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Images of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) from February 1, 2006
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Eruption on Augustine Island
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Eruption on Augustine Island, Alaska |
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Hot pyroclastic flows (avalanches of hot ash, pumice, rock and volcanic gas) poured down the side of the Augustine Volcano in the early hours of February 1, 2006, when the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] took this image. This nighttime view of the volcano shows the eruption in terms of heat from the thermal infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The hot flows glow white in contrast to the cold, snow-covered land surrounding them. Ash and steam rise from the volcano, the ash tinting the plume grey-blue. Around Augustine Island, the ocean is warmer than the land surface and so appears white, while clouds are a dingy white and grey. Sitting in Cook Inlet of southern Alaska, the Augustine volcano is the most active volcano in the Eastern Aleutian arc. According to the Global Volcanism Program [ http://www.volcano.si.edu ], explosive activity at the volcano began on January 11, 2006. Hourly updates on the eruption are available from the Alaska Volcano Observatory [ http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Augustine.php ]. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team |
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Rainstorms in Central Austra
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Rainstorms in Central Australia |
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A persistent low-pressure system sat over Australia's "Red Center" for several days at the end of January and into February 2006, bringing rain to a landscape better known for its dry conditions and parched starkness. Storms are normal phenomena, however, in the Australian monsoon season (locally known as "The Wet"). The Australian Bureau of Meteorology reported moderate rain falling through most of the area, with occasional heavy rains of 20-40 millimeters (1-2 inches). While this amount is not an impressive-sounding quantity, sustained over several days, it amounted to considerable rain totals, and streambeds that are typically completely dry filled and overflowed, causing flooding in many areas. The satellite image shows the swirling clouds associataed with the low-pressure system. This image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on February 1, 2006, at 01:50 UTC (10:50 a.m. local time). In the southern hemisphere, low-pressure systems develop spiral patterns that wind clockwise around the center of the system because of the rotation of the Earth. (Low-pressure systems spin counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere). This particular system was being fed moisture from the Indian Ocean, where warm seas evaporate water into the air. The moist air was then carried along in a low-pressure frontal system. Called a "monsoon trough," such systems typically bring intense rains of themselves. When the monsoon trough combines with low-pressure systems such as the one pictured here, heavy monsoon rains fall in northern Australia. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. |
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Smog over Northern India
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Smog over Northern India |
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A pale band of haze hangs along the front of the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh in this photo-like image, taken on February 5, 2006, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. In this image, haze covers northern India, just south of the Himalaya. Haze also intrudes into the skies of southern Nepal and Bangladesh. The skies over the more mountainous northern Nepal and Bhutan appear clear. One source of the haze is the fires that burn throughout the region. These fires were probably deliberately set for agricultural purposes. Another source of the haze is India's cities. A megacity is an urban center with 10 million or more inhabitants. As of 2003, India held three of the world's megacities: Mumbai, Delhi, and Calcutta. Moreover, smaller cities dot the landscape, appearing in this image as beige splotches. One city, shown in the upper left, produces its own discernible plume of haze. It is common to see dense haze in northern India, Nepal, and Bangladesh during the winter. The haze lingers near the base of the mountains because of a temperature inversion. In normal conditions, the air near the ground is warmer than the air above it. Warm air rises and carries with it pollution from fires or cities. The pollution disperses when it is mixed with cooler air high above the ground. During the Himalayan winter, cold air rushes down the mountains onto the plain. This makes the air near the ground cooler than the air above it, essentially trapping a pocket of cold air over the plain. Smoke from fires and regular pollution from cities are also trapped in the pocket of cold air and don't disperse as they would under normal conditions. As a result, haze builds until the inversion lifts. The haze shown in this image had been accumulating for several days, and is visible in several other MODIS images, including one acquired on February 1, 2006 [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13341 ]. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Smog over the Bay of Bengal
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Smog over the Bay of Bengal |
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Against the arcing backdrop of the Himalaya Mountains (top of image), rivers of grayish haze follow the courses of the Ganges River and its tributaries (left) and the Brahmaputra River (right) on February 1, 2006. The plumes appear to combine like their watery counterparts and flow out together over the Bay of Bengal past the Mouths of the Ganges, the multi-pronged delta of the river along the Bangladesh coast. This image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite. Scientists studying the cloud of haze that frequently lingers over parts of Asia from Pakistan to China and even the Indian and Pacific Oceans have called the pollution the "Asian Brown Cloud." The mix of aerosols (tiny particles suspended in the air) includes smoke from agricultural and home heating and cooking fires, vehicle exhaust, and industrial emissions. In addition to the respiratory problems the persistent haze can cause, it also appears to hinder crops by blocking sunlight and could be altering regional weather. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. |
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Fires Near Cape Town
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Fires Near Cape Town |
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In South Africa, southeast of Cape Town, wildfires were burning out of control in several locations on February 1, 2006. According to news reports, fires were threatening homes and resort buildings in the region. Hot, dry, windy weather was predicted through the weekend. This image of the region 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 MODIS detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. A huge plume of smoke drifts out over the Atlantic Ocean. The large version of the image has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?AERONET_Cape_Town ] of this region. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires Near Cape Town: Natura
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nasa, nasanaturalhazards
In South Africa, southeast o
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ge_16022
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
February 1, 2006 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
ge_16022 |
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Fires Near Cape Town: Natura
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
In South Africa, southeast o
…
ge_16022
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
February 1, 2006 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
ge_16022 |
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