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Images of Spain and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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Hubble Finds that Earth is S
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| Title |
Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst |
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Hubble Finds that Earth is S
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| Title |
Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst |
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Hubble Finds that Earth is S
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| Title |
Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst |
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Hubble Finds that Earth is S
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| Title |
Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst |
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Hubble Finds that Earth is S
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| Title |
Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst |
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Hubble Finds that Earth is S
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| Title |
Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst |
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Hubble Finds that Earth is S
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| Title |
Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst |
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Hubble Finds that Earth is S
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| Title |
Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst |
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The Carina Nebula: Star Birt
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| Title |
The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. In celebration of the 17th anniversary of the launch and deployment of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers is releasing one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble's cameras. READ: Junior version of this article Amazing Space Learn about this story in the Star Witness, a science newspaper available on our sister site, Amazing Space. [ http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/news/archive/2007/02/ ] It is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth —, and death —, is taking place. This image is a mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken in the light of neutral hydrogen during March and July 2005. Color information was added with data taken in December 2001 and March 2003 at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red corresponds to sulfur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission. |
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Hubble Catches Jupiter Chang
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Hubble Catches Jupiter Changing Its Stripes |
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Hubble Catches Jupiter Chang
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Hubble Catches Jupiter Changing Its Stripes |
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Hubble Catches Jupiter Chang
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Hubble Catches Jupiter Changing Its Stripes |
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Hubble Catches Jupiter Chang
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Hubble Catches Jupiter Changing Its Stripes |
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Hubble Catches Jupiter Chang
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Hubble Catches Jupiter Changing Its Stripes |
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Hubble Finds that Earth is S
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| Title |
Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst |
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Hubble Finds that Earth is S
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| Title |
Hubble Finds that Earth is Safe from One Class of Gamma-ray Burst |
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West Africa Dust Storms
| Title |
West Africa Dust Storms |
| Abstract |
On the Coast of West Africa, dust storms are a common occurrance, if you take a look at this one, its about the size of Spain. |
| Completed |
2001-05-16 |
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West Africa Dust Storms
| Title |
West Africa Dust Storms |
| Abstract |
On the Coast of West Africa, dust storms are a common occurrance, if you take a look at this one, its about the size of Spain. |
| Completed |
2001-05-16 |
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African Dust Reaches Norther
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| Title |
African Dust Reaches Northern Europe |
| Description |
On April 16, 2003, the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) captured this image of African dust blowing far northward over Europe. The long trail of dust can be seen at bottom center arcing over the Pyrenees Mountains that separate Spain (south) from France (north). The trail stretches over the Atlantic Ocean and across Ireland (west) and Scotland, and continues eastward to Sweden and Norway, and then Denmark, to the south. Image provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE |
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Floods in Portugal
| Title |
Floods in Portugal |
| Description |
