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Drought on the Great Plains
| Title |
Drought on the Great Plains |
| Description |
Across the Great Plains of the United States and Canada, devastating drought spread across grasslands and croplands in summer 2006. Poor winter snowfall and a blisteringly hot summer [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13742 ] following several years of dry conditions have created a dire situation for many farmers and ranchers across the region. According to a recent article [ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/us/29drought.html?ex=1157688000&en=13a216546b7d4243&ei=5070 ] on the New York Times Website, many people are comparing the conditions to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The widespread drought conditions are obvious in this vegetation anomaly image based on data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite. Places where vegetation is healthier or more abundant than average are green, places where vegetation is about the same as average are pale yellow, and places where vegetation is not as healthy or abundant as average are brown. Gray patches show where no data were available, probably because of persistent clouds. One of the most common satellite-based vegetation maps is a scale, or index, of vegetation greenness called the "NDVI," short for Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. This image compares NDVI values from July 28-August 12, 2006, to the average values from 2001-2005. Vegetation was faring worst along the Missouri River through North and South Dakota, but below-average vegetation conditions stretch across parts of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, northwestern Nebraska, and Minnesota as well. The plains of Canada's Saskatchewan and Manitoba provinces were suffering drought, too. A few small pockets of green in the image reveal where vegetation greenness values observed by MODIS were higher than average: the mountains of north-central Colorado, southeastern Nebraska, and the Red River Valley. The Red River Valley experienced widespread snowfall and heavy rains in the spring of 2006, leading to significant flooding. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13500 ] The early-season moisture may have helped the vegetation in the area withstand the hot summer. According to the August 29, 2006, update from the U.S. Drought Monitor, [ http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html ] most of the Northern Great Plains, as well as much of Oklahoma and Texas, was still in the midst of drought, with many areas falling into the highest category: exceptional drought. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided by Inbal Reshef as part of the Global Agricultural Monitoring Project [ http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/glam.cfm ] between NASA, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), and the University of Maryland. |
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Dust Storm in Texas
| Title |
Dust Storm in Texas |
| Description |
The same hot, dry, windy conditions that allowed grassfires [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13301 ] to rage throughout parts of Oklahoma and Texas at the end of 2005 kicked up dust at the beginning of the new year. On January 1, 2006, a dust storm approximately 500 kilometers (300 miles) across swept through northern Texas and into Oklahoma. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image on January 1, 2006. Swirling in a counter-clockwise direction toward the northeast, the dust storm appears in a light shade of tan, partially obscuring the view of the darker ground surface. The storm appears to start near the Texas-New Mexico border. Smoke from wildfires mixes with the dust in places. The "hot spots" where these fires rage on the ground appear in red, and some of the fires emit substantial plumes of smoke, especially two fires immediately south of the dust storm. Another fire, almost hidden by clouds, burns north of the dust storm. The hot, dry, windy conditions that prevailed in this part of North America in late 2005 set the stage for a dust storm in a couple different ways. Winds stir up particles on the ground and eventually suspend them in the air. Once aloft, dust particles can remain airborne even after wind speeds drop. Meanwhile, a dearth of rain can decrease vegetation cover, leading to extreme daytime heating of the ground. This heat causes an unstable boundary layer, the lowest 1 to 2 kilometers (0.6 to 1.2 miles) of atmosphere. An unstable boundary layer often encourages air to rise, carrying dust even higher into the air. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, significant portions of Texas faced drought conditions in late December 2005, including areas of extreme drought along the border with Mexico, and exceptional drought along the border with Oklahoma and Arkansas. Under these conditions, fires and dust storms could continue to threaten the region. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. |
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Snow Storm in Colorado
| Title |
Snow Storm in Colorado |
| Description |
A big snowstorm brought much-needed moisture to the state of Colorado on January 19, 2006. As reported by the Rocky Mountain News, before the storm, the state's assistant climatologist had warned that drought was beginning to affect the foothills west of the Denver metro area and the plains to the east of the city. A week later, relief arrived, although opinions varied as to whether it was enough to stop the developing drought conditions. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture of Colorado and surrounding states on January 20, 2006. In this image, snow blankets the Rocky Mountains and extends to the east in a counterclockwise direction towards Kansas and Nebraska. The same storm system that brought moisture to Colorado continued dropping precipitation through the Midwest. For Colorado residents, the snow was a mixed blessing. On January 19, temperatures remained warm enough to melt much of the snow as soon as it hit the ground. Overnight temperatures, however, plummeted. The day this image was taken, commuters throughout the state were contending with roads like ice rinks. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, authorities urged commuters to drive slowly to avoid crashes. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC. |
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Snowstorm in the American Mi
…
| Title |
Snowstorm in the American Midwest |
| Description |
The vernal equinox marks the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. But after a record-setting warm winter, the start of spring 2006 came with an ironic twist: a powerful snowstorm that blanketed most of the American Midwest in heavy snow. According to the Associated Press, snow fell as rapidly as two inches an hour in Illinois and Indiana, while in parts of Nebraska, total accumulations were as much as two feet (roughly 60 centimeters) of snow, closing sections of Interstate 80. In Colorado and Kansas, the same snow system also forced closings along Interstate 70 on March 20. The AP was also reporting that at least five deaths had been attributed to the snow in Colorado, Nebraska, and Texas. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite observed the wake behind the storm at 12:55 p.m. Mountain Time (19:45 UTC) on March 21, 2006. In this false-color image, clouds appear white, snow and ice appear blue, and land colors vary from reddish tans to greens in areas of lesser or greater vegetation. While a thin layer of cloud covers much of the area where the heaviest snow fell the previous day, the long, wide swath of blue, occasionally visible through the thin cloud cover, shows the path of the snowstorm. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. |
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Dust Storm in Texas: Image o
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nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
The same hot, dry, windy con
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texas_amo_2006001
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-01-01 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the rapidfire.gsfc.nasa.gov/ MODIS Rapid Response team. |
| identifier |
texas_amo_2006001 |
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Drought on the Great Plains:
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nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
Across the Great Plains of t
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nplainsndvia_tmo_2006209
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-08-12 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided by Inbal Reshef as part of the www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/glam.cfm Global Agricultural Monitoring Project between NASA, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), and the University of Maryland. |
| identifier |
nplainsndvia_tmo_2006209 |
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Snowstorm in the American Mi
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nasa, nasanaturalhazards
The vernal equinox marks the
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midwest_AMO_2006080
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-03-21 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
midwest_AMO_2006080 |
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Snowstorms in Colorado: Natu
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nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima
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colorado_tmo_2006359
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-12-25 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
colorado_tmo_2006359 |
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Snow Storm in Colorado: Natu
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nasa, nasanaturalhazards
A big snowstorm brought much
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colorado_tmo_2006020
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2006-01-20 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
colorado_tmo_2006020 |
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| General Description |
Behind the Scenes : TRAINING Imagery |
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| General Description |
Behind the Scenes : TRAINING Imagery |
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