right). Some areas of heavy rain, however, do extend out over the Pacific, off of the Washington coast. The weather pattern responsible for all of the rain is known as the Pineapple Express. The Pineapple Express is really just the subtropical jet steam, a stream of fast-moving air that carries moisture originating around the Hawaiian Islands northeast towards the West Coast. This moisture can then be drawn into storm systems as they approach the West Coast. In this case, a slow-moving storm system tapped into this tropical moisture to generate heavy rainfall. The coastal topography also aided in squeezing out the moisture as air was lifted over the mountain ranges.TRMM [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
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Record Snow on the U.S. East
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| Title |
Record Snow on the U.S. East Coast |
| Description |
The powerful nor'easter that barreled up the East Coast of the United States on February 11 and 12, 2006, left a swath of snow in its path. The snow covers the line of the Appalachian Mountains from northern Georgia to Pennsylvania, where it disappears underneath a curtain of clouds. The storm intensified as it moved north and east, with New York City, in the upper right corner of the image, being the hardest hit. The storm dumped more snow on the city than any other in the 137-year weather record. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on February 14, 2006, two days after the storm hit. The large image provided above has a resolution of 250 meters per pixel, MODIS' maximum resolution. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/ ] of the United States in a variety of resolutions. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Fires in Northern California
| Title |
Fires in Northern California |
| Description |
Several large wildfires were burning in Northern California on August 1, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite passed overhead and captured this image. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fire are outlined in red. Smoke hangs over the forested mountains. Firefighters in the area had their hands full with numerous blazes that were threatening residences, communications infrastructure, old growth forest, wildlife habitat, and cultural resources. According to reports form the National Interagency Fire Center on August 2, 2006, the 3,450-acre Orleans Complex Fire was threatening a municipal water supply. Challenges at the 6,450-acre Uncles Fire included steep terrain, limited access roads, and poor visibility from smoke that was lingering near the ground. The 4,805-acre Hunter Fire was threatening spotted owl habitat and fisheries. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides daily images of this area at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] Additional information on fires in the United States is available from the National Interagency Fire Center. [ http://nifc.gov/information.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 Northern California
| Title |
Fires in Northern California |
| Description |
In the Klamath Mountains of northern California, two fire complexes were billowing thick smoke on August 15, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite passed overhead and captured this image. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fire are outlined in red, and gray-white smoke spreads eastward. Both the Orleans and Bar Fires are complexes made of several individual blazes. According to the National Interagency Fire Center [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] report from August 16, the total estimated area for the Orleans Complex Fire was 11,000 acres. The estimated area for the Bar Complex was 15,160 acres. 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/?USA1/ ] of the entire western United States at 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 in Northern California
| Title |
Fires in Northern California |
| Description |
In the mountains of northern California, several fires that began in July 2006 continued to burn at the end of August. This image of the region around the junction of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers shows the Uncles Complex Fire and the Bar Complex Fire on August 30, 2006. The image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite. Places where the sensor detected actively burning fire are outlined in red. Plumes of gray smoke drift southward. According to the daily report from the National Interagency Fire Center [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] on August 31, the Bar Complex continued to threaten residences and historic mining sites, it was about 26,000 acres and 62 percent contained. The Uncles Complex was burning in old growth timber and threatening cabins, the blaze was about 17,000 acres and 35 percent contained. This image has a spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The large image shows a wider area at the same resolution. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides images of the entire western United States at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires in Northern California
| Title |
Fires in Northern California |
| Description |
Strong winds fueled the Bar Complex Fire in Northern California on September 13, 2006. The fire started as two separate fires on July 24, 2006, when lightning struck the ground in Shasta Trinity National Forest. By September 13, the fires (known jointly as the Bar Complex) had burned 50,826 acres and were 49 percent contained at a cost of 32.3 million dollars, said the National Interagency Fire Center's Incident Report. [ http://www.inciweb.org/incident/357/ ] The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this photo-like image of the fires at 2:25 p.m., local time, on September 13. Dense smoke is blowing east of the fires (outlined in red) on strong winds. The Bar Complex Fire forms a long wall through the dark green, forest-covered Klamath Mountains. To its north burns the smaller Uncles Complex Fire, which was threatening historical structures and cultural resources, said the National Interagency Fire Center. [ http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html ] East of both fires is the snow-capped Mt. Shasta, one of the largest volcanoes in the Cascade Range. Fire activity was high throughout the western United States on September 13. Numerous large fires can be seen in the large image, which is provided at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] of the region are provided by the MODIS Rapid Response Team. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Fires in Northern Washington
