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Iceland Glacier Recession 19 …
Title Iceland Glacier Recession 1997 to 2000
Abstract This animation is a close up zoom into largest area of glacier recesion at the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland. The data from 1997 is taken from Landsat 5 and the 2000 data is from Landsat 7. The Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland has been measured by Landsat to be receding since 1973. In 1997, Landsat 5 took several other images of the glacier. It was thought by some glacierologists that this particular glacier was receding quicker in the late 1990s than it did in the late 1980s or 1970s. After careful analysis Goddard's Glacierologist, Dorothy Hall, concluded that the recession from 1997 to 2000 occurs at a similar rate to the recession between 1973 and 2000. It is extremely controversial whether or not this recession is caused by global warming.
Completed 2001-03-22
Iceland Glacier Recession 19 …
Title Iceland Glacier Recession 1997 to 2000
Abstract This animation is a close up zoom into largest area of glacier recesion at the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland. The data from 1997 is taken from Landsat 5 and the 2000 data is from Landsat 7. The Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland has been measured by Landsat to be receding since 1973. In 1997, Landsat 5 took several other images of the glacier. It was thought by some glacierologists that this particular glacier was receding quicker in the late 1990s than it did in the late 1980s or 1970s. After careful analysis Goddard's Glacierologist, Dorothy Hall, concluded that the recession from 1997 to 2000 occurs at a similar rate to the recession between 1973 and 2000. It is extremely controversial whether or not this recession is caused by global warming.
Completed 2001-03-22
Iceland Glacier Recession 19 …
Title Iceland Glacier Recession 1997 to 2000
Abstract This animation is a close up zoom into largest area of glacier recesion at the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland. The data from 1997 is taken from Landsat 5 and the 2000 data is from Landsat 7. The Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland has been measured by Landsat to be receding since 1973. In 1997, Landsat 5 took several other images of the glacier. It was thought by some glacierologists that this particular glacier was receding quicker in the late 1990s than it did in the late 1980s or 1970s. After careful analysis Goddard's Glacierologist, Dorothy Hall, concluded that the recession from 1997 to 2000 occurs at a similar rate to the recession between 1973 and 2000. It is extremely controversial whether or not this recession is caused by global warming.
Completed 2001-03-22
Iceland Glacier Recession 19 …
Title Iceland Glacier Recession 1997 to 2000
Abstract This animation is a close up zoom into largest area of glacier recesion at the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland. The data from 1997 is taken from Landsat 5 and the 2000 data is from Landsat 7. The Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland has been measured by Landsat to be receding since 1973. In 1997, Landsat 5 took several other images of the glacier. It was thought by some glacierologists that this particular glacier was receding quicker in the late 1990s than it did in the late 1980s or 1970s. After careful analysis Goddard's Glacierologist, Dorothy Hall, concluded that the recession from 1997 to 2000 occurs at a similar rate to the recession between 1973 and 2000. It is extremely controversial whether or not this recession is caused by global warming.
Completed 2001-03-22
Iceland Glacier Recession 19 …
Title Iceland Glacier Recession 1973 to 2000, Glacier Terminus contrast emphasized
Abstract This animation shows glacier recesion at the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland. The data from 1973 is taken from Landsat 1 and the 2000 data is from Landsat 7. The Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland has been measured by Landsat to be receding since 1973. The glacierologists in Iceland and here at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have measured the recession throughout the entire glacier and found different rates of recession in different areas. In genral, the glacier seems to be receding at about 2% annually. It is extremely controversial whether this recession is caused by global warming.
Completed 2001-06-13
Iceland Glacier Recession 19 …
Title Iceland Glacier Recession 1973 to 2000, Glacier Terminus contrast emphasized
Abstract This animation shows glacier recesion at the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland. The data from 1973 is taken from Landsat 1 and the 2000 data is from Landsat 7. The Breidamerkurjokull glacier in Iceland has been measured by Landsat to be receding since 1973. The glacierologists in Iceland and here at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have measured the recession throughout the entire glacier and found different rates of recession in different areas. In genral, the glacier seems to be receding at about 2% annually. It is extremely controversial whether this recession is caused by global warming.
Completed 2001-06-13
Bright Waters Around Iceland
Title Bright Waters Around Iceland
Description On the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the clouds around Iceland cleared to reveal a bright aquamarine ocean. The water is probably colored by coccolithophores, single-celled plants that are coated in a white calcium carbonate. The tiny plants can form massive blooms, visible in satellite imagery such as this image, acquired by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS [ http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS.html ]) on the Orbview-2 satellite on June 21, 2004. A cruise northwest of Ireland reported a bloom of Emiliana huxleyi northwest of Ireland a week before this image was taken, and it's likely that the bloom seen here is the same species. Emiliana huxleyi is the most abundant species of coccolithophores. Although not as bright as the water immediately off the Iceland coast, relatively bright water can be seen in an irregular band that stretches out of the image to the southwest of the island for over a thousand kilometers. Provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE
Grassfire in Iceland
Title Grassfire in Iceland
Description In western Iceland in late March 2006, a large fire broke out in the grasses of a wetland area, which had been dried out by a period of persistent north winds. According to local reports, some farmers in the area had to evacuate their livestock to protect them from the fast-moving, wind-driven blaze. In this image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite on March 30, 2006, a long plume of smoke blows westward away from the fire, whose location is marked in red in the image. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center.
