|
|
Browse All
:
Images of Nevada and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
|
Printer Friendly |
Farallon Plate Remnants
| Title |
Farallon Plate Remnants |
| Abstract |
The Rockies are fifteen hundred kilometers, or one thousand miles, to the east. The cause must be the tectonic plate that built these mountains. Its name is Farallon. Farallon started off normally enough. It plunged beneath the North American Plate at a forty-five degree angle. This process sprouted volcanoes to form the Sierra Nevada in what is now California. Next, mantle motions pulled North America westward over Farallon, and the plate scraped along the bottom of the continent - for fifteen hundred kilometers. As North America continued its westward trek, Farallon settled to the bottom of the mantle. |
| Completed |
2000-12-19 |
|
Farallon Plate Remnants
| Title |
Farallon Plate Remnants |
| Abstract |
The Rockies are fifteen hundred kilometers, or one thousand miles, to the east. The cause must be the tectonic plate that built these mountains. Its name is Farallon. Farallon started off normally enough. It plunged beneath the North American Plate at a forty-five degree angle. This process sprouted volcanoes to form the Sierra Nevada in what is now California. Next, mantle motions pulled North America westward over Farallon, and the plate scraped along the bottom of the continent - for fifteen hundred kilometers. As North America continued its westward trek, Farallon settled to the bottom of the mantle. |
| Completed |
2000-12-19 |
|
Farallon Plate Remnants
| Title |
Farallon Plate Remnants |
| Abstract |
The Rockies are fifteen hundred kilometers, or one thousand miles, to the east. The cause must be the tectonic plate that built these mountains. Its name is Farallon. Farallon started off normally enough. It plunged beneath the North American Plate at a forty-five degree angle. This process sprouted volcanoes to form the Sierra Nevada in what is now California. Next, mantle motions pulled North America westward over Farallon, and the plate scraped along the bottom of the continent - for fifteen hundred kilometers. As North America continued its westward trek, Farallon settled to the bottom of the mantle. |
| Completed |
2000-12-19 |
|
Global Snow Cover from MODIS
| Title |
Global Snow Cover from MODIS |
| Abstract |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides data in 36 spectral bands, some of which are used in an algorithm to map global snow cover. The animation shows the dynamic behavior of the advance and retreat of continental snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere for the winter of 2001 - 2002 from MODIS-derived 8-day composite snow maps with a spatial resolution of about 5 km. A time series of MODIS snow-cover maps of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, derived from MODIS-derived daily snow maps with 500-m resolution, is also shown for the winter and spring of 2001. |
| Completed |
2002-06-26 |
|
Global Snow Cover from MODIS
| Title |
Global Snow Cover from MODIS |
| Abstract |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides data in 36 spectral bands, some of which are used in an algorithm to map global snow cover. The animation shows the dynamic behavior of the advance and retreat of continental snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere for the winter of 2001 - 2002 from MODIS-derived 8-day composite snow maps with a spatial resolution of about 5 km. A time series of MODIS snow-cover maps of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, derived from MODIS-derived daily snow maps with 500-m resolution, is also shown for the winter and spring of 2001. |
| Completed |
2002-06-26 |
|
National Map Showing Habitat
…
| Title |
National Map Showing Habitat Suitability for Tamarisk Invasion |
| Abstract |
The spread of invasive species is one of the most daunting environmental, economic, and human-health problems facing the United States and the World today. It is one of several grand challenge environmental problems being addressed by NASA's Science Mission Directorate through a national application partnership with the US Geological Survey. NASA and USGS are working together to develop a National Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) for the management and control of invasive species on Department of Interior and adjacent lands. The system provides a framework for using USGS's early detection and monitoring protocols and predictive models to process MODIS, ETM+, ASTER and commercial remote sensing data, to create on-demand, regional-scale assessments of invasive species likely habitats. Recent work on the Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) project has shown the importance of remotely-sensed time-series data in geostatistical models for mapping the distribution of Tamarisk and other invasive plant species. This video shows the habitat suitability for a Tamarisk invasion in the continental United States. Red indicates areas that are highly suitable and yellow indicates areas which are less suitable. Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada are the most highly suitable states. Utah and Arizona have the next greatest risk. California, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Ohio, Wyoming, and Florida also have a significant risk. |
| Completed |
2005-10-18 |
|
National Map Showing Habitat
…
| Title |
National Map Showing Habitat Suitability for Tamarisk Invasion |
| Abstract |
The spread of invasive species is one of the most daunting environmental, economic, and human-health problems facing the United States and the World today. It is one of several grand challenge environmental problems being addressed by NASA's Science Mission Directorate through a national application partnership with the US Geological Survey. NASA and USGS are working together to develop a National Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) for the management and control of invasive species on Department of Interior and adjacent lands. The system provides a framework for using USGS's early detection and monitoring protocols and predictive models to process MODIS, ETM+, ASTER and commercial remote sensing data, to create on-demand, regional-scale assessments of invasive species likely habitats. Recent work on the Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) project has shown the importance of remotely-sensed time-series data in geostatistical models for mapping the distribution of Tamarisk and other invasive plant species. This video shows the habitat suitability for a Tamarisk invasion in the continental United States. Red indicates areas that are highly suitable and yellow indicates areas which are less suitable. Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada are the most highly suitable states. Utah and Arizona have the next greatest risk. California, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Ohio, Wyoming, and Florida also have a significant risk. |
| Completed |
2005-10-18 |
|
National Map Showing Habitat
…
| Title |
National Map Showing Habitat Suitability for Tamarisk Invasion |
| Abstract |