Heavy rains left central Portugal in a state of emergency on October 25, 2006, said news reports. The rains triggered mudslides and floods throughout Portugal and western Spain, but the worst of the damage was near Lisbon, the country's capital, and the areas immediately to its north. By the time the clouds cleared on October 27, the tributaries of the Tejo (Tagus) River were still swollen with the run-off. Tainted blue with mud in the top image, the flooded rivers extend both east and west from the Tejo. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the image on October 27 using both visible and infrared light. In this type of image, water stands out from the surrounding land because of its black color. Sediment in the water, often a sign of recent flooding, can give it a blue color. In the lower image, taken two weeks earlier, the Tejo is black like the Atlantic Ocean to its west, and its tributaries are not visible. Near the lower edge of both images, Lisbon and surrounding cities color the land cement gray. Plant-covered land is bright green, while lightly vegetated land is tan. Patches of freshly burned land along the right side of the lower image are red. In the space of two weeks, the rainfall has clearly spurred plant growth. The landscape has turned green in the top image with the flush of new vegetation. The large images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Europe_3_01 ] of Portugal in a variety of resolutions. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Floods in Portugal
| Title |
Floods in Portugal |
| Description |
Heavy rains left central Portugal in a state of emergency on October 25, 2006, said news reports. The rains triggered mudslides and floods throughout Portugal and western Spain, but the worst of the damage was near Lisbon, the country's capital, and the areas immediately to its north. By the time the clouds cleared on October 27, the tributaries of the Tejo (Tagus) River were still swollen with the run-off. Tainted blue with mud in the top image, the flooded rivers extend both east and west from the Tejo. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the image on October 27 using both visible and infrared light. In this type of image, water stands out from the surrounding land because of its black color. Sediment in the water, often a sign of recent flooding, can give it a blue color. In the lower image, taken two weeks earlier, the Tejo is black like the Atlantic Ocean to its west, and its tributaries are not visible. Near the lower edge of both images, Lisbon and surrounding cities color the land cement gray. Plant-covered land is bright green, while lightly vegetated land is tan. Patches of freshly burned land along the right side of the lower image are red. In the space of two weeks, the rainfall has clearly spurred plant growth. The landscape has turned green in the top image with the flush of new vegetation. The large images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Europe_3_01 ] of Portugal in a variety of resolutions. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Floods in Southern Spain
| Title |
Floods in Southern Spain |
| Description |
Light blue pools of standing water show where the Guadalquiver River has overflowed into the Las Marismas marshlands in an annual flood event. Las Marismas in Southwestern Spain was once a bay of the Atlantic Ocean. Over thousands of year, the Guadalquiver River carried sand into the bay. The eventual accumulation blocked the entrance to the bay except for the small opening through which the river itself spills into the ocean. The bay dried into a vast, salty marshland, which is covered with reeds. Until recently, the marshlands flooded annually. The floods were controlled as water was diverted from the Guadalquiver River for agriculture and drinking water, and Las Marismas began to dry. In 1990, the area became an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Spanish government has begun efforts to preserve the marshlands by allowing the annual floods to continue. The former bay is now one of the more important natural areas in Southern Europe, particularly for migrating birds. Most notably, Las Marismas is home to a large flamingo population. This false-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) image pair shows Las Marismas on November 25, 2003 during the annual flood, and on September 12 before the floods began. In the flood image, taken by the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, lighter blue plumes along the coast show where sediment is spilling into the Atlantic Ocean. The preflood image was captured by the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The ancient Spanish city, Seville lies on the banks of the Guadalquivir River to the northeast of the marshlands, just beyond the area shown in these images. The high-resolution images provided above are at MODIS?s maximum spatial resolution of 250 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 |
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Floods in Southern Spain
| Title |
Floods in Southern Spain |
| Description |
Light blue pools of standing water show where the Guadalquiver River has overflowed into the Las Marismas marshlands in an annual flood event. Las Marismas in Southwestern Spain was once a bay of the Atlantic Ocean. Over thousands of year, the Guadalquiver River carried sand into the bay. The eventual accumulation blocked the entrance to the bay except for the small opening through which the river itself spills into the ocean. The bay dried into a vast, salty marshland, which is covered with reeds. Until recently, the marshlands flooded annually. The floods were controlled as water was diverted from the Guadalquiver River for agriculture and drinking water, and Las Marismas began to dry. In 1990, the area became an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Spanish government has begun efforts to preserve the marshlands by allowing the annual floods to continue. The former bay is now one of the more important natural areas in Southern Europe, particularly for migrating birds. Most notably, Las Marismas is home to a large flamingo population. This false-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) image pair shows Las Marismas on November 25, 2003 during the annual flood, and on September 12 before the floods began. In the flood image, taken by the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, lighter blue plumes along the coast show where sediment is spilling into the Atlantic Ocean. The preflood image was captured by the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The ancient Spanish city, Seville lies on the banks of the Guadalquivir River to the northeast of the marshlands, just beyond the area shown in these images. The high-resolution images provided above are at MODIS?s maximum spatial resolution of 250 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 |
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Floods in Southern Spain