Grassfire in Iceland
Title Grassfire in Iceland
Description At the end of March 2006, a grassfire broke out in western Iceland, perhaps as a result of a smoldering cigarette butt. Although this area near the coast to the northwest of the country's capital, Reykjavik, is typically very wet, a period of persistent north winds dried out the grass and made it flammable. The fire burned for several days, threatening farms and livestock and resulting in Iceland's largest fire in its recorded history. This image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite was captured on April 6, 2006. The burned area appears as a large brownish-charcoal splotch in the center of the image. The fire started inland and burned all the way to the coast. This is a false-color image, and unburned vegetation appears red, clouds appear white, and the Atlantic Ocean (image left) appears nearly black. Several partially ice-covered lakes are scattered across the burned landscape, these lakes appear light blue. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov ]
Grimsvotn Volcano Erupts
Title Grimsvotn Volcano Erupts
Description Iceland?s Grimsvotn Volcano began erupting on November 2, 2004, forcing officials to divert air traffic from the region to prevent ash from damaging aircraft engines. The volcano sits beneath the Vatnajokull Ice Cap, Europe?s largest glacier, and is Iceland?s most frequently active volcano. This eruption may be connected to the draining of a glacier lake in the volcano?s caldera. Buried under a 200-meter thick ice shelf, the lake is under extreme pressure. Melting water fills the lake, and when levels are high enough, the water lifts the ice dam, draining the lake. Grimsvotn Lake drained in mid-October, lifting some of the pressure from the volcano. The flood was followed by a series of earthquakes, and on November 2, an eruption. As of November 3, the eruption was still occurring, and ash was reported to have drifted as far northeast as Finland. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this view of the erupting volcano. The plume is largely made of steam rising from the melting ice above the volcano, but ash is mixed in as well. Against the white of the Vatnajokull Ice Cap, the white eruption plume is difficult to see in the true color image. The false color image, which shows ice as bright red, provides the contrast needed to see the steam plume. As the plume is blown north, the steam dissipates, and the dark ash is more visible. The shadow on the snow along the top edge of the image may be ash on the glacier. As the eruption continues, flooding is likely around the volcano. So far, some of the glacier-fed rivers southeast of the volcano have flooded, and more floods are expected. The high-resolution images provided above are at MODIS? maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides both the true [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004307-1102/Iceland.A2004307.1210 ] and false [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004307-1102/Iceland.A2004307.1210.367 ] color images in additional resolutions. NASA images courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC
Grimsvotn Volcano Erupts
Title Grimsvotn Volcano Erupts
Description Iceland?s Grimsvotn Volcano began erupting on November 2, 2004, forcing officials to divert air traffic from the region to prevent ash from damaging aircraft engines. The volcano sits beneath the Vatnajokull Ice Cap, Europe?s largest glacier, and is Iceland?s most frequently active volcano. This eruption may be connected to the draining of a glacier lake in the volcano?s caldera. Buried under a 200-meter thick ice shelf, the lake is under extreme pressure. Melting water fills the lake, and when levels are high enough, the water lifts the ice dam, draining the lake. Grimsvotn Lake drained in mid-October, lifting some of the pressure from the volcano. The flood was followed by a series of earthquakes, and on November 2, an eruption. As of November 3, the eruption was still occurring, and ash was reported to have drifted as far northeast as Finland. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this view of the erupting volcano. The plume is largely made of steam rising from the melting ice above the volcano, but ash is mixed in as well. Against the white of the Vatnajokull Ice Cap, the white eruption plume is difficult to see in the true color image. The false color image, which shows ice as bright red, provides the contrast needed to see the steam plume. As the plume is blown north, the steam dissipates, and the dark ash is more visible. The shadow on the snow along the top edge of the image may be ash on the glacier. As the eruption continues, flooding is likely around the volcano. So far, some of the glacier-fed rivers southeast of the volcano have flooded, and more floods are expected. The high-resolution images provided above are at MODIS? maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides both the true [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004307-1102/Iceland.A2004307.1210 ] and false [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004307-1102/Iceland.A2004307.1210.367 ] color images in additional resolutions. NASA images courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC
Grimsvotn Volcano Erupts
Title Grimsvotn Volcano Erupts
Description Iceland?s Grimsvotn Volcano began erupting on November 2, 2004, forcing officials to divert air traffic from the region to prevent ash from damaging aircraft engines. The volcano sits beneath the Vatnajokull Ice Cap, Europe?s largest glacier, and is Iceland?s most frequently active volcano. This eruption may be connected to the draining of a glacier lake in the volcano?s caldera. Buried under a 200-meter thick ice shelf, the lake is under extreme pressure. Melting water fills the lake, and when levels are high enough, the water lifts the ice dam, draining the lake. Grimsvotn Lake drained in mid-October, lifting some of the pressure from the volcano. The flood was followed by a series of earthquakes, and on November 2, an eruption. As of November 3, the eruption was still occurring, and ash was reported to have drifted as far northeast as Finland. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this view of the erupting volcano. The plume is largely made of steam rising from the melting ice above the volcano, but ash is mixed in as well. Against the white of the Vatnajokull Ice Cap, the white eruption plume is difficult to see in the true color image. The false color image, which shows ice as bright red, provides the contrast needed to see the steam plume. As the plume is blown north, the steam dissipates, and the dark ash is more visible. The shadow on the snow along the top edge of the image may be ash on the glacier. As the eruption continues, flooding is likely around the volcano. So far, some of the glacier-fed rivers southeast of the volcano have flooded, and more floods are expected. The high-resolution images provided above are at MODIS? maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides both the true [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004307-1102/Iceland.A2004307.1210 ] and false [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004307-1102/Iceland.A2004307.1210.367 ] color images in additional resolutions. NASA images courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC
Dust Plumes off Iceland
Title Dust Plumes off Iceland
Description Plumes of dust blew off the southern coast of Iceland in late June 2007. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on June 23, 2007. The dust appears as grayish blurs emanating from the coast southward over the North Atlantic Ocean. Blue-green algal blooms also fringe the coastline. Iceland's winter of 2006-2007 brought relatively light snow, leaving the local vegetation little shelter from frost. Both the vegetation and soil dried further in two weeks of arid weather prior to this dust storm. Strong winds from the north added the final ingredient needed for dust plumes in late June. You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of Iceland [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jul2007/iceland_tmo_2007174.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. Image interpretation by Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir, University of Iceland.