The spread of invasive species is one of the most daunting environmental, economic, and human-health problems facing the United States and the World today. It is one of several grand challenge environmental problems being addressed by NASA's Science Mission Directorate through a national application partnership with the US Geological Survey. NASA and USGS are working together to develop a National Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) for the management and control of invasive species on Department of Interior and adjacent lands. The system provides a framework for using USGS's early detection and monitoring protocols and predictive models to process MODIS, ETM+, ASTER and commercial remote sensing data, to create on-demand, regional-scale assessments of invasive species likely habitats. Recent work on the Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) project has shown the importance of remotely-sensed time-series data in geostatistical models for mapping the distribution of Tamarisk and other invasive plant species. This video shows the habitat suitability for a Tamarisk invasion in the continental United States. Red indicates areas that are highly suitable and yellow indicates areas which are less suitable. Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada are the most highly suitable states. Utah and Arizona have the next greatest risk. California, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Ohio, Wyoming, and Florida also have a significant risk. |
| Completed |
2005-10-18 |
|
National Map Showing Habitat
…
| Title |
National Map Showing Habitat Suitability for Tamarisk Invasion |
| Abstract |
The spread of invasive species is one of the most daunting environmental, economic, and human-health problems facing the United States and the World today. It is one of several grand challenge environmental problems being addressed by NASA's Science Mission Directorate through a national application partnership with the US Geological Survey. NASA and USGS are working together to develop a National Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) for the management and control of invasive species on Department of Interior and adjacent lands. The system provides a framework for using USGS's early detection and monitoring protocols and predictive models to process MODIS, ETM+, ASTER and commercial remote sensing data, to create on-demand, regional-scale assessments of invasive species likely habitats. Recent work on the Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) project has shown the importance of remotely-sensed time-series data in geostatistical models for mapping the distribution of Tamarisk and other invasive plant species. This video shows the habitat suitability for a Tamarisk invasion in the continental United States. Red indicates areas that are highly suitable and yellow indicates areas which are less suitable. Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada are the most highly suitable states. Utah and Arizona have the next greatest risk. California, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Ohio, Wyoming, and Florida also have a significant risk. |
| Completed |
2005-10-18 |
|
National Map Showing Habitat
…
| Title |
National Map Showing Habitat Suitability for Tamarisk Invasion |
| Abstract |
The spread of invasive species is one of the most daunting environmental, economic, and human-health problems facing the United States and the World today. It is one of several grand challenge environmental problems being addressed by NASA's Science Mission Directorate through a national application partnership with the US Geological Survey. NASA and USGS are working together to develop a National Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) for the management and control of invasive species on Department of Interior and adjacent lands. The system provides a framework for using USGS's early detection and monitoring protocols and predictive models to process MODIS, ETM+, ASTER and commercial remote sensing data, to create on-demand, regional-scale assessments of invasive species likely habitats. Recent work on the Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) project has shown the importance of remotely-sensed time-series data in geostatistical models for mapping the distribution of Tamarisk and other invasive plant species. This video shows the habitat suitability for a Tamarisk invasion in the continental United States. Red indicates areas that are highly suitable and yellow indicates areas which are less suitable. Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada are the most highly suitable states. Utah and Arizona have the next greatest risk. California, Arizona, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Ohio, Wyoming, and Florida also have a significant risk. |
| Completed |
2005-10-18 |
|
Las Vegas Flyover from Lands
…
| Title |
Las Vegas Flyover from Landsat 1 |
| Completed |
1999-11-01 |
|
Habitat Suitability for Tama
…
| Title |
Habitat Suitability for Tamarisk Invasion in the State of Nevada |
| Abstract |
The Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) is a partnership between NASA and The US Geological Survey (USGS). The ISFS combines NASA Earth observations and statistical models to enhance USGS capabilities to map, monitor and predict the spread of significant invasive plant species. This video shows the habitat suitability for a Tamarisk invasion in the state of Nevada. Tamarisk spreads quickly along riverbeds and when it's leaves shed they secrete salt on the soil, thereby hindering other plant growth. Red indicates areas that are highly suitable for Tamarisk. Yellow indicates areas which are less suitable, and grey are areas which are not suitable. |
| Completed |
2005-10-18 |
|
Habitat Suitability for Tama
…
| Title |
Habitat Suitability for Tamarisk Invasion in the State of Nevada |
| Abstract |
The Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) is a partnership between NASA and The US Geological Survey (USGS). The ISFS combines NASA Earth observations and statistical models to enhance USGS capabilities to map, monitor and predict the spread of significant invasive plant species. This video shows the habitat suitability for a Tamarisk invasion in the state of Nevada. Tamarisk spreads quickly along riverbeds and when it's leaves shed they secrete salt on the soil, thereby hindering other plant growth. Red indicates areas that are highly suitable for Tamarisk. Yellow indicates areas which are less suitable, and grey are areas which are not suitable. |
| Completed |
2005-10-18 |
|
Lake Mead Shrinks!
| Title |
Lake Mead Shrinks! |
| Abstract |
Lake Mead reservoir is nestled between Arizona and Nevada and runs up to the Hoover Dam. The reservoir stores Colorado River water and supplies it to farms, homes and business in Southern Nevada, Arizona, southern California and northern Mexico. Scientists at NASA are releasing dramatic pictures of the dwindling water supplies in the drought-stricken western United States. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the Colorado Basin is in its fourth year of drought and computer models project water levels will go down another 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 m) by next year. Despite low water levels, The National Park Service says there is still plenty of water for recreation. The Landsat 7 satellite captured images of Lake Mead May 2000, and May 2003. The 2003 image clearly shows a shrinking lake. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
Lake Mead Shrinks!
| Title |
Lake Mead Shrinks! |
| Abstract |
Lake Mead reservoir is nestled between Arizona and Nevada and runs up to the Hoover Dam. The reservoir stores Colorado River water and supplies it to farms, homes and business in Southern Nevada, Arizona, southern California and northern Mexico. Scientists at NASA are releasing dramatic pictures of the dwindling water supplies in the drought-stricken western United States. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the Colorado Basin is in its fourth year of drought and computer models project water levels will go down another 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 m) by next year. Despite low water levels, The National Park Service says there is still plenty of water for recreation. The Landsat 7 satellite captured images of Lake Mead May 2000, and May 2003. The 2003 image clearly shows a shrinking lake. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
Lake Mead Shrinks!