| Title |
Floods in Southern Spain |
| Description |
Light blue pools of standing water show where the Guadalquiver River has overflowed into the Las Marismas marshlands in an annual flood event. Las Marismas in Southwestern Spain was once a bay of the Atlantic Ocean. Over thousands of year, the Guadalquiver River carried sand into the bay. The eventual accumulation blocked the entrance to the bay except for the small opening through which the river itself spills into the ocean. The bay dried into a vast, salty marshland, which is covered with reeds. Until recently, the marshlands flooded annually. The floods were controlled as water was diverted from the Guadalquiver River for agriculture and drinking water, and Las Marismas began to dry. In 1990, the area became an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Spanish government has begun efforts to preserve the marshlands by allowing the annual floods to continue. The former bay is now one of the more important natural areas in Southern Europe, particularly for migrating birds. Most notably, Las Marismas is home to a large flamingo population. This false-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) image pair shows Las Marismas on November 25, 2003 during the annual flood, and on September 12 before the floods began. In the flood image, taken by the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, lighter blue plumes along the coast show where sediment is spilling into the Atlantic Ocean. The preflood image was captured by the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The ancient Spanish city, Seville lies on the banks of the Guadalquivir River to the northeast of the marshlands, just beyond the area shown in these images. The high-resolution images provided above are at MODIS?s maximum spatial resolution of 250 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 |
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Floods in Spain
| Title |
Floods in Spain |
| Description |
Spring rains left the Ebro River in eastern Spain running high in early April 2007. Flooding along the length of the river put 10,000 hectares of farmland under water, causing 40 million dollars of damage to crops, said the Dartmouth Flood Observatory. [ http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7efloods/Archives/2007sum.htm ] The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image of the floods on April 8, 2007. The lower image, taken on March 17, 2007, shows the river under normal conditions. The images combine infrared and visible light to make water stand out against the ground. In this type of image, water is dark blue or black, clouds are pale blue and white, vegetation is green, and bare ground is tan. The bright green squares that surround the river in the March 17 image are fields of irrigated crops. Natural vegetation in the mountains east and west of the river is a darker shade of green and is more even in tone. The Ebro River, swollen in the top image, flows southeast across the image. Its path carries it through the city of Zaragoza, the capital of the Spanish province of Aragon, which is cement gray in these images. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Spain ] of Spain like the images shown here are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Floods in Spain
| Title |
Floods in Spain |
| Description |
Spring rains left the Ebro River in eastern Spain running high in early April 2007. Flooding along the length of the river put 10,000 hectares of farmland under water, causing 40 million dollars of damage to crops, said the Dartmouth Flood Observatory. [ http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7efloods/Archives/2007sum.htm ] The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image of the floods on April 8, 2007. The lower image, taken on March 17, 2007, shows the river under normal conditions. The images combine infrared and visible light to make water stand out against the ground. In this type of image, water is dark blue or black, clouds are pale blue and white, vegetation is green, and bare ground is tan. The bright green squares that surround the river in the March 17 image are fields of irrigated crops. Natural vegetation in the mountains east and west of the river is a darker shade of green and is more even in tone. The Ebro River, swollen in the top image, flows southeast across the image. Its path carries it through the city of Zaragoza, the capital of the Spanish province of Aragon, which is cement gray in these images. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Spain ] of Spain like the images shown here are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Forest Fires in Portugal
| Title |
Forest Fires in Portugal |
| Description |
On August 4, 2003, fires (red dots) continued to burn across Portugal (left) and Spain (right), but the large cloud of smoke seen on the previous day had cleared. This image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on August 4, 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 |
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Forest Fires in Portugal
| Title |
Forest Fires in Portugal |
| Description |
Between morning and afternoon, fires across Portugal and Spain appeared to flare up, producing much more smoke at the time of this image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite than during the earlier Terra MODIS image also acquired on August 4, 2003. Portugal has declared a national disaster due to the fires, which have been burning over a week and have killed 14 people. 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 |
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Forest Fires in Portugal
| Title |
Forest Fires in Portugal |
| Description |
Firefighters in Portugal have brought most of the severe fires that were plaguing the country over the last week under control, but high temperatures, gusty winds, and the threat of electrical storms this coming weekend mean the danger has not yet passed, and a few of the fires still burning (marked with red dots in this image) are proving difficult to contain. This image of the fires was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on August 7, 2003. Fires are scattered across northern Portugal (left) and Spain (right), while a large burn scar is evident in central Portugal (see false-color image). 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 |