Dust Storm off Iceland
Title Dust Storm off Iceland
Description A low-pressure system north of the United Kingdom was blowing dust off Iceland and sending it southward over the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 5, 2004. The dust plume (light brown) is easily distinguished from the bright, white clouds in this true-color scene, acquired by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). NASA images courtesy the SeaWiFS Project [ http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS.html ], Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE [ http://www.orbimage.com/ ]
Dust Storm off Iceland
Title Dust Storm off Iceland
Description Light brown streamers of dust were blowing southward off the southern coast of Iceland on October 5, 2004. Strong winds pushed by a large low-pressure system to the southeast (not shown in this image) were sweeping the dust off the land and carrying it for more than a hundred kilometers over the North Atlantic. This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The high-resolution copy available here is 250 meters per pixel. Additional resolution copies of this image [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004279-1005/Iceland.A2004279.1340 ] are also available. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center
Dust Storm Off Southern Coas …
Title Dust Storm Off Southern Coast of Iceland
Description The Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA?s Terra satellite, captured this true-color image of Iceland on January 28, 2002. There appear to be large plumes of brownish dust blowing out over the North Atlantic from Iceland?s southern coast. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] at NASA GSFC
Dust Storm Off Southern Coas …
Title Dust Storm Off Southern Coast of Iceland
Description On May 11 and 12, 2002, the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) observed a large plume of dust (brownish pixels) blown by stiff winds out from Iceland?s southern coast over the North Atlantic Ocean. This particular scene was acquired on May 12. In the large image (click on the image above), the low pressure cell that was driving the wind on that day is readily discernible to the southeast of the island. Image courtesy the SeaWiFS Project [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS.html ], NASA GSFC, and ORBIMAGE
Landslide Buries Valley of t …
Title Landslide Buries Valley of the Geysers
Description Geysers are a rare natural phenomena found only in a few places, such as New Zealand, Iceland, the United States (Yellowstone National Park), and on Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. On June 3, 2007, one of these rare geyser fields was severely damaged when a landslide rolled through Russia's Valley of the Geysers. The landslide—a mix of mud, melting snow, trees, and boulders—tore a scar on the land and buried a number of geysers, thermal pools, and waterfalls in the valley. It also blocked the Geyser River, causing a new thermal lake to pool upstream. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this infrared-enhanced image on June 11, 2007, a week after the slide. The image shows the valley, the landslide, and the new thermal lake. Even in mid-June, just days from the start of summer, the landscape is generally covered in snow, though the geologically heated valley is relatively snow free. The tree-covered hills are red (the color of vegetation in this false-color treatment), providing a strong contrast to the aquamarine water and the gray-brown slide. According to the Russian News and Information Agency (RIA [ http://en.rian.ru/ ]) [English language], the slide left a path roughly a kilometer and a half (one mile) long and 200 meters (600 feet) wide. Within hours of the landslide, the water in the new lake inundated a number of additional geysers. The geysers directly buried under the landslide now lie under as much as 60 meters (180 feet) of material, according to RIA reports. It is unlikely that the geysers will be able to force a new opening through this thick layer, adds RIA. Among those directly buried is Pervenets (Firstborn), the first geyser found in the valley, in 1941. Other geysers, such as the Bolshoi (Greater) and Maly (Lesser) Geysers, were silenced when buried by water building up behind the new natural dam. According to Vladimir and Andrei Leonov of the Russian Federation Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, [ http://www.kscnet.ru/ivs/expeditions/2007/Geyser_Valley-06-2007/Geyser_Valley-06.htm ], the new lake appears to be stable and draining gradually through the earthen dam, alleviating fears of a catastrophic flood. Should the new lake drain enough, many of the inundated geysers may restart. Initial reports from the Volcanology and Seismology Institute state this has already happened for some geysers. Geysers outside of the slide region, including the Velikan (Giant) Geyser and a major section of the geyser field known as Vitrazh (Stained Glass) appear to have escaped damage. In addition to destroying a number of geysers, the landslide may have damaged habitats in the Valley of the Geysers. The thermal waters and heated steam jets made this valley warmer than the surrounding landscape, and the warmth supported a unique ecosystem. The loss of a large part of its heat source may alter the ecosystem, but it is not clear what additional longer-term changes might occur. For example, salmon that spawn in the Geyser River will be confined to the lower reaches of the river, and bears, which depended on salmon, will need to shift feeding grounds correspondingly. Thanks to Sergey Chernomorets and Boris Yurchak for information and translation. You can download a 15-meter-resolution KMZ file of Valley of the Geysers [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jun2007/kamgeysers_ast_2007162.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.
Low Pressure System off Icel …
Title Low Pressure System off Iceland
Description The MODIS instrument onboard NASA's Terra satellite captured this true-color image of a large low pressure system off the coast of Iceland. In the Northern Hemisphere, the circulation around low pressure systems is counterclockwise and inward, a result of the Coriolis Force. Air flowing inward in low pressure systems has no where to go but up. The rising air cools, and if it rises far enough, clouds and precipitation can form. Image courtesy Jesse Allen, NASA's Earth Observatory based on data provided by the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ].