| Title |
Lake Mead Shrinks! |
| Abstract |
Lake Mead reservoir is nestled between Arizona and Nevada and runs up to the Hoover Dam. The reservoir stores Colorado River water and supplies it to farms, homes and business in Southern Nevada, Arizona, southern California and northern Mexico. Scientists at NASA are releasing dramatic pictures of the dwindling water supplies in the drought-stricken western United States. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the Colorado Basin is in its fourth year of drought and computer models project water levels will go down another 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 m) by next year. Despite low water levels, The National Park Service says there is still plenty of water for recreation. The Landsat 7 satellite captured images of Lake Mead May 2000, and May 2003. The 2003 image clearly shows a shrinking lake. |
| Completed |
2003-07-03 |
|
MODIS Snow Cover over the Si
…
| Title |
MODIS Snow Cover over the Sierra Nevada Mountains |
| Abstract |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides data in 36 spectral bands, some of which are used in an algorithm to map global snow cover. The animation shows a time series of MODIS snow-cover maps of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, derived from MODIS-derived daily snow maps with 500-m resolution for the winter and spring of 2001. |
| Completed |
2002-06-26 |
|
MODIS Snow Cover over the Si
…
| Title |
MODIS Snow Cover over the Sierra Nevada Mountains |
| Abstract |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides data in 36 spectral bands, some of which are used in an algorithm to map global snow cover. The animation shows a time series of MODIS snow-cover maps of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, derived from MODIS-derived daily snow maps with 500-m resolution for the winter and spring of 2001. |
| Completed |
2002-06-26 |
|
Angora Fire
| Title |
Angora Fire |
| Description |
South of Lake Tahoe, which straddles the Nevada-California state line, a large fire destroyed at least 165 homes over the weekend of June 23, 2007. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite shows the Angora Fire on June 24. The area in which MODIS detected actively burning fire is outlined in red. A plume of brownish-gray smoke spreads northeast. According to the June 25 report from the National Interagency Fire Center, the Angora Fire was burning in timber and grass, was about 1,800 acres, and was zero percent contained. The large image provided above has a spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] images of the region in additional resolutions and formats, including an infrared-enhanced version that makes the burned area stand out from the surrounding, unburned vegetation. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Angora Fire
| Title |
Angora Fire |
| Description |
On the weekend of June 23, 2007, a wildfire broke out south of Lake Tahoe, which stretches across the California-Nevada border. By June 28, the Angora Fire [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14323 ] had burned more than 200 homes and forced some 2,000 residents to evacuate, according to The Seattle Times and the Central Valley Business Times. On June 27, 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 image of the burn scar left by the Angora fire. The burn scar is dark gray, or charcoal. Water bodies, including the southern tip of Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake, are pale silvery blue, the silver color a result of sunlight reflecting off the surface of the water. Vegetation ranges in color from dark to bright green. Streets are light gray, and the customary pattern of meandering residential streets and cul-de-sacs appears throughout the image, including the area that burned. The burn scar shows where the fire obliterated some of the residential areas just east of Fallen Leaf Lake. According to news reports, the U.S. Forest Service had expressed optimism about containing the fire within a week of the outbreak, but a few days after the fire started, it jumped a defense, forcing the evacuation of hundreds more residents. Strong winds that had been forecast for June 27, however, did not materialize, allowing firefighters to regain ground in controlling the blaze. On June 27, authorities hoped that the fire would be completely contained by July 3. According to estimates provided in the daily report from the National Interagency Fire Center, [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] the fire had burned 3,100 acres (about 12.5 square kilometers) and was about 55 percent contained as of June 28. Some mandatory evacuations remained in effect. You can download a 15-meter-resolution KMZ file of the Angora fire [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/tahoe_ast_2007178.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. |
|
Blizzards in the Western Uni
…
| Title |
Blizzards in the Western United States |
| Description |
A series of heavy winter storms pummeled parts of the western United States between December 24, 2003, and January 3, 2004, blanketing the region with deep snow. Salt Lake City, Utah, reported more than six feet of snow, according to news reports. The blizzards that rolled through California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado closed roads, knocked out power, and claimed at least two lives in subsequent avalanches. These Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) images, taken on January 5, 2004, by the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, show the extent of the snowfall from California in the west to the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Colorado in the east. The Great Salt Lake is the two-toned body of water in the center of the images. In the top image, shown in true color, only a sliver of green land west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains can be see on the left side of the image?clouds and snow obscure the rest of the landscape. The bottom image shows the same scene in false color. Here, snow and ice are dark red and orange, while clouds are white and peach. Water is black. The false color image helps differentiate between cloud cover and snow and ice on the ground. The high resolution images provided above are at 500 meters per pixel. Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Blizzards in the Western Uni
…
| Title |
Blizzards in the Western United States |
| Description |
A series of heavy winter storms pummeled parts of the western United States between December 24, 2003, and January 3, 2004, blanketing the region with deep snow. Salt Lake City, Utah, reported more than six feet of snow, according to news reports. The blizzards that rolled through California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado closed roads, knocked out power, and claimed at least two lives in subsequent avalanches. These Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) images, taken on January 5, 2004, by the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, show the extent of the snowfall from California in the west to the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Colorado in the east. The Great Salt Lake is the two-toned body of water in the center of the images. In the top image, shown in true color, only a sliver of green land west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains can be see on the left side of the image?clouds and snow obscure the rest of the landscape. The bottom image shows the same scene in false color. Here, snow and ice are dark red and orange, while clouds are white and peach. Water is black. The false color image helps differentiate between cloud cover and snow and ice on the ground. The high resolution images provided above are at 500 meters per pixel. Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Blizzards in the Western Uni
…
| Title |
Blizzards in the Western United States |
| Description |