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Central Pyrenees
| Title |
Central Pyrenees |
| Description |
The Alps may be more famous, but the Pyrenees have been around much longer—tens of millions of years longer, in fact. These mountains formed between 100 and 150 million years ago when the landmass that Spain occupies pushed into the one that France occupies. The mountains have served as a natural barrier between the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and the rest of Europe ever since. Stretching east to west across 430 square kilometers (267 miles), the Pyrenees fall mostly within Spain's borders, but also pass into the independent state of Andorra. 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 part of the Central Pyrenees—the highest part of the range—on August 1, 2000. In this false-color image, clouds appear white, snow appears pale blue, vegetation appears green, and bare ground appears as either pink or dark, bluish-purple. Water on the ground appears dark blue (or nearly black). In this shot, the vegetated areas are mostly to the north, and the peaks to the south are mostly bare rock. In the large image, patches of dark purple that are visible along rivers and in valley floors are probably developed areas. As mountain peaks rise higher, the land they support rises above the treeline (the topmost elevation where trees can grow). At even higher altitudes, hardly any plants can survive at all, so the highest mountain peaks show just snow or bare rock. This mountain chain owes its ruggedness to granite, a volcanic rock that erodes slowly. The mountains also contain other rocks: gneiss and limestone. Glaciers didn't act on the Pyrenees as extensively as they did on the Alps, so these mountains don't sport big lakes left behind by glaciers. They do have water, however, including many small lakes and waterfalls. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using ASTER data made available by NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. [ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] |
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Forest Fires in Portugal
| Title |
Forest Fires in Portugal |
| Description |
Firefighters in Portugal have brought most of the severe fires that were plaguing the country over the last week under control, but high temperatures, gusty winds, and the threat of electrical storms this coming weekend mean the danger has not yet passed, and a few of the fires still burning (marked with red dots in this image) are proving difficult to contain. This false-color image of the fires and the burned areas (dark reddish brown) was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on August 7, 2003. Fires are scattered across northern Portugal (left) and Spain (right), while a large burn scar is evident in central Portugal. 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 |
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Forest Fires in Portugal
| Title |
Forest Fires in Portugal |
| Description |
Forest fires continue to spring up across Portugal (left) in the second week of August. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on August 12, 2003, shows dozens of actively burning fires marked in red and a pall of smoke hanging over the country. The fires in the south have been difficult to control, with rapidly shifting winds moving the flames erratically. A few active fire detections were made by MODIS in northwest Spain as well. 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 |
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Forest Fires in Portugal
| Title |
Forest Fires in Portugal |
| Description |
Fires in southern Portugal (left) continued to burn largely out of control on August 13, 2003, when this image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite. Fires were also detected in Spain (right). At the top of the image, numerous aircraft contrails are visible, perhaps from the water carriers that are helping to battle the region's fires. 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 |
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Haze and Pollution over West
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| Title |
Haze and Pollution over Western Europe |
| Description |
The United Kingdom was uncommonly cloud free on March 28, 2002, as can be seen in this true-color SeaWiFS image. Much of the mainland also has clear skies albeit somewhat hazy (greyish pixels), probably the result of human particulate pollution. At the very southern edge of the image a large dust cloud (brownish pixels) is visible crossing the Alboran Sea from Africa to Spain. 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 |
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Haze and Pollution over West
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| Title |
Haze and Pollution over Western Europe |
| Description |
The United Kingdom was uncommonly cloud free on March 29, 2002, as can be seen in this SeaWiFS image. Much of mainland Western Europe also had clear skies, albeit somewhat hazy. At the southern extreme of the image, much dust is still visible in the air over northern Algeria and moving northward toward Europe. Two low-pressure systems?one centered just northeast of Cape Ortegal, Spain, and the other over the Norwegian Sea?can be seen moving in from the west. (The northern spiral looks horizontally stretched because of the projection used to make this scene.) 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 |
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Heat Wave in Western Europe
| Title |
Heat Wave in Western Europe |
| Description |
