|
|
Dust Plume Off the Coast of
…
| Title |
Dust Plume Off the Coast of Morocco, Africa |
| Completed |
1999-12-03 |
|
Calm before the Dust Storm
| Title |
Calm before the Dust Storm |
| Description |
On February 3, 2004, a large dust storm swept westward off the coast of northwest Africa and, for the last two days has been fanning out to the north and west over a large portion of the eastern Atlantic Ocean. This true-color image was acquired on February 6 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA?s Terra satellite. The scene shows the West African coastline from Morocco (upper right) to Guinea Bissau (lower right). Streamers of Saharan Desert dust (tan pixels) continue to blow out from Morocco toward the Canary Islands, while the Cape Verde Islands to the south (bottom center) appear to have taken the full brunt of the dust storm. As it moved westward, the dust appears to have become entrained into a strong southerly air current, creating a vast arc of dust stretching more than 2,000 km. Notice the ?wind shadow? extending northwestward from the Cape Verde Islands. The islands formed a break against the wind, creating a clear pocket of air behind them that is itself being pulled and carried northward with the strong southerly wind. This image is also available in additional resolutions. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Forest Fires in Portugal
| Title |
Forest Fires in Portugal |
| Description |
Portugal?s severe fire season isn?t over yet, with new blazes breaking out across the country at the end of the second week of September. With temperatures near 100 degrees F for several days, firefighters face a difficult challenge, particularly in the southern coastal region of Algarve, a popular tourist destination. In this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from September 12, 2003, a large fire was detected and is marked with red at the southwest tip of the country. A long smoke plume trails over the Atlantic from the blaze. Meanwhile, a dust storm is bringing a cloud of dust and sand northward over Morocco and the Atlantic Ocean. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
Forest Fires in Portugal
| Title |
Forest Fires in Portugal |
| Description |
A huge plume of smoke drifts westward over the Atlantic Ocean from a massive forest fire in southwestern Portugal in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Aqua satellite. The active fire locations have been enhanced in yellow. This image was acquired on September 13, 2003. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Dust and Smoke over Eastern
…
| Title |
Dust and Smoke over Eastern Atlantic |
| Description |
Saharan Desert dust (tan pixels) was spreading northwestward over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Morocco on September 13, 2003. In this scene, the Canary Islands are visible in the lower left corner while the western tip of the Iberian Peninsula can be seen in the upper right. A thick plume of gray smoke is streaming westward from a large forest fire [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11702 ] that has been burning in Portugal for the last week. This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Dust and Smoke over Eastern
…
| Title |
Dust and Smoke over Eastern Atlantic |
| Description |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), aboard NASA's Aqua satellite, capture this true-color image of Saharan Desert dust blowing southwestward off the coasts of Morocco and Mauritania in West Africa. The light brown plume can be seen wending its way over the Cape Verde Islands in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Dust off Morocco
| Title |
Dust off Morocco |
| Description |
Thick streams of tan dust blow northward off the shores of Morocco into the Atlantic Ocean. West of the dust storm are the Canary Islands. The dust appears to have originated in the Western Sahara, left of the dark brown wrinkle the Atlas Mountains form in the otherwise tan landscape. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) instrument on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this true-color image on November 4, 2003. The high resolution image provided above is at 500 meters per pixel. The image is also available at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Dust Storm off Morocco
| Title |
Dust Storm off Morocco |
| Description |
Bright yellow streamers of dust sweep off North Africa?s Moroccan coast toward the Canary Islands in this true-color Terra MODIS image from February 17, 2004. Beneath the dust, the G?Aydat al Jhoucha mountains are darker shades of brown marching toward the coast. Just off the coast of Lanzarote Island, the northeastern-most of the Canaries, gravity waves caused by the high winds driving the dust storm create dark and light stripes on the water. More gravity waves stretch from Gran Canaria, the round island toward the center of the group, toward the Moroccan coast. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Dust Storm off Morocco
| Title |
Dust Storm off Morocco |
| Description |
This false-color image reveals a large plume of African desert dust blowing westward over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Morocco. The tan color of the dust makes it easy to distinguish from the purplish-white color of clouds in the region. In this scene, the plume spans all the way from the Strait of Gibraltar (upper right) to well past the Canary Islands (lower left). The high-resolution image available here is 500 meters per pixel. Copies of this scene at other resolutions are also available. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Dust Storm off Morocco
| Title |
Dust Storm off Morocco |
| Description |
This true-color image shows a large plume of Saharan Desert dust (light brown) blowing westward off the coast of Morocco and arcing sharply back toward the northeast and the Canary Islands in the eastern Atlantic. This scene was acquired on July 25, 2004, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The large copy of the image available here is at 500 meters per pixel. NASA image by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data courtesy MODIS Land Rapid Response System [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] |
|
Dust Storm off Morocco
| Title |
Dust Storm off Morocco |
| Description |
A dust storm swept northward out of Africa on August 15, 2005. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture the same day. Mimicking the coast of Morocco, the dust swept in an arc to the northwest then the northeast toward Spain. By the time the dust cloud reached the Mediterranean, it spread out over a wider area. The dust storm may have originated in southwestern Morocco, or farther south. To the northeast of the dust, the Atlas Mountains appear, identifiable by their darker, more varied colors. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
|
Dust Storm over Morocco
| Title |
Dust Storm over Morocco |
| Description |