Extratropical Cyclones near …
Title Extratropical Cyclones near Iceland
Description A cyclone is a low-pressure area of winds that spiral inwards. Although tropical storms most often come to mind, these spiraling storms can also form at mid- and high latitudes. Two such cyclones formed in tandem in November 2006. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture on November 20. This image shows the cyclones south of Iceland. Scotland appears in the lower right. The larger and perhaps stronger cyclone appears in the east, close to Scotland.Cyclones [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone ] at high and mid-latitudes are actually fairly common, and they drive much of the Earth's weather. In the Northern Hemisphere, cyclones move in a counter-clockwise direction, and both of the spiraling storms in this image curl upwards toward the northeast then the west. The eastern storm is fed by thick clouds from the north that swoop down toward the storm in a giant "V" shape on either side of Iceland. Skies over Iceland are relatively clear, allowing some of the island to show through. South of the storms, more diffuse cloud cover swirls toward the southeast. NASA image by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory. Image interpretation provided by Dave Santek and Jeff Key, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
New Measurements of Arctic O …
Title New Measurements of Arctic Ozone
Description The winter of 2004-2005 saw the second highest chemical ozone destruction ever observed over the Arctic. Polar ozone is destoyed when chlorine, cold temperatures, and sunlight mix in the atmosphere 8-50 kilometers above the Earth's surface. Since ozone shields the Earth from ultraviolet light, the high-energy light that causes sunburns and is associated with skin cancers, low ozone levels could threaten human health. Ultraviolet levels remained near normal through the winter, however, because unusual weather conditions brought ozone from the Earth's ozone-rich mid-latitudes to the pole to fill in the gaps left by the extreme ozone depletion. These images show the fluctuations in ozone during the Arctic winter of 2005. The top two images show the average total column ozone over the Arctic during the months of January and March, 2005, and the lower image shows total column ozone on a single day, March 11, 2005. The images are based on data collected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument [ http://www.knmi.nl/omi/publ-en/news/index.html ] (OMI) aboard NASA's Aura [ http://aura.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. During this time period, the Microwave Limb Sounder, another instrument on the Aura satellite, measured 50 percent ozone loss, the second-highest level ever observed behind the 60 percent loss measured in 1999-2000. Despite this, the lowest total column ozone values in polar regions are slightly higher in March than in January, on average, as evidenced by the broad splashes of red that represent high ozone levels. Stratospheric winds carried the ozone north into the Arctic, compensating for the significant chemical loss, so that no blue or purple holes representing low ozone levels appear in the March image. Black circles over the North pole show where OMI did not collect data. On a single day, March 11, 2005, ozone was distributed far more unevenly, with dark red, almost black areas of high ozone over the Aleutian Islands, Asia, and Europe, and a pale blue thin spot over Iceland and Greenland. This reveals that even though ozone values appeared to be near normal on average throughout March, some regions experienced much lower ozone levels—and therefore, a greater exposure to UV light—on an individual day. For more information and images, see "NASA Spacecraft Measures Unusual 2005 Arctic Ozone Conditions" [ http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/aura-060205.html ] on the NASA portal. Image courtesy NASA/JPL/Agency for Aerospace Programs (Netherlands)/Finnish Meteorological Institute
North Atlantic Bloom
Title North Atlantic Bloom
Description Reminiscent of the distinctive swirls in a Van Gogh painting, millions of microscopic plants color the waters of the North Atlantic with strokes of blue, turquoise, green, and brown. Fed by nutrients that have built up during the winter and the long, sunlit days of late spring and early summer, the cool waters of the North Atlantic come alive every year with a vivid display of color. The microscopic plants, called phytoplankton, that give the water this color are the base of the marine food chain. Some species of phytoplankton are coated with scales of calcium (chalk), which turn the water electric blue. Chlorophyll and other light-capturing pigments in others give the water a deep green hue. The proliferation of many different species in various stages of growth and decay provides many nuances of color in this concentrated bloom. The bloom stretches across hundreds of kilometers, well beyond the edges of this photo-like image, captured on June 23, 2007, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flying aboard NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The upper left edge of the image is bounded by Greenland. Iceland is in the upper right. Plumes of dust [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14345 ] are blowing off the island, probably adding nutrients to the surface waters to its south. NASA image courtesy Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Group at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
North Atlantic Bloom
Title North Atlantic Bloom
Description The intense blue and green colors of the ocean water in this photo-like image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on July 15, 2007, are made by millions of surface-dwelling ocean plants. Called phytoplankton, the plants are the base of the marine food chain. The brilliant color shown here may only be a part of the full bloom. Stocked with nutrients that have built up during the winter and bathed in the long, sunlit days of late spring and early summer, the cool waters of the North Atlantic come alive every year with a vivid display of color that can stretch over thousands of kilometers. You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of the North Atlantic bloom [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Jul2007/iceland_amo_2007196.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the MODIS data archives. [ http://ladsweb.nascom.nasa.gov/ ]
Smoke Over Northern Europe a …
Title Smoke Over Northern Europe and the Atlantic
Description Milky white over the deep blue Norwegian Sea, a thick cloud of smoke drifts north along the coast of Norway in this photo-like image, taken on May 7, 2006, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The smoke is coming from hundreds of fires [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13539 ] burning in western Russia, most of which are probably agricultural fires. By the time this image was taken, smoke had lingered over the Norwegian Sea for more than a week as the fires continued to burn. In this image, hazy skies extend from Denmark, lower right, west to Iceland, upper left. The densest of the smoke hangs over the Shetland Islands (right) and the Faroe Islands (left). The northern shores of Great Britain are in the lower left corner of the image. 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 Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC
Smoke Over Northern Europe a …
Title Smoke Over Northern Europe and the Atlantic
Description Although skies may have been mostly cloud-free over Ireland and the United Kingdom on May 10, 2006, a pall of haze dimmed the day. The white haze drifts from the Atlantic Ocean northwest of Ireland, over the island country, and southeast over the Celtic Sea and the English Channel in this photo-like image taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The smoke is coming from hundreds of fires [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13539 ] burning in western Russia, most of which are probably agricultural fires. The fires have been burning since late April, and in that time, the smoke has drifted northwest over Scandinavia, the Norwegian Sea, Iceland, and the Atlantic Ocean before curving south to blanket Ireland. Unrelated to the smoke, the ocean southwest of Ireland is brilliant green-blue where a large phytoplankton bloom is growing. Phytoplankton are microscopic plants that grow in the sun-lit surface waters of the ocean. When large colonies develop, the blooms are visible from space by the bright color they lend the normally dark water. The large image provided above has a resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The image is available in additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/subsets.php?Europe.2006130.aqua.2km ] from the MODIS Rapid Response Team. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Smoke over the Norwegian Sea
Title Smoke over the Norwegian Sea
Description Milky white over the deep blue Norwegian Sea, a thick cloud of smoke drifts north along the coast of Norway in this photo-like image, taken on May 7, 2006, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The smoke is coming from hundreds of fires [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13539 ] burning in western Russia, most of which are probably agricultural fires. By the time this image was taken, smoke had lingered over the Norwegian Sea for more than a week as the fires continued to burn. In this image, hazy skies extend from Denmark, lower right, west to Iceland, upper left. The densest of the smoke hangs over the Shetland Islands (right) and the Faroe Islands (left). The northern shores of Great Britain are in the lower left corner of the image. 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 Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC
Flooding in Iceland
Title Flooding in Iceland
Description Most spring floods are triggered by rain or melting snow, but when the Skafta River of southern Iceland flooded in late April 2006, geologic activity may have been the driver. The river flows out from under the Vatnajokull Ice Cap, a large permanent field of snow and ice that covers more than 8,000 square kilometers of southeastern Iceland, including a number of volcanoes and other regions of geothermal activity. Over these hotspots, the lower layer of the ice cap melts to form glacier lakes, some of which drain into the Atlantic Ocean through rivers such as the Skafta. Other lakes are dammed by walls of ice from the overlying glacier. Catastrophic floods can occur when water breaks through the ice dams and bursts into the rivers, or when geologic activity increases and melts more water. On April 22, 2006, floods swamped the Skafta River. The flood water was accompanied by dangerously high levels of sulfur, possibly from increased geologic activity, prompting the Civil Protection Department to issue a warning, said local news reports. In flood, the fast-moving river swept over the dark, volcanic soil west of the ice cap, and carried it into the ocean. The ocean was milky green with sediment when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on April 27. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team.
Aurora Over Clouds
Title Aurora Over Clouds
Explanation Aurorae usually occur high above the clouds. The auroral glow [ http://www.geo.mtu.edu/weather/aurora/ ] is created when fast-moving particles ejected [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000309.html ] from the Sun [ http://www.nineplanets.org/sol.html ] impact air molecules high in the Earth's atmosphere [ http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/atmosphere.html ]. An oxygen molecule [ http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/elements/8.html ], for example, will glow in a green light when reacquiring an electron [ http://www.aip.org/history/electron/ ] lost during a collision with a solar particle. The lowest part of an aurora [ http://www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/leaflets/aurora/aurora.html ] will typically occur at 100 kilometers up, while most clouds [ http://www.cloudyskies.net/clouds.html ] usually exist only below about 10 kilometers. The relative heights of clouds and aurorae are shown clearly in the above picture [ http://www.iww.is/art/shs/pages/page22.html ] from Iceland [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ic.html ], where aurorae are relatively common. Over the past weekend, one of the largest sunspot groups [ http://www.sunspot.noao.edu/INFO/INTRODUCTION/sunspot-mar272001.html ] ever recorded has been associated with explosive solar activity [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000403.html ] and expansive terrestrial aurora displays [ http://apod.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?aurora+AND+Earth ]. Although in Earth's northern hemisphere aurorae [ http://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/~pfrr/AURORA/INDEX.HTM ] are usually seen only in the far north, these aurorae [ http://www.spaceweather.com ] were so prevalent they were imaged by a continuous nighttime camera [ http://concam.net/kp/about.html ] operating in southern Arizona [ http://www.state.az.us/ ]!
Volcano and Aurora in Icelan …
Title Volcano and Aurora in Iceland
Explanation Sometimes both heaven "and" Earth erupt. In Iceland [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ic.html ] in 1991, the volcano Hekla [ http://www.south.is/hekla.html ] erupted at the same time that auroras [ http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/ ] were visible [ http://www.iww.is/art/shs/ ] overhead. Hekla [ http://www.norvol.hi.is/hekla.html ], one of the most famous volcanoes [ http://www.crystalinks.com/volcanoesactive.html ] in the world, has erupted [ http://www.volcanolive.com/faq.html ] at least 20 times over the past millennium, sometimes causing great destruction [ http://www.each-mara.net/volcano/santorini.pdf ]. The last eruption [ http://www.norvol.hi.is/heklaeruption.html ] occurred only two years ago but caused only minor damage. The green auroral band [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010402.html ] occurred fortuitously [ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/100best/wallpaper09.html ] about 100 kilometers above the erupting lava [ http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/frequent_questions/group1_new.html ]. Is Earth [ http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vw.html ] the Solar System's only planet with both auroras [ http://www.physicsweb.org/article/news/5/1/10 ] and volcanos [ http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/index_07oct99.html ]?