Western Europe continued to bake in late July 2006. Following an unusually warm spell between July 12 and 19, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13743 ] temperatures across most of the region remained much warmer than normal. This image shows land surface (as opposed to air) temperatures collected from July 20-27, 2006, compared to the average temperatures for that period over the past six years (2000-2005). Places that were up to ten degrees Celsius warmer than average are deep red, while places that were up to ten degrees cooler than average are deep blue. Places where the temperatures were average are white. The temperatures were measured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite. In the center of the image, deep red areas of very warm temperatures spread across Germany, as well as France (to the west), and Poland (to the east). To the north (top center), both Norway (west) and Sweden (east) were much warmer than average. Only small pockets of the region were cooler than average: northeastern Spain, the "toe" of Italy's boot and the western half of the island of Sicily, and parts of Greece (lower right). July 2006 was a record-breaking month for heat in many Western European countries, coming in as the hottest July on record in several countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara. |
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Heatwaves and Cold Weather A
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| Title |
Heatwaves and Cold Weather Across Europe |
| Description |
While Southern Europe languished in extreme heat, Northern Europe was chilled with cool, fall-like temperatures during the first week of July. Over 30 people died from heat-related illnesses as temperatures soared up to 40 degrees Celsius in Greece, Romania, and Macedonia. During the same period, unseasonably cold weather dominated much of Northern Europe. In Germany?s Bavarian Alps, the thermometer plummeted to -6 Celsius as snow fell in the mountains and high valleys. The contrast between the cold north and the hot south is played out in the above image, which shows an average of daytime land surface temperatures for July 3 through July 10, 2004. A strip of yellow from Romania on the western shores of the Black Sea to the Iberian Peninsula marks out the regions experiencing the highest temperatures. Cooler red and purple covers the rest of Europe, with the coldest temperatures across Scandinavia and Great Britain. Europe?s major mountain ranges separate hot from cold. The Alps cut across northern Italy, their snow-capped peaks forming a line of blue that divides the yellow heat of Italy from the red and purple chill of the lands to the north. In the east, the Carpathian Mountains curve between the red and yellow zones that cover Eastern Europe and the Balkan States, respectively. In the west, a bold red line divides Spain on the Iberian Peninsula and France to its east. The image was created from land surface temperature measurements taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) onboard NASA?s Aqua and Terra satellites. NASA image courtesy Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara |
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Drought on the Iberian Penin
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| Title |
Drought on the Iberian Peninsula |
| Description |
As May drew to a close, Spain and Portugal were entering the summer dry season already parched from a record-dry winter. Between November 2004 and March 2005, Spain experienced its driest winter since records began in 1943, reported the Spanish Meteorological Institute. Portugal was experiencing its worst drought in 25 years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service estimated rainfall totals for both Spain and Portugal to be as much as 75 percent below average between September and February. The impact of the dry weather on vegetation is shown in this vegetation anomaly image, created using data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) between April 7 and April 22, 2005. Compared to the average vegetation density (a good indication of plant health) in the latter half of April from 2000-2004, vegetation across the entire Iberian Peninsula was clearly stressed because of drought in 2005. Brown represents those regions where vegetation was thin and less dense than average, while tiny flecks of green show where vegetation is healthier than average. The dark reddish-brown streak across Southern Portugal and Spain shows that those regions seem to be the most severely affected. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided by Inbal Reshef as part of the Global Agricultural Monitoring Project between NASA, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), and the University of Maryland. More data and information about this joint project is available at Satellite Information for Agricultural Monitoring. [ http://tripwire.geog.umd.edu/usda/ ] |
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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. |
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Dust Storm Off the Coast of
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| Title |
Dust Storm Off the Coast of Algeria |
| Description |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ], flying onboard the Aqua [ http://www.aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, captured this image on May 31, 2005, of an Algerian dust storm. The storm swept northward over the Mediterranean Sea toward the coast of Spain. A journey across the Mediterranean is a short trip for African dust, which often travels across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Algeria provides the Mediterranean with a steady supply of dust and sand. More than 80 percent of Algeria is desert, including the enormous Issaouane Erg [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16813 ] (sand sea) in the eastern part of the country. Large basins that may have held shallow seas or lakes, sand seas now hold active and fossilized sand dunes. NASA image courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ], NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Dust Storm over Morocco and
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| 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 |
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European Heat Wave
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European Heat Wave |
| Description |