A plume of Saharan Desert dust (light brown pattern) can be seen blowing over Morocco and fanning out in a wide swath over the eastern Atlantic Ocean in this April 7, 2003, image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA's Terra satellite. The Strait of Gibralter is situated in the upper righthand corner of this scene. The famous city of Casablanca sits on the Moroccan coast roughly 300 km southwest of the Strait. Part of Morocco's picturesque Atlas Mountains can be seen in the lower righthand corner, partially hidden by clouds. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
Dust Storm over Morocco
| Title |
Dust Storm over Morocco |
| Description |
Some plumes of dust (brownish pixels) were visible to the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) on December 22, 2002, blowing toward the northwest from Morocco. There are also many linear cloud features over the Iberian Peninsula and Atlantic Ocean in the center of this image that look like they might be airplane contrails. Image courtesy the SeaWiFS Project, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS.html ] NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE |
|
Dust Storm over Morocco
| Title |
Dust Storm over Morocco |
| Description |
A number of thick plumes of Saharan Desert dust (light brown pixels) were blowing from Morocco toward the northwest over the Canary Islands off Africa's northwest coast. This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite on March 12, 2003. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
Dust Storm over Morocco and
…
| Title |
Dust Storm over Morocco and Algeria |
| Description |
On June 23, 2003, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite captured this image of a dust storm blowing out over the Mediterranean Sea from Morocco (bottom left) and Algeria (bottom right). At top left is Spain. The northern reaches of the Sahara Desert (bottom) are blocked from the Mediterranean by the coastal Atlas Mountains. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Dust Storm over the Canary I
…
| Title |
Dust Storm over the Canary Islands |
| Description |
Saharan dust blew off the west coast of Africa and over the Canary Islands on November 11, 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 the same day. In this image, parallel plumes of pale beige dust blow off the coasts of Morocco and Western Sahara. The "lines" of dust are more distinct off the coast of Morocco than off the coast of Western Sahara, where the dust plumes are more amorphous. The dust from Morocco may originate from more discrete source points, separated by areas with little or no loose dust that can easily be lifted by wind. Regardless of their shape, all the plumes blow toward the northwest, and although the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria appear unaffected, the neighboring islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are receiving a strong dose of dust. Fringing the edges of this image are fluffy white clouds. It is possible that the same weather system associated with the cloud cover in this image has produced the winds that move the dust. The Sahara Desert produces a steady supply of dust, and the Canary Islands prove frequent targets. Saharan dust often travels much farther than these islands, it often crosses the Atlantic and reaches islands in the Caribbean where it proves to be a mixed blessing. While heavy doses of dust can damage coral reefs, the same dust supplies soil to islands that would otherwise be barren rock. A 250-meter-resolution KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/CanaryIslands.A2006315.1115.250m.kmz ] of the dust blowing over the Canary Islands 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 |
|
Locusts Plague Northwest and
…
| Title |
Locusts Plague Northwest and Western Africa |
| Description |
A wet winter and spring settled over northwestern Africa in 2004, and the dry Sahel bloomed with life. As the desert turned green, the plentiful water nourished more than vegetation. Buried in the sandy soils were the eggs of desert locusts, waiting to absorb moisture and hatch. This year, there was enough water and vegetation to support large populations of young locusts, and by late summer, several large swarms had developed. Swarms of locusts can contain as many as 80 million locusts per square kilometer, and may cover several square kilometers. An adult locust can eat its own weight in food every day, about two grams, which means that, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, a small part of a typical swarm can eat as much food as 2,500 people in a single day. At these rates, the locusts consume most vegetation in their path and then must migrate to find new sources of food. The locust outbreak of 2004 began in Morocco and Algeria in northwestern Africa. While the locusts can't be seen in satellite imagery, the conditions that support them are clearly visible. The above image shows how vegetation differed from previous years. The image is a composite of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data collected between April 6 and April 13, 2004. Green areas indicate that there was more vegetation in the region than the average of the past four years. Not surprisingly, these areas correlate well with the early breeding grounds of the locusts near the interface between dry desert land and wetter coastal land. When their numbers and the ending growing season forced the locusts to move, they traveled south and east on the summer winds. As of October 5, the locusts had expanded to the south in a band that stretched from Mauritania to Chad?a distance of roughly 4,000 kilometers. Currently, Mauritania is the worst affected, but Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, and the Cape Verde Islands have also been plagued with locusts. The swarms are now starting to move north again, this time into Libya and Algeria. On October 1, three to four million hectares of land were infested with locusts. As before, satellite imagery shows where locust swarms can migrate to find food by indicating where food is available. In the lower image, a composite of data collected between August 28 and September 4, 2004, pockets of green in southern Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, and Burkina Faso show where the locusts are finding food and breeding. The most recent information from FAO shows that these are indeed the areas where the locusts are concentrated. Though the locusts themselves are harmless, they can cause significant crop damage. The worst of the problem is in Mauritania, where dark clouds of locusts have swarmed over much of the country. Rainfall had been good, and farmers anticipated a better-than-average harvest until the locusts arrived. Mauritania?s national food security authority expected to lose up to 75, percent of the cereal crop, though the Food and Agriculture Oragnization (FOA) of the United Nations expected a smaller loss. Undoubtedly, the insects are causing considerable damage, but both the Foreign Agricultural Service [ http://www.fas.usda.gov/pecad/highlights/2004/08/west_africa/index.htm ] of the United States Department of Agriculture and the FAO say that it?s too early to quantify how the outbreak will impact overall production. Harvest began in September and continues through November, and the amount of crops that the locusts consume in the meantime will depend on how effective efforts to control them are and whether or not the locusts continue to breed. To read more about the current locust situation in Africa, please visit the Desert Locust Information Service [ http://www.fao.org/news/global/locusts/locuhome.htm ], a service provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. For more information about monitoring locust outbreaks with satellites, see Locust! [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Locusts/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided by Mark Carrol as part of the Global Agricultural Monitoring Project between NASA, USDA?s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), and the University of Maryland. Assaf Anyamba from the Goddard Earth Sciences Technology Center, and Curt Reynolds with FAS, contributed to the caption as part of the same partnership. More data and information about this joint project is available at Satellite Information for Agricultural Monitoring. |
|
Locusts Plague Northwest and
…
| Title |
Locusts Plague Northwest and Western Africa |
| Description |
A wet winter and spring settled over northwestern Africa in 2004, and the dry Sahel bloomed with life. As the desert turned green, the plentiful water nourished more than vegetation. Buried in the sandy soils were the eggs of desert locusts, waiting to absorb moisture and hatch. This year, there was enough water and vegetation to support large populations of young locusts, and by late summer, several large swarms had developed. Swarms of locusts can contain as many as 80 million locusts per square kilometer, and may cover several square kilometers. An adult locust can eat its own weight in food every day, about two grams, which means that, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, a small part of a typical swarm can eat as much food as 2,500 people in a single day. At these rates, the locusts consume most vegetation in their path and then must migrate to find new sources of food. The locust outbreak of 2004 began in Morocco and Algeria in northwestern Africa. While the locusts can't be seen in satellite imagery, the conditions that support them are clearly visible. The above image shows how vegetation differed from previous years. The image is a composite of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data collected between April 6 and April 13, 2004. Green areas indicate that there was more vegetation in the region than the average of the past four years. Not surprisingly, these areas correlate well with the early breeding grounds of the locusts near the interface between dry desert land and wetter coastal land. When their numbers and the ending growing season forced the locusts to move, they traveled south and east on the summer winds. As of October 5, the locusts had expanded to the south in a band that stretched from Mauritania to Chad?a distance of roughly 4,000 kilometers. Currently, Mauritania is the worst affected, but Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, and the Cape Verde Islands have also been plagued with locusts. The swarms are now starting to move north again, this time into Libya and Algeria. On October 1, three to four million hectares of land were infested with locusts. As before, satellite imagery shows where locust swarms can migrate to find food by indicating where food is available. In the lower image, a composite of data collected between August 28 and September 4, 2004, pockets of green in southern Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, and Burkina Faso show where the locusts are finding food and breeding. The most recent information from FAO shows that these are indeed the areas where the locusts are concentrated. Though the locusts themselves are harmless, they can cause significant crop damage. The worst of the problem is in Mauritania, where dark clouds of locusts have swarmed over much of the country. Rainfall had been good, and farmers anticipated a better-than-average harvest until the locusts arrived. Mauritania?s national food security authority expected to lose up to 75, percent of the cereal crop, though the Food and Agriculture Oragnization (FOA) of the United Nations expected a smaller loss. Undoubtedly, the insects are causing considerable damage, but both the Foreign Agricultural Service [ http://www.fas.usda.gov/pecad/highlights/2004/08/west_africa/index.htm ] of the United States Department of Agriculture and the FAO say that it?s too early to quantify how the outbreak will impact overall production. Harvest began in September and continues through November, and the amount of crops that the locusts consume in the meantime will depend on how effective efforts to control them are and whether or not the locusts continue to breed. To read more about the current locust situation in Africa, please visit the Desert Locust Information Service [ http://www.fao.org/news/global/locusts/locuhome.htm ], a service provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. For more information about monitoring locust outbreaks with satellites, see Locust! [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Locusts/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided by Mark Carrol as part of the Global Agricultural Monitoring Project between NASA, USDA?s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), and the University of Maryland. Assaf Anyamba from the Goddard Earth Sciences Technology Center, and Curt Reynolds with FAS, contributed to the caption as part of the same partnership. More data and information about this joint project is available at Satellite Information for Agricultural Monitoring. |
|
Locusts Plague Northwest and
…
| Title |
Locusts Plague Northwest and Western Africa |
| Description |