| Title |
Fires in Northern Washington |
| Description |
More than 139,000 acres had been burned by the Tripod Complex Fire in northern Washington as of August 28, 2006, according to reports from the National Interagency Fire Center. [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] This image of the fire was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite on August 27, 2006. Although most of the images of the fire in this series have been photo-like, natural-color images, this scene has been enhanced with MODIS' observations of short-wave and near-infrared light. In this type of image, burned areas appear deep red, vegetation appears bright green, and water appears dark blue or nearly black. Active fire locations that MODIS detected are outlined in red. The bright pink glow inside some of the fire perimeters may indicate open flame. 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 entire western United States at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires in Northern Washington
| Title |
Fires in Northern Washington |
| Description |
In northern Washington, several large fires were burning when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] passed overhead on September 7, 2006. This photo-like image of the region shows the Tatoosh and Tripod Complexes, as well as the Cedar Creek, Flick Creek, and Tinpan Fires. Smoke had settled into the valleys of rivers and creeks that wind through the rugged mountains. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fire are outlined in red. Information on the status of the fires in this image is available in the daily report on the Website of the National Interagency Fire Center. [ http://www.nifc.gov/nicc ] The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1/ ] of the western United States in a variety of resolutions and formats. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Fires in Oregon
| Title |
Fires in Oregon |
| Description |
Several fires were burning in the Cascade Mountains of northern Oregon on August 14, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite passed overhead. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fires are marked in red. The largest of the fires was the Lake George Fire, which the National Interagency Fire Center [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] estimated to be about 2,000 acres and 5 percent contained as of August 15. 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/?USA1 ] of the western United States 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 in Oregon
| Title |
Fires in Oregon |
| Description |
Several fires were burning in the Cascade Mountains of northern Oregon on August 14, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite passed overhead. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fires are marked in red. The largest of the fires was the Lake George Fire, which the National Interagency Fire Center [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] estimated to be about 2,000 acres and 5 percent contained as of August 15. 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/?USA1 ] of the western United States 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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Severe Thunderstorms over th
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| Title |
Severe Thunderstorms over the Southeastern United States |
| Description |
Up to ten inches of rain fell over parts of Houston, Texas, between October 10 and October 17, 2006. The rain fell as a line of strong storms, fueled by moisture being pulled up from the Gulf of Mexico, swept across the southeastern United States. Several tornados and deadly flooding were reported across the region. Four people died as a result of the flooding around Houston, said news reports. The top image shows rainfall totals over the southeastern United States for October 10 through October 17, 2006. The rainfall totals come from the near-real-time, Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis, which is partially based on rainfall measurements made by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite (TRMM [ http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ]). The highest totals, shown in red, are around 12 inches (300 millimeters) and occur over north-central Louisiana. Ten-inch (250-millimeter) amounts (lighter red) are visible north of Galveston Bay, and most of eastern Texas and western Louisiana received at least 5 inches (130 millimeters) of rain (green areas). The lower image provides a snapshot of the line of storms at 11:17 p.m. Central Daylight Time on October 16 (4:17 UTC on October 17), as the storm system was passing through central Louisiana. Taken by the instruments on the TRMM satellite, the image shows rain intensity associated with the advancing line of storms. The rains are stretched out in a long, broken line of storms extending from the northwestern Gulf of Mexico through central Louisiana and into southwestern Mississippi. The line of intense rain (dark reds) is relatively thin across Louisiana. A broader area of weaker rain (wide blue and green area) extends farther north. Rain rates in the center swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar, a unique space-borne precipitation radar, while rain rates in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager. The rain rates are overlaid on infrared data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner. TRMM was placed into service in November of 1997. From its low-earth orbit, TRMM has been measuring rainfall over the global tropics using a combination of passive microwave and active radar sensors. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
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