Ring of Fire Revisited
Title Ring of Fire Revisited
Explanation Early on Saturday [ http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/eclipses/ article_924_1.asp ], May 31 (UT) the new Moon will once again slide across the Sun's fiery disk, and once again [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020610.html ] an annular solar eclipse [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/ASE2003/ ASE2003.html ] will be the result -- since the Moon's apparent diameter [ http://www.rc-astro.com/composite/sun_moon.htm ] will be a little too small to completely cover the Sun [ http://www.earthview.com/tutorial/tutorial.htm ]. But this time celestial geometry [ http://members.aol.com/atsinclair/ecl2003.htm ] has conspired to produce a broad D-shaped region [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/ASE2003/ASE2003gif/ ASE2003-1b.GIF ] for viewing the annular phase that extends into the far northern hemisphere, rather than creating a thin track racing across land and sea. The characteristic ring of fire will be visible from northern Scotland, Iceland, and parts of Greenland. Otherwise a partial eclipse will be more widely visible as across Europe, along with parts of Asia and North America, the Moon will appear to take a "bite" out of the Sun. While the northerly observers might certainly expect a dramatic view [ http://www.astrosurf.com/alphaweb/10mai94/ ], it will probably not look quite like this one [ http://www.skyscapes.com/Shadows%20in%20the%20Sky/ RingFire.htm ], recorded with a foreground of palm trees during a 1992 annular eclipse. Want to watch Saturday's eclipse on the web? Check out the planned webcasts from Astronet [ http://www.xs4all.nl/~carlkop/zoneclips/eclipse.html ].
Volcano and Aurora in Icelan …
Title Volcano and Aurora in Iceland
Explanation Sometimes both heaven "and" Earth erupt. In Iceland [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ic.html ] in 1991, the volcano Hekla [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hekla ] erupted at the same time that auroras [ http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/auroras/ ] were visible [ http://www.iww.is/art/shs/ ] overhead. Hekla [ http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/europe_west_asia/hekla.html ], one of the most famous volcanoes [ http://www.crystalinks.com/volcanoesactive.html ] in the world, has erupted [ http://www.volcanolive.com/faq.html ] at least 20 times over the past millennium, sometimes causing great destruction [ http://www.decadevolcano.net/santorini/santorini_introduction.htm ]. The last eruption [ http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/englishweb/heklanews.html ] occurred only six years ago but caused only minor damage. The green auroral band [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010402.html ] occurred fortuitously [ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/100best/wallpaper09.html ] about 100 kilometers above the erupting lava [ http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/frequent_questions/group1_new.html ]. Is Earth [ http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vw.html ] the Solar System's only planet with both auroras [ http://www.physicsweb.org/article/news/5/1/10 ] and volcanos [ http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News_ID=12955 ]?
Dust Storm off Iceland: Natu …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Light brown streamers of dus …
Iceland_AMO2004279
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-10-05
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Iceland_AMO2004279
North Atlantic Bloom: Natura …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Reminiscent of the distincti …
IcelandBloom_AMO_2007174
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-06-23
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier IcelandBloom_AMO_2007174
Dust Storm Off Southern Coas …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
On May 11 and 12, 2002, the …
IcelandDust_S2002132
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2002-05-12
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier IcelandDust_S2002132
Dust Storm off Iceland: Natu …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
A low-pressure system north …
Iceland_OSE2004279
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-10-05
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Iceland_OSE2004279
The Land of Ice and Fire : I …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Due to an unusual combinatio …
iceland_misr_med
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001-08-16
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team
identifier iceland_misr_med
The Land of Ice and Fire : I …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Due to an unusual combinatio …
iceland_misr_med
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001-08-16
creator NASA -- Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team
identifier iceland_misr_med
Grassfire in Iceland: Natura …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
In western Iceland in late M …
Iceland.TMO2006089
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2006-03-30
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Iceland.TMO2006089
North Atlantic Bloom: Image …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Reminiscent of the distincti …
ge_07830
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-06-23
creator NASA -- NASA image courtesy Norman Kuring, Ocean Color Group at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
identifier ge_07830
Changes in Arctic Ice : Imag …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Largely natural ''ups and do …
arctic_ice_icelandic_low
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001
creator NASA -- Image courtesy Claire Parkinson and Nick Digirolamo, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
identifier arctic_ice_icelandic_low
Smoke Over Northern Europe a …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Although skies may have been …
Ireland_AMO_2006130
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2006-05-10
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Ireland_AMO_2006130
AIRS First Light Data: North …
PIA00345
Sol (our sun)
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder …
Title AIRS First Light Data: Northern Europe, July 20, 2002
Original Caption Released with Image These images, taken over northern Europe on July 20, 2002, depict a few of the different views of Earth and its atmosphere that are produced by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder experiment system operating on NASA's Aqua spacecraft. The image in Figure 1 is from an infrared channel from the AIRS instrument that measures the surface temperature in clear areas and cloud top temperatures in cloudy areas. The image reveals very warm conditions in France and a storm off the east coast of the United Kingdom. The image in Figure 2 represents a microwave channel from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit instrument that sees through most clouds and observes surface conditions everywhere. The image in Figure 3 is a microwave channel from the Humidity Sounder for Brazil instrument that is very sensitive to humidity and does not see the surface at all, but instead reveals the structure of moisture streams in the troposphere. The infrared and microwave data from the AIRS experiment are integrated to retrieve a single set of temperature, moisture, and cloud values. These three channels represent only a small portion of the 2,400-channel multispectral experiment, whose primary objectives are to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and to study climate change. The AIRS experiment system also takes pictures of the Earth at four visible and near-infrared wavelengths that can be combined into a color picture. This image shows a swirling low-pressure system over England, clear skies over much of France, and frontal systems in the North Atlantic. Because AIRS is sensitive to different wavelengths than your eye, the colors shown are different from what you would see. For example, plants appear very red to AIRS. There are also subtle color differences in the clouds that relate to their altitude and thickness (compare the white clouds over England with the slightly grey-green ones near Iceland). These images are used in conjunction with other AIRS, AMSU-A, and HSB measurements to get a full 3-D view of the atmosphere. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder is an instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite under the space agency's Earth Observing System. The sounding system is making highly accurate measurements of air temperature, humidity, clouds and surface temperature. Data will be used to better understand weather and climate. It will also be used by the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to improve the accuracy of their weather and climate models. The instrument was designed and built by Lockheed Infrared Imaging Systems (recently acquired by British Aerospace) under contract with JPL. The Aqua satellite mission is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
AIRS First Light Data: North …
PIA00345
Sol (our sun)
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder …
Title AIRS First Light Data: Northern Europe, July 20, 2002
Original Caption Released with Image These images, taken over northern Europe on July 20, 2002, depict a few of the different views of Earth and its atmosphere that are produced by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder experiment system operating on NASA's Aqua spacecraft. The image in Figure 1 is from an infrared channel from the AIRS instrument that measures the surface temperature in clear areas and cloud top temperatures in cloudy areas. The image reveals very warm conditions in France and a storm off the east coast of the United Kingdom. The image in Figure 2 represents a microwave channel from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit instrument that sees through most clouds and observes surface conditions everywhere. The image in Figure 3 is a microwave channel from the Humidity Sounder for Brazil instrument that is very sensitive to humidity and does not see the surface at all, but instead reveals the structure of moisture streams in the troposphere. The infrared and microwave data from the AIRS experiment are integrated to retrieve a single set of temperature, moisture, and cloud values. These three channels represent only a small portion of the 2,400-channel multispectral experiment, whose primary objectives are to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and to study climate change. The AIRS experiment system also takes pictures of the Earth at four visible and near-infrared wavelengths that can be combined into a color picture. This image shows a swirling low-pressure system over England, clear skies over much of France, and frontal systems in the North Atlantic. Because AIRS is sensitive to different wavelengths than your eye, the colors shown are different from what you would see. For example, plants appear very red to AIRS. There are also subtle color differences in the clouds that relate to their altitude and thickness (compare the white clouds over England with the slightly grey-green ones near Iceland). These images are used in conjunction with other AIRS, AMSU-A, and HSB measurements to get a full 3-D view of the atmosphere. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder is an instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite under the space agency's Earth Observing System. The sounding system is making highly accurate measurements of air temperature, humidity, clouds and surface temperature. Data will be used to better understand weather and climate. It will also be used by the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to improve the accuracy of their weather and climate models. The instrument was designed and built by Lockheed Infrared Imaging Systems (recently acquired by British Aerospace) under contract with JPL. The Aqua satellite mission is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
AIRS First Light Data: North …
PIA00345
Sol (our sun)
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder …
Title AIRS First Light Data: Northern Europe, July 20, 2002
Original Caption Released with Image These images, taken over northern Europe on July 20, 2002, depict a few of the different views of Earth and its atmosphere that are produced by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder experiment system operating on NASA's Aqua spacecraft. The image in Figure 1 is from an infrared channel from the AIRS instrument that measures the surface temperature in clear areas and cloud top temperatures in cloudy areas. The image reveals very warm conditions in France and a storm off the east coast of the United Kingdom. The image in Figure 2 represents a microwave channel from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit instrument that sees through most clouds and observes surface conditions everywhere. The image in Figure 3 is a microwave channel from the Humidity Sounder for Brazil instrument that is very sensitive to humidity and does not see the surface at all, but instead reveals the structure of moisture streams in the troposphere. The infrared and microwave data from the AIRS experiment are integrated to retrieve a single set of temperature, moisture, and cloud values. These three channels represent only a small portion of the 2,400-channel multispectral experiment, whose primary objectives are to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and to study climate change. The AIRS experiment system also takes pictures of the Earth at four visible and near-infrared wavelengths that can be combined into a color picture. This image shows a swirling low-pressure system over England, clear skies over much of France, and frontal systems in the North Atlantic. Because AIRS is sensitive to different wavelengths than your eye, the colors shown are different from what you would see. For example, plants appear very red to AIRS. There are also subtle color differences in the clouds that relate to their altitude and thickness (compare the white clouds over England with the slightly grey-green ones near Iceland). These images are used in conjunction with other AIRS, AMSU-A, and HSB measurements to get a full 3-D view of the atmosphere. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder is an instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite under the space agency's Earth Observing System. The sounding system is making highly accurate measurements of air temperature, humidity, clouds and surface temperature. Data will be used to better understand weather and climate. It will also be used by the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to improve the accuracy of their weather and climate models. The instrument was designed and built by Lockheed Infrared Imaging Systems (recently acquired by British Aerospace) under contract with JPL. The Aqua satellite mission is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
AIRS First Light Data: North …
PIA00345
Sol (our sun)
Atmospheric Infrared Sounder …
Title AIRS First Light Data: Northern Europe, July 20, 2002