A wet winter and spring settled over northwestern Africa in 2004, and the dry Sahel bloomed with life. As the desert turned green, the plentiful water nourished more than vegetation. Buried in the sandy soils were the eggs of desert locusts, waiting to absorb moisture and hatch. This year, there was enough water and vegetation to support large populations of young locusts, and by late summer, several large swarms had developed. Swarms of locusts can contain as many as 80 million locusts per square kilometer, and may cover several square kilometers. An adult locust can eat its own weight in food every day, about two grams, which means that, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, a small part of a typical swarm can eat as much food as 2,500 people in a single day. At these rates, the locusts consume most vegetation in their path and then must migrate to find new sources of food. The locust outbreak of 2004 began in Morocco and Algeria in northwestern Africa. While the locusts can't be seen in satellite imagery, the conditions that support them are clearly visible. The above image shows how vegetation differed from previous years. The image is a composite of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data collected between April 6 and April 13, 2004. Green areas indicate that there was more vegetation in the region than the average of the past four years. Not surprisingly, these areas correlate well with the early breeding grounds of the locusts near the interface between dry desert land and wetter coastal land. When their numbers and the ending growing season forced the locusts to move, they traveled south and east on the summer winds. As of October 5, the locusts had expanded to the south in a band that stretched from Mauritania to Chad?a distance of roughly 4,000 kilometers. Currently, Mauritania is the worst affected, but Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, and the Cape Verde Islands have also been plagued with locusts. The swarms are now starting to move north again, this time into Libya and Algeria. On October 1, three to four million hectares of land were infested with locusts. As before, satellite imagery shows where locust swarms can migrate to find food by indicating where food is available. In the lower image, a composite of data collected between August 28 and September 4, 2004, pockets of green in southern Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, and Burkina Faso show where the locusts are finding food and breeding. The most recent information from FAO shows that these are indeed the areas where the locusts are concentrated. Though the locusts themselves are harmless, they can cause significant crop damage. The worst of the problem is in Mauritania, where dark clouds of locusts have swarmed over much of the country. Rainfall had been good, and farmers anticipated a better-than-average harvest until the locusts arrived. Mauritania?s national food security authority expected to lose up to 75, percent of the cereal crop, though the Food and Agriculture Oragnization (FOA) of the United Nations expected a smaller loss. Undoubtedly, the insects are causing considerable damage, but both the Foreign Agricultural Service [ http://www.fas.usda.gov/pecad/highlights/2004/08/west_africa/index.htm ] of the United States Department of Agriculture and the FAO say that it?s too early to quantify how the outbreak will impact overall production. Harvest began in September and continues through November, and the amount of crops that the locusts consume in the meantime will depend on how effective efforts to control them are and whether or not the locusts continue to breed. To read more about the current locust situation in Africa, please visit the Desert Locust Information Service [ http://www.fao.org/news/global/locusts/locuhome.htm ], a service provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. For more information about monitoring locust outbreaks with satellites, see Locust! [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Locusts/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided by Mark Carrol as part of the Global Agricultural Monitoring Project between NASA, USDA?s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), and the University of Maryland. Assaf Anyamba from the Goddard Earth Sciences Technology Center, and Curt Reynolds with FAS, contributed to the caption as part of the same partnership. More data and information about this joint project is available at Satellite Information for Agricultural Monitoring. |
|
Saharan Dust Across West Afr
…
| Title |
Saharan Dust Across West Africa |
| Description |
A wall of Saharan dust that was captured in an image from March 3, 2004, had billowed out over the Atlantic and begun to spread northward by the next day. This image of the massive plume of dust was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on March 4, 2004. Countries pictured are (top to bottom) Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal (left), and Mali (right). At bottom left are the Cape Verde Islands, and west of Morocco are the Canary Islands, veiled by the blowing dust. The high-resolution image provided above is 1 kilometer per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC |
|
Saharan Dust off West Africa
| Title |
Saharan Dust off West Africa |
| Description |
An intense African dust storm sent a massive dust plume northwestward over the Atlantic Ocean on March 2, 2003. In this true-color scene, acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Terra satellite, the thick dust plume (light brown) can be seen blowing westward and then routed northward by strong southerly winds. The plume extends more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km), covering a vast swath of ocean extending from the Cape Verde Islands (lower lef), off the coast of Senegal, to the Canary Islands (top center) off the coast of Morocco. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Fires in the Canary Islands
| Title |
Fires in the Canary Islands |
| Description |
Two large forest fires raged on the Canary Islands on the afternoon of July 30, 2007, when 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. Clusters of red dots mark out the locations of the fires on the islands of Tenerife (left) and Gran Canaria (right). More than 2,000 people were evacuated from the fire on Gran Canaria, which had burned through 8,645 acres of woodland, reported the Associated Press on July 30. Thick plumes of smoke blow southwest over the Atlantic Ocean from the fires. The desert coast of Western Sahara and Morocco makes up the right edge of the image. A faint tan veil of dust hangs over the ocean near the coast. 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/gallery/?2007211-0730/CanaryIslands.A2007211.1445 ] from the MODIS Rapid Response System. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Flooding in Morocco
| Title |
Flooding in Morocco |
| Description |
Unusually heavy rains hit Morocco in late November 2002, giving rise to floods that killed more than 60 people. The above false-color image (right) displays some of the worst of the flooding just north of the city of Rabat, located on Morocco?s coast. The image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument, flying aboard NASA?s Aqua spacecraft. Most of the casualties were due to flash flooding throughout the western half of Morocco. The water from the flash floods has drained into the now swollen riverbeds and lakebeds that appear as solid blue in the image. The floodwaters washed away loose sediment from the surrounding countryside and carried it to the Atlantic Ocean to form the sediment plumes that appear along the coast. Normally, hardly any standing water in Morocco is visible in MODIS imagery (left, acquired November 7, 2002). In these false color images land is green and tan, clouds are white and light blue, and water is dark blue and black. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Earth or Mars?