Europe is experiencing an historic heat wave that has been responsible for at 3,000 deaths in France alone. Compared to July 2001, temperatures in July 2003 were sizzling. This image shows the differences in day time land surface temperatures collected in the two years by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite. A blanket of deep red across southern and eastern France (left of image center) shows where temperatures were 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter this summer. White areas show where temperatures were similar, and blue shows where temperatures were cooler in 2003 than 2001. Even the Alps, which arc across southeastern France, Switzerland, Austria, and northern Italy (just below image center), are very warm this year. Glaciers are melting rapidly and swelling rivers and lakes to dangerously high levels. Climbers had to be evacuated from Switzerland's famous Matterhorn after melting triggered the collapse of a rock face. The popular climbing destination has been closed while geologists assess the possibility of further collapses. The heat wave stretches northward all the way to the United Kingdom, particularly southern England (bottom of island) and Scotland (top of island). In London, trains were shut down over fears that tracks would buckle in the heat, while in Scotland the high temperatures combined with falling water levels in rivers and streams are threatening the spawning and survival of salmon. Throughout France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, the intense heat and dry conditions sparked devastating forest fires that killed at least 15 people. Image by Reto Stockli and Robert Simmon, NASA?s Earth Observatory Team. |
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Fires Flare up in Portugal a
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| Title |
Fires Flare up in Portugal and Spain |
| Description |
Several large and smoky wildfires were burning across Spain and Portugal in the hot, dry conditions of early October 2005. This image of the fires (outlined in red) was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite on October 6, 2005. Portugal has been plagued with devastating wildfires this season, particularly in July and August. Much of the Iberian Peninsula has experienced severe drought and higher-than-normal temperatures this year. 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/?Europe_3_01/2005279/Europe_3_01.2005279/ ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires Flare up in Portugal a
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| Title |
Fires Flare up in Portugal and Spain |
| Description |
Scorching temperatures and hot winds were making the job of firefighters in drought-stricken Portugal extremely difficult in early October 2005. According to news reports, 7 of the country's 18 administrative divisions were experiencing the "maximum" level of fire danger, with many more at the "very high" level. These blazes flared up over the first weekend of October, after a month of relatively quiet conditions following the major fires of July and August. This image of the fires was captured on October 3, 2005, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite. Actively burning areas are outlined in red. 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/?Europe_3_01/2005276 ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Phytoplankton Bloom Off Port
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| Title |
Phytoplankton Bloom Off Portugal |
| Description |
Turquoise and greenish swirls marked the presence of a large phytoplankton bloom off the coast of Portugal on April 23, 2002. This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modarch.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] (MODIS), flying aboard NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. There are also several fires burning in northwest Spain, near the port city of A Coruña. Please note that the high-resolution scene provided here is 500 meters per pixel. For a copy of this scene at the sensor?s fullest resolution, visit the MODIS Rapidfire [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2002092-0402 ] site. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] at NASA GSFC |
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Fires in Portugal
| Title |
Fires in Portugal |
| Description |
East of the city of Ourense in northern Spain, fires were burning in the parched forests and woodlands on August 7, 2005. Fires continued in the tinder-dry landscapes of northern Portugal, particularly around the city of Porto. This image shows the region as it appeared during the afternoon (local time) overpass of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite on August 7. Places where MODIS detected active fires are marked in red. The high-resolution image provided above is 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Ship Tracks in the Atlantic
| Title |
Ship Tracks in the Atlantic |
| Description |
An unusually high number of ship tracks were visible in the clouds off of the coasts of France and Spain in these true- and false-color images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on January 27, 2003. Ship tracks form when very small, airborne particles emitted in the exhaust of large ships (and airplanes) attract water molecules, acting as ?seeds? for clouds. These seeds are called cloud condensation nuclei. Continued accumulation of droplets on the cloud condensation nuclei forms the thin, streaky clouds pictured in these images. As the ships moved about the East Atlantic, they left a visible, though impermanent, record of where they have recently been. Instead of showing the past location of the ship, like the contrail of an aircraft would, ship tracks reflect the direction and speed of the wind. The false-color cut-aways show two properties of clouds that influence the heat and energy balance of the atmosphere and, as a result, the climate. One is cloud optical thickness, which describes how much light is able to pass through a cloud. The other characteristic is cloud particle radius, which is the estimated size of the radius of the particles making up the clouds. These images reveal an important difference between clouds formed from natural cloud condensation nuclei (like dust or sea salt) and those formed from particles in ship exhaust. First, the ship track clouds contain greater amounts of smaller liquid water particles (shown in yellow) than surrounding natural clouds (shown in