A series of heavy winter storms pummeled parts of the western United States between December 24, 2003, and January 3, 2004, blanketing the region with deep snow. Salt Lake City, Utah, reported more than six feet of snow, according to news reports. The blizzards that rolled through California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado closed roads, knocked out power, and claimed at least two lives in subsequent avalanches. These Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) images, taken on January 5, 2004, by the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, show the extent of the snowfall from California in the west to the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Colorado in the east. The Great Salt Lake is the two-toned body of water in the center of the images. In the top image, shown in true color, only a sliver of green land west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains can be see on the left side of the image?clouds and snow obscure the rest of the landscape. The bottom image shows the same scene in false color. Here, snow and ice are dark red and orange, while clouds are white and peach. Water is black. The false color image helps differentiate between cloud cover and snow and ice on the ground. The high resolution images provided above are at 500 meters per pixel. Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Cannon Fire in California an
…
| Title |
Cannon Fire in California and Nevada |
| Description |
*Cannon Fire in California and Nevada* South of Lake Tahoe and north of Yosemite National Park, the Cannon Fire has crossed the California State Line and is burning northward into the Walker River area in Nevada. More than 1000 people were evacuated from homes and camps in the mountains near Walker River, and at least one residence has been destroyed. The fire nearly tripled in size on Monday, June 17, 2002, growing from 5,000 acres to just under 15,000. It was while fighting the Cannon Fire that an air tanker crashed as it made a flame-retardant drop, killing all three on board. The Canon is the largest fire (red dot) seen in this MODIS image acquired on June 17, 2002. Other large fires include the Sudden Ranch Fire on the Vandenberg Air Force Base (westernmost fire in the image), and the Bluecut Fire north of Los Angeles (easternmost fire in the images), which has produced numerous evacuations. Please note that the high-resolution scene provided here is 500 meters per pixel. For a copy of the scene at the sensor's fullest resolution, visit the MODIS Rapid Response Image Gallery. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
Cannon Fire in California an
…
| Title |
Cannon Fire in California and Nevada |
| Description |
*Cannon Fire in California and Nevada* South of Lake Tahoe and north of Yosemite National Park, the Cannon Fire has crossed the California State Line and is burning northward into the Walker River area in Nevada. The Canon is the largest fire (red dot) seen in this MODIS image acquired on June 18, 2002. Other large fires include the Sudden Ranch Fire on the Vandenberg Air Force Base (westernmost fire in the image), and the Bluecut Fire north of Los Angeles (easternmost California fire in the images), which has produced numerous evacuations. Please note that the high-resolution scene provided here is 500 meters per pixel. For a copy of the scene at the sensor's fullest resolution, visit the MODIS Rapid Response Image Gallery. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
Cannon Fire in California an
…
| Title |
Cannon Fire in California and Nevada |
| Description |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite detected numerous fires burning in California on June 20, 2002. Along the California-Nevada border, southeast of Lake Tahoe, the Cannon Fire is more than 22,000 acres and is 75 percent contained. Please note that the high-resolution scene provided here is 500 meters per pixel. For a copy of the scene at the sensor's fullest resolution, visit the MODIS Rapid Response Image Gallery. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
Chance Fire, Nevada
| Title |
Chance Fire, Nevada |
| Description |
The Chance Fire raced rapidly across sagebrush and juniper woodlands in northeastern Nevada near the Ruby Mountains on August 29, 2005. This image of the blaze was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite, the active fire perimeter that MODIS detected is outlined in red. The fire is burning very close to the I80 interstate northeast of the town of Elko, Nevada. Many people voluntarily evacuated their homes as the winds drove the fire quickly across the hilly terrain. As of August 30, firefighters estimated the 17,500-acre blaze was about 30 percent contained. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?AERONET_Railroad_Valley ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Charleston Fire, Northern Ne
…
| Title |
Charleston Fire, Northern Nevada |
| Description |
In northeastern Nevada, a 20,000-acre fire was racing through sagebrush, grass, and juniper on August 16, 2006. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, [ http://www.nifc.gov/information.html ] a power line, residences, and grazing allotments were being threatened by the Charleston Fire. The fire was exhibiting extreme behavior according to the August 17 report. This pair of images of the Charleston Fire, burning in the area between Nevada's Matterhorn and the Marys River, was captured on August 16 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite. The photo-like, "natural-color" image on top shows places where MODIS detected active fire outlined in red. Thick smoke pours northeastward into Idaho. The bottom image has been enhanced using MODIS' observations of shortwave and near-infrared light to penetrate the smoke, to emphasize extremely hot areas (bright pink), and to distinguish burned vegetation (brick red) from unburned vegetation (bright green). In this kind of false-color image, the bright pink glow inside some of the active-fire perimeters often indicates open flame. According to the Western Great Basin Coordination Center of the National Interagency Fire Center, the region was primed for big fires in summer 2006 because of poor snowfall over the winter. A prolific grass crop from 2005, which normally would have been flattened and compacted by winter's heavy snow, remained standing across grasslands in spring 2006. In addition, a wet spring produced luxuriant new growth, which dried as the summer progressed. The standing grass from 2005 combined with the abundant early-2006 growth created a dangerously high load of fuel for summer fires. In July, the agency issued a fuel and fire behavior advisory, [ http://gacc.nifc.gov/wgbc/safetywarning/FireAdvisory_GB-05Jul06%5b1%5d.pdf ] warning that the accumulation of such large amounts of "fine fuels" like grass had increased the risk of intense, severe, and rapidly spreading fires across much of the Western Great Basin, including northern Nevada. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides twice-daily images of the entire western United States at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Death Valley
| Title |
Death Valley |
| Description |