| Title |
Earth or Mars? |
| Explanation |
Which image is Earth, and which is Mars? One of the above image [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05102 ]s was taken by the robot Spirit rover [ http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/overview/ ] currently climbing Husband Hill [ http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20050207/mars.html ] on Mars [ http://www.nineplanets.org/mars.html ]. The other image was taken by a human across the desert south of Morocco [ http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mo.html ] on Earth [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ ]. Both images show vast plains covered with rocks and sand [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?spirit+mars ]. Neither shows water or obvious signs of life [ http://astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov/roadmap/goals/g8_mars_europa.html ]. Each planet [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/mars.html ] has a surface so complex [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050306.html ] that any one image does not do that planet justice [ http://www.un.org/law/ ]. Understanding either one, it turns out, helps understand [ http://calspace.ucsd.edu/marsnow/library/science/comparative_planetology/ ] the other. Does the one on the left look like home? Possibly not, but it is Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050102.html ]. |
|
Both sides of the Atlantic O
…
| Title |
Both sides of the Atlantic Ocean are visible from Apollo 8 spacecraft |
| Description |
Both sides of the Atlantic Ocean are visible in this view from the Apollo 8 spacecraft. The large, most prominent, land mass is the bulge of west Africa. The portion of Africa near the equator is dark and cloudy, but the more northerly portions are clear, showing the prominent cape at Dakar and the Senegal River in Senegal, Cap Blanc, the Adrar Plateau in Mauritania, the wide expanse of desert in Algeria and Spanish Sahara, and at the far edge, the Atlas and Anti-Atlas Mountains in Morocco. Clouds cover the eastern coast of South America, southward from Surinam and Guyana to near the City of Salvador, Brazil. This view was taken after tranlunar insertion. |
| Date Taken |
1968-12-22 |
|
View of Agadir, Morocco from
…
| Title |
View of Agadir, Morocco from Gemini 5 |
| Description |
View of Agadir, Morocco taken from the Gemini 5 spacecraft in orbit over the Earth. |
| Date Taken |
1965-08-21 |
|
View of the Straits of Gibra
…
| Title |
View of the Straits of Gibraltar from Gemini 5 |
| Description |
View of the Straits of Gibraltar, looking northeast, Morocco in foreground, Spain in background taken from the Gemini 5 spacecraft in orbit over the Earth. This view was taken during the spacecraft's 14th revolution of the earth. |
| Date Taken |
1965-08-21 |
|
Strait of Gibraltar
| Title |
Strait of Gibraltar |
| Description |
Gateway to the Atlantic, since ancient times the Strait of Gibraltar (36.5N, 4.5W) is also the border between Africa and Europe. In Spain to the north, the dark area near the coast is the delta of the Guadalquivir River and the city of Seville. The small spike of land on the north side of the strait is the actual Rock of Gibraltar. On the African side, a cloud front cutting across from the coast is blowing into Europe from Morocco and Algeria. |
| Date Taken |
1973-06-22 |
|
Strait of Gibraltar
| Title |
Strait of Gibraltar |
| Description |
The Strait of Gibraltar (36.0N, 5.5W), at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, separates Europe and Africa. On the Spanish side of the strait, the port of Cadiz and the Rota Naval Base as well as the great Andalucian city of Seville can be seen. To the south in Morocco, the coastal cities of Tangier, Tetouan and Ceuta are easily seen. |
| Date Taken |
1981-10-14 |
|
Area of Spanish Sahara, Maur
…
| Title |
Area of Spanish Sahara, Mauritania, Algeria, Morocco as seen from Gemini 10 |
| Description |
Area of Spanish Sahara, Mauritania, Algeria, Morocco, looking north into Hamada Du Dra, as seen from the Gemini 10 spacecraft. |
| Date Taken |
1966-07-18 |
|
Gibraltar, Spain, Portugal,
…
| Title |
Gibraltar, Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Atlantic Ocean as seen from Gemini 10 |
| Description |
Venezuela, British Guyana, Surinam, and Trindad, as seen from the Gemini 10 spacecraft. On left is mouth of Orinoco River in Venezuela. Mouth of Essequibo River in British Guyana is in right center. |
| Date Taken |
1966-07-18 |
|
Straits of Gibralter, Medite
…
| Title |
Straits of Gibralter, Mediterranean Sea, Spain as seen from Gemini 10 |
| Description |
Straits of Gibralter, Mediterranean Sea, Spain in background, Algeria and Morocco in foreground as seen from Gemini 10 spacecraft. |
| Date Taken |
1966-07-18 |
|
Strait of Gibraltar
| Title |
Strait of Gibraltar |
| Description |
The Strait of Gibraltar as seen from the south (36.0N, 5.5W). This scene shows the actual Rock of Gibraltar under cloud cover but most of the Strait of Gibraltar, at the mouth of the Mediterranaen Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, can be seen in good detail. Despite the obliquity of the scene, much of the beauty of the Spanish and Moroccan countryside can still be appreciated. |
| Date Taken |
1982-03-30 |
|
Canary Islands
| Title |
Canary Islands |
| Description |
This easterly looking view shows the seven major volcanic islands of the Canary Island chain (28.0N, 16.5W) and offers a unique view of the islands that have become a frequent vacation spot for Europeans. The northwest coastline of Africa, (Morocco and Western Sahara), is visible in the background. Frequently, these islands create an impact on local weather (cloud formations) and ocean currents (island wakes) as seen in this photo. |