red). The optical thickness of the ship track clouds is different as well, showing up as dark orange streaks. Why are these characteristics important? A cloud?s optical thickness determines how much sunlight reaches the Earth?s surface and how much is reflected or absorbed by the clouds, factors that influence global temperatures. The size of cloud particles is important, too. In general, smaller particles produce brighter, more reflective clouds, which bounce light from the sun back into space and cool the planet. If that sounds like a good way to combat global warming, consider this: when particles are small, they are less likely to collide with one another often enough to produce raindrops. Indeed, in some parts of the world, increasing, persistent air pollution is contributing to drought. For more about ship tracks and climate, read Every Cloud Has a Filthy Lining. Images courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] and Mark Gray, MODIS Atmosphere Science Team [ http://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ], both at NASA GSFC |
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Ship Tracks off Europe's Atl
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| Title |
Ship Tracks off Europe's Atlantic Coast |
| Description |
An unusually high number of ship tracks were visible in the clouds off of the coasts of France and Spain in these true- and false-color images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on January 27, 2003. Ship tracks form when very small, airborne particles emitted in the exhaust of large ships (and airplanes) attract water molecules, acting as "seeds" for clouds. These seeds are called cloud condensation nuclei. Continued accumulation of droplets on the cloud condensation nuclei forms the thin, streaky clouds pictured in these images. As the ships moved about the East Atlantic, they left a visible, though impermanent, record of where they have recently been. Generally speaking, the faster the ship, the narrower, longer, and less diffuse the ship track will be. Slower ships will leave shorter, wider, and more diffuse ship tracks. Ship tracks often reflect the direction and speed of the wind as much as the direction and speed of the ship. The false-color cut-aways show two properties of clouds that influence the heat and energy balance of the atmosphere and, as a result, the climate. One is cloud optical thickness, which describes how much light is able to pass through a cloud. The other characteristic is cloud particle radius, which is the estimated size of the radius of the particles making up the clouds. These images reveal an important difference between clouds formed from natural cloud condensation nuclei (like dust or sea salt) and those formed from particles in ship exhaust. First, the ship track clouds contain greater amounts of smaller liquid water particles (shown in yellow) than surrounding natural clouds (shown in red). The optical thickness of the ship track clouds is different as well, showing up as dark orange streaks. Why are these characteristics important? A cloud's optical thickness determines how much sunlight reaches the Earth's surface and how much is reflected or absorbed by the clouds, factors that influence global temperatures. The size of cloud particles is important, too. In general, smaller particles produce brighter, more reflective clouds, which bounce light from the sun back into space and cool the planet. If that sounds like a good way to combat global warming, consider this: when particles are small, they are less likely to collide with one another often enough to produce raindrops. Indeed, in some parts of the world, increasing, persistent air pollution appears to be contributing to drought. Images courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] and Mark Gray, MODIS Atmosphere Science Team [ http://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ], both at NASA GSFC |
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Snow Hammers Europe
| Title |
Snow Hammers Europe |
| Description |
Blustery weather spread across Europe on February 23, 2005, blasting even the normally balmy Spain with snow and freezing temperatures. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired this image of the aftermath of the storm in Spain on February 25, 2005. The snow is centered on three areas: the Cantabrian Mountains on the northern coast, the center of the country near the capital, Madrid, and in the Pyrenees Mountains on the French border (all visible in the large images). The above images show the snow near Madrid. The top scene is in true color as the human eye would see it. The lower scene uses MODIS' infrared observations to differentiate between cloud and snow. Here, the snow is turquoise, while cloud is white. As both images illustrate, the four inches of snow that fell in Madrid seem to have disappeared, but the nearby mountains are still covered. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. Both images are available in additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Spain ]. |
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Snow Hammers Europe
| Title |
Snow Hammers Europe |
| Description |
Blustery weather spread across Europe on February 23, 2005, blasting even the normally balmy Spain with snow and freezing temperatures. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired this image of the aftermath of the storm in Spain on February 25, 2005. The snow is centered on three areas: the Cantabrian Mountains on the northern coast, the center of the country near the capital, Madrid, and in the Pyrenees Mountains on the French border (all visible in the large images). The above images show the snow near Madrid. The top scene is in true color as the human eye would see it. The lower scene uses MODIS' infrared observations to differentiate between cloud and snow. Here, the snow is turquoise, while cloud is white. As both images illustrate, the four inches of snow that fell in Madrid seem to have disappeared, but the nearby mountains are still covered. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. Both images are available in additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Spain ]. |
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