Now the driest place in North America, Death Valley was once a verdant, water-filled haven. Between 128,000 and 186,000 years ago, ice covered the Sierra Nevada and rivers flowed into the long valley, feeding Lake Manly. At nearly 100 miles long and 600 feet deep, this massive lake filled Death Valley. To the west, on the other side of the Panamint Range (capped with snow in the top image), was the slightly smaller Panamint Lake. Though the lake and rivers dried as the ice retreated and the climate warmed, water has left its mark on the landscape. Evaporating water left a white salt pan in its place, so the beds of both lakes are clearly visible in these images, acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on March 10, 2005, (top) and March 11, 2004 (bottom). Driven by a mild El Niño, winter 2005 was wet. Southern California was inundated with heavy rain from December through late February. The effects on the landscape hearken back to an earlier age when water was more prevalent. On March 10, 2005, water had pooled in the former Lake Manly and, less noticeably, in Lake Panamint. To the northwest, Owens Valley?another remnant of the last ice age?is also filling with water. Aside from darkening the dry salt pans with water, the winter weather had another effect on the landscape. The mountains are darker and slightly greener with growing vegetation. On average, Death Valley receives less than two inches of rain per year. When the rain does fall, the desert springs to life, blossoming with flowers. This year, Death Valley National Park received over six inches of rain, and the result is a rainbow of wildflowers?one of the best blooms in modern history, the National Park Service reports. For daily wildflower updates, visit the Death Valley National Park [ http://www.nps.gov/deva/ ] home page. NASA images created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team and the Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC. |
|
Death Valley
| Title |
Death Valley |
| Description |
Now the driest place in North America, Death Valley was once a verdant, water-filled haven. Between 128,000 and 186,000 years ago, ice covered the Sierra Nevada and rivers flowed into the long valley, feeding Lake Manly. At nearly 100 miles long and 600 feet deep, this massive lake filled Death Valley. To the west, on the other side of the Panamint Range (capped with snow in the top image), was the slightly smaller Panamint Lake. Though the lake and rivers dried as the ice retreated and the climate warmed, water has left its mark on the landscape. Evaporating water left a white salt pan in its place, so the beds of both lakes are clearly visible in these images, acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on March 10, 2005, (top) and March 11, 2004 (bottom). Driven by a mild El Niño, winter 2005 was wet. Southern California was inundated with heavy rain from December through late February. The effects on the landscape hearken back to an earlier age when water was more prevalent. On March 10, 2005, water had pooled in the former Lake Manly and, less noticeably, in Lake Panamint. To the northwest, Owens Valley?another remnant of the last ice age?is also filling with water. Aside from darkening the dry salt pans with water, the winter weather had another effect on the landscape. The mountains are darker and slightly greener with growing vegetation. On average, Death Valley receives less than two inches of rain per year. When the rain does fall, the desert springs to life, blossoming with flowers. This year, Death Valley National Park received over six inches of rain, and the result is a rainbow of wildflowers?one of the best blooms in modern history, the National Park Service reports. For daily wildflower updates, visit the Death Valley National Park [ http://www.nps.gov/deva/ ] home page. NASA images created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team and the Goddard Earth Sciences DAAC. |
|
Heatwave in Southern Califor
…
| Title |
Heatwave in Southern California |
| Description |
September 5, 2007, marked the end of a week-long heat wave that led to 31 deaths and triggered power outages across southern California, reported the L.A. Times. Temperatures climbed above 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) when a high-pressure system blocked cool air from the Pacific. The effect of the heat wave on different locations in the Southwest is shown in this pair of images, taken on September 5, at 11:25 a.m. local time (18:25 UTC) by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flying on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ], in Northern California filters down from the top edge of the scene. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Goddard Land Processes data archives (LAADS). [ http://laads.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ], satellite. The photo-like, natural-color image (top) and corresponding land surface temperature image (bottom) illustrate the relationship between land cover, elevation, and temperature. The images show much of California and Nevada, and a smaller portion of Arizona and Utah. Not surprisingly, the hottest areas, shown in yellow, correspond with sparsely vegetated desert regions. In the natural-color image, the brush-covered Mojave Desert on the California-Nevada border is tan with splashes of pink where iron-rich sandstone is exposed. The small-leafed, woody vegetation provides little shade, allowing the Earth's surface to be exposed to the Sun. The rock-and-dirt desert absorbs sunlight, and temperatures climb (yellow areas of bottom image). The other hot spots in the image occur in the cactus-dotted Sonoran Desert, which encompasses the southernmost portions of inland California and southwestern Arizona, and the much smaller Colorado Desert west of the Salton Sea. Irrigated land south of the Salton Sea and along the Colorado River is a web of brown-green. The presence of water and vegetation in these irrigated areas makes the land cooler. Elevation also plays a role in the surface temperatures of the Sonoran Desert. Pockets of low-elevation land are much warmer than the lines of mountains that separate them, particularly in southwestern Arizona. The coolest parts of California, shown in purple and blue, are in the mountains, most prominently the Sierra Nevada, but also the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles. In the photo-like images, the mountain ranges are dark green, colored by trees. The vegetation cover and the high elevation keep the land cooler than surrounding low-elevation sites. The other significant cool spot in the image is the San Joaquin Valley. Like the irrigated farm land bordering the Salton Sea and the Colorado River, this area is kept cool by the presence of water and plants. The coldest areas in the image appear to be in Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, which are marked by streaks of dark purple. These cold signatures are from clouds.The final correlation between land cover and temperature can be seen in urban areas along the coast. In the photo-like image, Los Angles sprawls as a silver-gray patch from the coast to the San Bernardino Mountains. Since urban surfaces absorb heat, Los Angles is slightly warmer in the surface temperature image than the surrounding landscape. In the north, the San Francisco urban area is similarly warmer than its surroundings. Though the extreme temperatures raised the fire danger in Southern California, MODIS did not detect any fires in the region. Fires, marked with red dots, were burning in Central California south and east of San Francisco. Smoke from a large fire [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14497 ] |
|
Heatwave in the Western Unit
…
| Title |
Heatwave in the Western United States |
| Description |
The oppressive heat that crept over parts of the western United States during the first few days of July 2007 [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14380 ] took hold of the entire West during the week of July 4 through July 11. Deep red tones blanket every western state in this land surface temperature image, an indication that temperatures were warmer than in previous years. The image was made with data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite and shows temperatures recorded between July 4 and July 11, 2007, compared to the average of temperatures observed during the same period in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Areas that are warmer than during that three-year period are red, while cooler areas are blue. Triple-digit temperatures broke or matched records from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Great Falls, Montana, during this period. In this image, a cluster of red-black over eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and eastern Montana indicates that these regions experienced much warmer temperatures than in previous years. Western South Dakota (the Black Hills region) was also exceptionally warm. On the other end of the scale, Texas was much cooler than it had been in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Heavy rains pounded Texas on and off throughout this period, contributing to wide-spread flooding. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14363 ] You can download a global KMZ file of Land Surface Temperature anomaly [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/kansas_ast_2007187.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Land Processes [ http://modis-land.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