| Date Taken |
1992-07-09 |
|
Payload Bay and Great Wester
…
| Title |
Payload Bay and Great Western Sand Sea, Algeria, Africa |
| Description |
Patterns of yellow and orange dunes of the Great Western Sand Sea of Algeria (29.5N, 1.5W) contrast with the black folded sedimentary rocks in the central Sahara Desert. A small dry riverbed, along the line between the thick sands and the black rocks brings in sediment from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Southwest winds blow sand from the bed to form a thick sand sheet on the downwind side of the river to contrast with the thin upwind dune strips. |
| Date Taken |
1992-07-09 |
|
View of the Columbia's aft s
…
| Title |
View of the Columbia's aft section while over Morocco's Atlantic Coast |
| Description |
Morocco's Atlantic coast is backdrop for view of the Columbia's aft section. The long remote manipulator system (RMS) is in a resting posture (lower right corner) stretched out along the 60-ft. long cargo bay. Many of the components of the OSS-1 payload package are in the bottom center, such as the Thermal Canister experiment (the box on the left side of the bay) and the Solar Flare X-Ray Polarimeter Experiment (round object below the Thermal Canister experiment). The mounds on either side of the tail are the pods for the orbital maneuvering system (OMS). |
| Date Taken |
1982-03-31 |
|
STS-56 Earth observation of
…
| Title |
STS-56 Earth observation of the Strait of Gibraltar |
| Description |
STS-56 Earth observation taken aboard Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, is of the Strait of Gibraltar. A small bank of clouds marks the passage between Spain and Morocco at the western edge of the Mediterranean Sea. This passage, one of the two Pilars of Hercules of the Ancient Greeks, is now known as the Strait of Gibraltar. The cities of Cadiz on the Atlantic Coast of Spain and Malaga on the Mediterranean coast, as well as Tangier, Morocco (facing the strait), can be seen. According to NASA scientists studying the STS-56 photos, a subtle difference in the water color on the Atlantic side suggests that a pulse of surface water had recently flowed out of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic. |
| Date Taken |
1993-04-17 |
|
Strait of Gibraltar as seen
…
| Title |
Strait of Gibraltar as seen from STS-58 |
| Description |
Atlantic water flowing with the tide throught the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean generates internal waves as depicted inthis photo. They can be seen in the Space Shuttle photo because of sunglint which reflects off the water. The Bay of Cadiz on the southwest coast of Spain, the Rock of Gibraltar, and Moroccan coast are also visible in this photo. |
| Date Taken |
1993-10-20 |
|
Morocco and border of spain
…
| Title |
Morocco and border of spain as seen from STS-59 |
| Description |
The Atlantic Ocean, Straits of Gibraltar, and Alboran Sea (the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea) separate Spain on the left from Morocco on the right. Algeciras Harbor is the prominent notch cut out of the eastern end of the north shore of the Strait, the Rock of Gibraltar is the tiny arrowhead that separates the notch from the Alboran Sea. The Sierra Nevada, farther away down the Spanish coast, lives up to its name in this April scene. The difference in elevation between the Sierra Morena and the Guadalquivir River valley is highlighted nicely by cumulus clouds. Tangier, Morocco can be seen as a light-toned spot on the southern shore of the Strait, near the entrance to the Atlantic Ocean. |
| Date Taken |
1994-04-14 |
|
Strait of Gibraltar seen fro
…
| Title |
Strait of Gibraltar seen from STS-66 |
| Description |
Swift currents flow through the Strait of Gibraltar, producing complicated patterns in the surface waters. Some of those patterns are highlighted in the sunglint in this photograph. The Mediterranian Sea is on the upper right, the Atlantic Ocean in in the lower left. Few features can be seen on the Mediterranian side, but current shears (straight lines coming off Spain), several sets of internal waves (impinging on the Spanish continental shelf) and ship wakes can be seen on the Atlantic side, west of Cadiz. Both Tangier and Cadiz show up in the sunglint as well. |
| Date Taken |
1994-11-14 |
|
ASTER Gibraltar
PIA02657
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
| Title |
ASTER Gibraltar |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain from Morocco. This image, acquired on July 5, 2000, covers an area 34 kilometers (21 miles) wide and 59 kilometers (37 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. The promontory on the eastern side of the conspicuous Spanish port is the Rock of Gibraltar. Once one of the two classical Pillars of Hercules, the Rock was crowned with silver columns by Phoenician mariners to mark the limits of safe navigation for the ancient Mediterranean peoples. The rocky promontory still commands the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. The rocky limestone and shale ridge rises abruptly from the sea, to a maximum elevation of 426 meters (1,398 feet). A British colony, Gibraltar occupies a narrow strip of land at the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It is separated from the Spanish mainland by a neutral zone contained on a narrow, sandy isthmus. Because of its strategic location and formidable topography, Gibraltar serves mainly as a British fortress. Most of its sparse land is taken up by air and naval installations, and the civilian population is small. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. science team leader, Moshe Pniel of JPL is the project manager. ASTER is the only high-resolution imaging sensor on Terra. The primary goal of the ASTER mission is to obtain high-resolution image data in 14 channels over the entire land surface, as well as black and white stereo images. With revisit time of between 4 and 16 days, ASTER will provide the capability for repeat coverage of changing areas on Earth's surface. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists, in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring dynamic conditions and temporal change. Examples of applications include monitoring glacial advances and retreats, potentially active volcanoes, thermal pollution, and coral reef degradation, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, evaluating wetlands, mapping surface temperature of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance. |