Original Caption Released with Image These images, taken over northern Europe on July 20, 2002, depict a few of the different views of Earth and its atmosphere that are produced by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder experiment system operating on NASA's Aqua spacecraft. The image in Figure 1 is from an infrared channel from the AIRS instrument that measures the surface temperature in clear areas and cloud top temperatures in cloudy areas. The image reveals very warm conditions in France and a storm off the east coast of the United Kingdom. The image in Figure 2 represents a microwave channel from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit instrument that sees through most clouds and observes surface conditions everywhere. The image in Figure 3 is a microwave channel from the Humidity Sounder for Brazil instrument that is very sensitive to humidity and does not see the surface at all, but instead reveals the structure of moisture streams in the troposphere. The infrared and microwave data from the AIRS experiment are integrated to retrieve a single set of temperature, moisture, and cloud values. These three channels represent only a small portion of the 2,400-channel multispectral experiment, whose primary objectives are to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and to study climate change. The AIRS experiment system also takes pictures of the Earth at four visible and near-infrared wavelengths that can be combined into a color picture. This image shows a swirling low-pressure system over England, clear skies over much of France, and frontal systems in the North Atlantic. Because AIRS is sensitive to different wavelengths than your eye, the colors shown are different from what you would see. For example, plants appear very red to AIRS. There are also subtle color differences in the clouds that relate to their altitude and thickness (compare the white clouds over England with the slightly grey-green ones near Iceland). These images are used in conjunction with other AIRS, AMSU-A, and HSB measurements to get a full 3-D view of the atmosphere. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder is an instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite under the space agency's Earth Observing System. The sounding system is making highly accurate measurements of air temperature, humidity, clouds and surface temperature. Data will be used to better understand weather and climate. It will also be used by the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to improve the accuracy of their weather and climate models. The instrument was designed and built by Lockheed Infrared Imaging Systems (recently acquired by British Aerospace) under contract with JPL. The Aqua satellite mission is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
The Land of Ice and Fire
PIA03426
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title The Land of Ice and Fire
Original Caption Released with Image . Each image represents an area of about 200 by 340 kilometers. Two of Iceland's larger icecaps, Langjökull (located just below image center) and Hofsjökull (just above center) can be clearly seen. The western edge of Vatnajökull is also visible at the top of the image, and a portion of Myrdalsjökull can be seen through the clouds in the upper right. Langjökull (the Long Glacier, 1287 meters maximum elevation)is the second largest icecap in Iceland. It supplies water to Lake Pingvallavatn, the largest lake in the country (visible in the lower right), and to several other lakes and geothermal areas. Hofsjökull (the Temple Glacier, 1760 meters) is the third largest icecap in Iceland. The landscape under the ice is the great mountain mass if of a central subglacial volcano. The brighter, rounded area atop the icecap is a vast, ice filled caldera. The Pjórsá, Iceland's longest and largest river, is fed by the Hofsjökull icecap. The river can be seen running adjacent to the icecap toward the Atlantic Ocean at image right. Iceland has a very vigorous climate, and the high-energy coastline and glacial melt waters result in the movement of a large amount of sediment to the sea, visible herein the turbid waters of the Pjórsá. The capital city of Reykjavík is visible in the lower right as a greyish region along the coast, to the west of (below) a bank of cumulus clouds. Reykjavík is located about 20 kilometers west of the Reykjanes-Langjökull volcanic zone, and the name of the city, the "Bay of Smokes", is testimony to the region's geothermal activity. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology., Due to an unusual combination of tectonic settings, many icecaps and glaciers of Iceland rest above active volcanoes. This landnation is located on the northern edge of the Mid-Atlantic ridge, at the intersection of the North American and Eurasian plates, and is one of the few places on Earth where a mid-ocean ridge is exposed above sea level. The land is built from erupted and intruded magmas concentrated around a hot spot beneath the spreading ridge. These late summer views of central and southwestern Iceland were obtained by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer on August 16,2001, during Terra orbit 8842. The upper image is a true-color view from the instrument's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera. The lower image is a stereo anaglyph generated from the instrument's nadir and 60-degree forward-viewing cameras. Viewing the anaglyph in 3-D requires the use of red/blue glasses with the red filter placed over your left eye. The images have been oriented with north at the left in order to facilitate stereo viewing. Information on ordering glasses is available here [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/Help/VendorList.html#Glasses ]
A Vortex Street in the Arcti …
PIA03448
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title A Vortex Street in the Arctic
Original Caption Released with Image Marine stratocumulus clouds frequently form parallel rows, or "cloud streets", along the direction of wind flow. When the flow is interrupted by an obstacle such as an island, a series of organized eddies can appear within the cloud layer downwind of the obstacle. These turbulence patterns are known as von Karman vortex streets. In these images from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer, an impressive vortex pattern continues for over three hundred kilometers southward of Jan Mayen island. Jan Mayen is an isolated territory of Norway, located about 650 kilometers northeast of Iceland in the north Atlantic Ocean. Jan Mayen's Beerenberg volcano rises about 2.2 kilometers above the ocean surface, providing a significant impediment to wind flow. These MISR images were captured on June 6, 2001, during Terra orbit 7808. The entire vortex street can be seen in the top panel, which is a natural-color view from the instrument's nadir (downward-looking) camera. The area covered measures 365 kilometers x 158 kilometers, and a cloud-clearing effect is apparent at the vortex centers until finally closing on the sixteenth"hole." The bottom panel is a stereo anaglyph of a portion of the vortex street, compiled using data from MISR's 26-degree forward and 70-degree backward viewing cameras. This view covers an area of about 183 kilometers x 96 kilometers. Despite the vertical exaggeration afforded by using widely separated angles, the relatively modest height variation in the cloud layer implies a vertically stable atmosphere. To facilitate stereo viewing, the images have been oriented with north at the left. Red/blue glasses should be used with the red filter placed over your left eye. Information on ordering glasses can be found here [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/Help/VendorList.html#Glasses ]. Fluid dynamicist Theodore von Karman was the first to derive the conditions under which these turbulence patterns occur. Von Karman was a professor of aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology and one of the principal founders of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.
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