|
Heatwave in the Western Unit
…
| Title |
Heatwave in the Western United States |
| Description |
Extreme heat lingered over much of the western United States in early July 2007. Temperatures soared to triple digits, meeting or breaking records from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Great Falls, Montana, said news reports. The oppressive heat contributed to creating prime fire conditions, so that, when dry thunderstorms (lightning storms accompanied by little or no rain) rolled through on July 7, lightning sparked dozens of fast-moving wildfires. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14358 ] This image, created from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite from June 26 though July 3, 2007, shows land surface temperatures compared to average temperatures observed during the same period in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Deep red across the Southwest and the Intermountain West indicate that temperatures were much higher than they were in 2000-2002. The Southeast also experienced warmer temperatures. Northern California, Oregon, and Washington appear to be cooler than in previous years, as indicated by the blue tones. The heat wave started mid-way through the week-long period shown in this image. While temperatures may have soared at the end of the period, cooler temperatures earlier in the week dominate the signal. Land surface temperatures from July 4-11 [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14393 ] show that these areas warmed significantly the following week. The Southern Plains are dark blue where temperatures were much cooler than they had been in previous years. During this period, torrential rains drenched the region, causing wide-spread flooding in Texas and Oklahoma [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14363 ] and in Kansas and Missouri. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14383 ] The gray region over Kansas and Oklahoma is an area in which MODIS could not record the land's temperature because of perpetual cloud cover during the week-long period. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained courtesy of the MODIS Land Processes [ http://modis-land.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
|
Drought in Southwestern Unit
…
| Title |
Drought in Southwestern United States |
| Description |
The southwestern United States pined for water in late March and early April 2007. This image is based on data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite from March 22 through April 6, 2007, and it shows the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, or NDVI, for the period. In this NDVI color scale, green indicates areas of healthier-than-usual vegetation, and only small patches of green appear in this image, near the California-Nevada border and in Utah. Larger areas of below-normal vegetation are more common, especially throughout California. Pale yellow indicates areas with generally average vegetation. Gray areas appear where no data were available, likely due to persistent clouds or snow cover. According to the April 10, 2007, update from the U.S. Drought Monitor, [ http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html ] most of the southwestern United Sates, including Utah, Nevada, California, and Arizona, experienced moderate to extreme drought. The hardest hit areas were southeastern California and southwestern Arizona. Writing for the Drought Monitor, David Miskus of the Joint Agricultural Weather Facility reported that March 2007 had been unusually dry for the southwestern United States. While California's and Utah's reservoir storage was only slightly below normal, reservoir storage was well below normal for New Mexico and Arizona. In early April, an international research team published an online paper in Science noting that droughts could become more common for the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, as these areas were already showing signs of drying. Relying on the same computer models used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released in early 2007, the researchers who published in Science concluded that global warming could make droughts more common, not just in the American Southwest, but also in semiarid regions of southern Europe, Mediterranean northern Africa, and the Middle East. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided by Inbal Reshef, Global Agricultural Monitoring Project [ http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/glam.cfm ]. |
|
Heavy Rains in Northern Cali
…
| Title |
Heavy Rains in Northern California |
| Description |
A powerful storm system brought high winds and heavy downpours to parts of central and northern California, causing localized flooding and knocking out power in the San Francisco Bay area. The weather station on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay measured strong wind gusts, including one that peaked at 156 kilometers per hour (98 miles per hour). This storm system was brought in by a powerful subtropical jet steam, which provided moisture and strong upper-level winds. The system spawned thunderstorms that brought lightning and sizeable hail around Sacramento. Coastal regions also measured heavy rainfall, though there was no widespread flooding there. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) monitors rainfall based on a near-real-time, Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. This image shows MPA rainfall totals for the central and northern West Coast from February 22 to March 1, 2006. The highest rainfall totals for the period are around 120 millimeters, about 5 inches, shown in red. These rainfall amounts occur along the western slopes of the coastal range, in the Klamath Mountains near the border with Oregon, and over the northern Sierra Nevada on the downwind side of the Sacramento Valley. The mountains forced moisture from the humid air rising over the slopes. MPA rainfall totals for the San Francisco Bay area are rather light, while the areas around Sacramento received a little over 70 millimeters, about 3 inches, shown in the brighter greens. The TRMM satellite was launched into service in November of 1997. It was engineered to measure rainfall over the global Tropics using both passive and active sensors, including the first and only precipitation radar in space. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Image produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC). |
|
Late Season Fires in Califor
…
| Title |
Late Season Fires in California |
| Description |
On Monday afternoon, November 25, 2002, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of fires (red outlines) burning in California. At upper right is Lake Tahoe, on the California-Nevada border. At lower left is San Francisco. Plumes of smoke stream westward from the fires, which are burning in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Other fires are scattered across the state, and in the full scene, what could be a mixture of smoke and urban air pollution is nestled into the San Joaquin Valley. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Levee Break Floods Central C
…
| Title |
Levee Break Floods Central California |
| Description |