|
Strait of Gibraltar, Perspec
…
PIA03397
Sol (our sun)
C-Band Interferometric Radar
…
| Title |
Strait of Gibraltar, Perspective with Landsat Image Overlay |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, DC. View Size: 46 kilometers (28 miles) wide, 106 kilometers (66 miles) distance Location: 36 degrees North latitude, 5.5 degrees West longitude Orientation: Looking East, 15 degrees down from horizontal, 3X vertical exaggeration Image Data: Landsat Bands 1, 2+4, 3 as blue, green, red respectively Original Data Resolution: 30 meters (99 feet) Date Acquired: February 2000 (SRTM), July 6, 1987 (Landsat), This perspective view shows the Strait of Gibraltar, which is the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Europe (Spain) is on the left. Africa (Morocco) is on the right. The Rock of Gibraltar, administered by Great Britain, is the peninsula in the back left. The Strait of Gibraltar is the only natural gap in the topographic barriers that separate the Mediterranean Sea from the world's oceans. The Sea is about 3700 kilometers (2300 miles) long and covers about 2.5 million square kilometers (one million square miles), while the Strait is only about 13 kilometers (8 miles) wide. Sediment samples from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea that include evaporite minerals, soils, and fossil plants show that about five million years ago the Strait was topographically blocked and the Sea had evaporated into a deep basin far lower in elevation than the oceans. Consequent changes in the world's hydrologic cycle, including effects upon ocean salinity, likely led to more ice formation in polar regions and more reflection of sunlight back to space, resulting in a cooler global climate at that time. Today, topography plays a key role in our regional climate patterns. But through Earth history, topographic change, even perhaps over areas as small as 13 kilometers across, has also affected the global climate. This image was generated from a Landsat satellite image draped over an elevation model produced by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The view is eastward with a 3-times vertical exaggeration to enhance topographic expression. Natural colors of the scene (green vegetation, blue water, brown soil, white beaches) are enhanced by image processing, inclusion of some infrared reflectance (as green) to highlight the vegetation pattern, and inclusion of shading of the elevation model to further highlight the topographic features. Landsat has been providing visible and infrared views of the Earth since 1972. SRTM elevation data matches the 30-meter (99-feet) resolution of most Landsat images and will substantially help in analyses of the large Landsat image archive. Elevation data used in this image was acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on February 11, 2000. SRTM used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter-long (200-foot) mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and the German and Italian space agencies. It is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, |
|
Where Europe meets Africa
PIA04376
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
…
| Title |
Where Europe meets Africa |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Data from a portion of the imagery acquired by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera during 2000-2002 were combined to create this cloud-free natural-color mosaic of southwestern Europe and northwestern Morocco and Algeria. The image extends from 48°N, 16°W in the northwest to 32°N, 8°E in the southeast. It is displayed in Albers conic equal-area projection (a projection which is frequently used for equal-area maps of regions that are predominantly east-west in extent). From the northeast, the image traverses a portion of the Swiss Alps (partially snow-covered) and a small part of Italy's Po Valley. The northern portion of the image also includes the western coast of France and much of southern and southwestern France's undulating terrain, which continues until reaching the hills of the Pyrenees. The Pyrenees act as the natural frontier to the Iberian Peninsula -- a landmass comprised of Spain and Portugal. The Peninsular landscapes are extremely varied, with some almost desert-like, others green and fertile. About half of Spain is situated atop a high plain, known as the Central Plateau, and many mountain ranges, rivers, geological basement rock and vegetation types are found across this great plateau. The largest alluvial plain is Andalusia in the south, where the valley of the Guadalquivir River is shut in by mountain ranges on every side except the southwest, where the valley descends to the Atlantic. The islands of Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza are Spanish territories in the western Mediterranean. At the Strait of Gibralter, Spain and Morocco very nearly kiss, and Morocco appears relatively verdant along its northern coastal corner. The rugged Atlas Mountain ranges traverse northern Algeria and Morocco. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously from pole to pole, and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude. This data product was generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during 2000-2002. 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. |
|
SeaWinds Global Coverage wit
…
PIA02455
Sol (our sun)
SeaWinds Scatterometer
| Title |
SeaWinds Global Coverage with Detail of Hurricane Floyd |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The distribution of ocean surface winds over the Atlantic Ocean, based on September 1999 data from NASA's SeaWinds instrument on the QuikScat satellite, shows wind direction (white streamlines) at a resolution of 25 kilometers (15.5 miles), superimposed on the color image indicating wind speed. Over the ocean, the strong (seen in violet) trade winds blow steadily from the cooler subtropical oceans to warm waters just north of the equator. The air rises over these warm waters and sinks in the subtropics at the horse latitudes. Low wind speeds are indicated in blue. In the mid-latitudes, the high vorticity caused by the rotation of the Earth generates the spirals of weather systems. The North Atlantic is dominated by a high-pressure system, whose anti-cyclonic (clockwise) flow creates strong winds blowing parallel to the coast of Spain and Morocco. This creates strong ocean upwelling and cold temperature. Hurricane Floyd, with its high winds (yellow), is clearly visible west of the Bahamas. Tropical depression Gert is seen as it was forming in the tropical mid-Atlantic (as an anti-clockwise spiral), it later developed into a full-blown hurricane. Because the atmosphere is largely transparent to microwaves, SeaWinds is able to cover 93 percent of the global oceans, under both clear and cloudy conditions, in a single day, with the capability of a synoptic view of the ocean. The high resolution of the data also gives detailed description of small and intense weather systems, like Hurricane Floyd. The image in the insert is based on data specially produced at 12.5 kilometers (7.7 miles). In the insert, white arrows of wind vector are imposed on the color image of wind speed. The insert represents a 3-degree area occupied by Hurricane Floyd. After these data were acquired, Hurricane Floyd turned north. Its strength and proximity to the Atlantic coast of the U.S. caused the largest evacuation of citizens in U.S. history. Its landfall on September 16, 1999 resulted in severe flooding and devastation in the Carolinas. The high-resolution SeaWinds data provided an opportunity to monitor and study this hurricane. NASA's Earth Science Enterprise is a long-term research and technology program designed to examine Earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, ice and life as a total integrated system. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. |
|
Space Radar Image of Eastern
…
PIA01863
Sol (our sun)
| Title |
Space Radar Image of Eastern Morocco |
|
Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocc
…
PIA03893
Sol (our sun)
ASTER
| Title |
Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The Anti-Atlas Mountains of Morocco formed as a result of the collision of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates about 80 million years ago. This collision destroyed the Tethys Ocean, the limestone, sandstone, claystone, and gypsum layers that formed the ocean bed were folded and crumpled to create the Atlas and Anti-Atlas Mountains. In this ASTER image, short wavelength infrared bands are combined to dramatically highlight the different rock types, and illustrate the complex folding. The yellowish, orange and green areas are limestones, sandstones and gypsum, the dark blue and green areas are underlying granitic rocks. The ability to map geology using ASTER data is enhanced by the multiple short wavelength infrared bands, that are sensitive to differences in rock mineralogy. This image was acquired on June 13, 2001 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the data products. The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER will provide scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats, monitoring potentially active volcanoes, identifying crop stress, determining cloud morphology and physical properties, wetlands evaluation, thermal pollution monitoring, coral reef degradation, surface temperature mapping of soils and geology, and measuring surface heat balance. Dr. Anne Kahle at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, is the U.S. Science team leader, Bjorn Eng of JPL is the project manager. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long- term research effort to understand and protect our home planet. Through the study of Earth, NASA will help to provide sound science to policy and economic decision-makers so as to better life here, while developing the technologies needed to explore the universe and search for life beyond our home planet. Size: 28.7 x 29.4 km (17.8 x 18.2 miles) Location: 29.4 deg. North lat., 8.9 deg. West long. Orientation: North at top Image Data: ASTER bands 4,6 and 8. Original Data Resolution: 30 m Date Acquired: June 13, 2001 |
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| General Description |
International Space Station Imagery |
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| General Description |
International Space Station Imagery |
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| General Description |
International Space Station Imagery |
|
| General Description |
International Space Station Imagery |
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