A broken levee near the San Joaquim-Sacramento River delta flooded nearly 12,000 acres of farmland in Central California on June 3, 2004. According to news reports, about 300 people were evacuated from the flood region. An intricate series of levees and canals channel the fresh water from melting snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the farmland in California?s Central Valley. A break on one levy can affect the distribution of water to others. In this case, up to one million acres of farmland may receive less water during June, the typical peak irrigation month. Additionally, the change in the water level could draw salty water from the San Francisco Bay into the freshwater delta, threatening to contaminate the drinking water of many of California?s cities. The levee that broke is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Stockton, and the breach allowed water from the Middle River to create a vast lake, visible in imagery taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) on NASA?s Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on June 5. A false-color MODIS image taken on June 2 shows the water network before the levee broke. In both scenes, tan and bright green squares are agricultural fields. The high-resolution images provided above are at MODIS? maximum resolution. Both the June 5 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004157-0605/California.A2004157.2110.721 ] and June 2 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004154-0602/California.A2004154.1900.721 ] images are available in additional resolutions. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Levee Break Floods Central C
…
| Title |
Levee Break Floods Central California |
| Description |
A broken levee near the San Joaquim-Sacramento River delta flooded nearly 12,000 acres of farmland in Central California on June 3, 2004. According to news reports, about 300 people were evacuated from the flood region. An intricate series of levees and canals channel the fresh water from melting snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the farmland in California?s Central Valley. A break on one levy can affect the distribution of water to others. In this case, up to one million acres of farmland may receive less water during June, the typical peak irrigation month. Additionally, the change in the water level could draw salty water from the San Francisco Bay into the freshwater delta, threatening to contaminate the drinking water of many of California?s cities. The levee that broke is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Stockton, and the breach allowed water from the Middle River to create a vast lake, visible in imagery taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) on NASA?s Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on June 5. A false-color MODIS image taken on June 2 shows the water network before the levee broke. In both scenes, tan and bright green squares are agricultural fields. The high-resolution images provided above are at MODIS? maximum resolution. Both the June 5 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004157-0605/California.A2004157.2110.721 ] and June 2 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004154-0602/California.A2004154.1900.721 ] images are available in additional resolutions. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Levee Break Floods Central C
…
| Title |
Levee Break Floods Central California |
| Description |
A broken levee near the San Joaquim-Sacramento River delta flooded nearly 12,000 acres of farmland in Central California on June 3, 2004. According to news reports, about 300 people were evacuated from the flood region. An intricate series of levees and canals channel the fresh water from melting snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the farmland in California?s Central Valley. A break on one levy can affect the distribution of water to others. In this case, up to one million acres of farmland may receive less water during June, the typical peak irrigation month. Additionally, the change in the water level could draw salty water from the San Francisco Bay into the freshwater delta, threatening to contaminate the drinking water of many of California?s cities. The levee that broke is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Stockton, and the breach allowed water from the Middle River to create a vast lake, visible in imagery taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) on NASA?s Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on June 5. A false-color MODIS image taken on June 2 shows the water network before the levee broke. In both scenes, tan and bright green squares are agricultural fields. The high-resolution images provided above are at MODIS? maximum resolution. Both the June 5 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004157-0605/California.A2004157.2110.721 ] and June 2 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004154-0602/California.A2004154.1900.721 ] images are available in additional resolutions. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Low Pressure off Northern Ca
…
| Title |
Low Pressure off Northern California Coast |
| Description |
The Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS), flying aboard the Orbview-2 satellite, captured this view of a massive low pressure system approaching the northern California coast. High winds, heavy rain, and significant snows (elevations above 7,000 feet) are expected today as this strong storm spins onshore. Monterey Bay, Point Conception, and Los Angeles are visible along the California coast below the storm. Inland, the thick white vertical stripe is the Sierra Nevada Mountains, still covered in snow. To the right of Los Angeles is a dark irregular feature—the Salton Sea. Below the Salton is a region of irrigated cropland that produces fruits and vegetables throughout the winter. There appears to be a significant amount of biological activity in the Pacific Coastal waters around the Channel Islands, off California's southern coast as well as in the Gulf of California. Note the dark green and turquoise patterns in the water, indicating the presence of phytoplankton blooms. 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 |
|
McNalley and Pines Fires in
…
| Title |
McNalley and Pines Fires in California |
| Description |
In the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, a large fire has sprung up in the Sequoia National Forest about 12 miles north of the town of Kernville. According to reports from the U.S.D.A Forest Service, the McNalley fire started on the afternoon of July 21, 2002, and by Monday, July 22, had spread to more than 9,000 acres. The fire, which spread rapidly in response to erratic winds, is threatening 100 residences. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from July 22, 2002, shows the fire (red outline) creating a large smoke plume that is streaming northward from the blaze. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
McNalley and Pines Fires in
…
| Title |
McNalley and Pines Fires in California |
| Description |
In the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, the McNalley Fire continues to burn in the Sequoia National Forest. It is 60, 000 acres and only 30% contained as of July 29, 2002. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from July 26, 2002 shows actively burning areas of the fire marked with red dots. Image by Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
McNalley and Pines Fires in
…
| Title |
McNalley and Pines Fires in California |
| Description |
On August 7, 2002, scattered fires were detected across California by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite. In the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the southeast of the green vegetation in the San Joaquin Valley, the Mc Nalley Fire is burning in the Sequoia National Forest. At bottom right, smoke from the Pines Fire near San Diego wafts over the Salton Sea. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
McNalley and Pines Fires in
…
| Title |
McNalley and Pines Fires in California |
| Description |
In southern California, firefighters continue to battle the 120,000-acre McNalley Fire (red dots) in the Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The fire was 70 percent contained as of the morning of August 11,2002, the day this image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
McNalley and Pines Fires in
…
| Title |
McNalley and Pines Fires in California |
| Description |
More than 100,000 acres have now burned in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Sequoia National Forest as a result of the McNalley Fire, which is still only 50 percent contained. This image of the fire (red dots at right) was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on August 3, 2002. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
MODIS Image Shows Below-Aver
…
| Title |
MODIS Image Shows Below-Average Snow Cover in North America |
| Description |
The winter of 1999/2000 brought relatively little snow cover to the North American continent. This MODIS eight-day composite map shows the maximum snow cover in North America during the period from March 5-12. When compared to the snow extent during average years, it is apparent that there was significantly less area covered by snow this year for each month from November through April. In this image, the areas covered by snow are colored white, the non-snow covered land surface is colored green, those regions obstructed by clouds appear as grey, and water is blue. The red line represents the "average" March snow line, and the yellow line represents the "average" February snow line, as determined from NOAA/NESDIS snow maps (1966-present). Note that the snow line in March of 2000 is considerably farther north than the average February or March snow lines. By February, scientists reported that water levels in the Great Lakes--the world's largest inland bodies of fresh water--were much lower than normal. Lakes Michigan and Huron were 18 inches below average, and Lakes Superior and Erie were 9 inches below average. From 30 to 40 percent of these lakes' annual water supply comes from melting snow, the lack of which is contributing to the lower water levels. A concern is that the paltry snowpacks of this past winter, combined with high evaporative rates this coming summer, could result in the lowest lake levels on record. By the time these data were acquired, the snow line had retreated into southern Canada, but in the continental U.S., the Rocky Mountains, Cascades, Coast Range, and Sierra Nevada were still covered by snow, as were other isolated areas in the western states. Additionally, there was a band of snow spanning parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. This band of snow was quite short-lived, lasting only a day or so, but was captured by MODIS because of its frequent coverage. The smaller extent and earlier northward retreat of the snow cover during this past winter has led to an earlier drying of the soils in many areas, which has contributed to the large number of wildfires so far this year. MODIS flies aboard the Terra spacecraft, launched in December 1999. The sensor first opened its doors and began acquiring data on Feb. 24, 2000. The MODIS sensor and Terra mission are managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Image data courtesy Dorothy Hall, Nick DiGirolamo, George Riggs, and Janet Chien - MODIS Land Science Team |
|
Murphy Complex Fire
| Title |
Murphy Complex Fire |
| Description |
When two large, previously separate wildfires (Rowland and Elk Mountain) near the Idaho-Nevada state line merged over the July 21 weekend, fire management officials renamed the incident as the Murphy Complex Fire. According to the morning report from the National Interagency Fire Center on July 23, 2007, the blaze had consumed more than 560,000 acres and was 15 percent contained. This image of the Murphy Complex Fire was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite on July 22. Places where the sensor detected actively burning fire are outlined in red. The dry grassland and sagebrush terrain appears olive-tan, while the sprawling burned area appears deep brown. The large image provided above has a spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1 ] images of the western United States in additional resolutions. Images of the separate fires were previously published in the Fires in Idaho and Eastern Oregon [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14398 ] event. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Nevada Dust Storm Closes Int
…
| Title |
Nevada Dust Storm Closes Interstate 80 |
| Description |
A fierce dust storm blew across northwestern Nevada on April 28, 2004, with winds that gusted up to 70 mph. This image of the blowing dust, which reduced visibility to nearly zero in some places, was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite on that Wednesday morning at about 11:30 a.m. local (Pacific) time. The dust closed numerous highways, including Interstate 80, and the gusty winds even flipped a tractor-trailer. In the image, a cloud of light tan dust hangs over the rugged, arid terrain east of Lake Tahoe, which sits at the Nevada-California border at the left center edge of the image. To the north is Pyramid Lake, and to the south, in California, is Mono Lake. The snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountains appear at the bottom left corner of the scene. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC |
|
Northern California Floods
| Title |
Northern California Floods |
| Description |
Northern California ushered in 2006 with a series of major storms that inundated the area and left many towns awash in water, mud, and debris. According to a report from the USATODAY.com Website, at least two levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region were unable to handle the rising waters and strong winds, and residents nearby evacuated as the water-control structures began leaking. In the wine-country town of Napa perhaps as many as 1,000 homes were flooded along with thousands of acres of rural and agricultural land. The governor declared several counties in the region flood disaster areas. This pair of images shows flooding in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley region inland of San Francisco Bay. The image on the left was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite on December 10, 2005, while the image at right was captured on January 4, 2006, just days after the severe storms passed through. Dark blue pools of water swamp far larger areas of ground in January than they did in December. The Sacramento River is very wide and turbid, the sediment in the water is reflective and gives the river its lighter blue appearance. Flood control channels alongside the river help carry the additional flows. The northern reaches of San Francisco Bay are also bright with sediment, which may be a mixture of river run-off and churning of the Bay by storm winds. Vegetation is bright green, snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains is bright blue (upper right), and bare or sparsely vegetated ground appears pinkish or reddish tan. The rain-producing storms that passed through the state became blizzards as they crossed the mountains. A wider-area image [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?USA1/2006004/USA1.2006004.aqua.721 ] produced by the MODIS Rapid Response Team shows snow cover on the Sierra Nevada Mountains and across the Great Basin. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
|
Fires in California
| Title |
Fires in California |
| Description |
In the mountains of the West, fires typically continue to spring up until the winter rains and snows put an end to the season. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Terra satellite on September 29, 2003, shows several fires (marked with red) burning in California. At the upper left, a spot of smoke indicates the location of the Canoe/Honeydew Complex Fire, which is burning partly in old growth redwood forest. Right of the image center, fires are burning the central Sierra Nevada Mountains, near Yosemite National Park. A few fires burning in California?s large central valley are probably related to agriculture. 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 |
|
|
