The Earth From Space

[Waspie_Dwarf]

International Space Station Imagery


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ISS010-E-08497 (24 November 2004) --- This picture, apparently the first verifiable photo showing the Great Wall of China from low earth orbit, was taken by International Space Station Commander Leroy Chiao. Chiao used a digital still camera with a 400mm lens when he snapped the photo early in the Expedition 10 mission on Nov. 24, 2004. The land mass featured is in the central part of Inner Mongolia, about 200 miles north of Beijing. A small section of the wall is visible just below true center of the photo at 42.5 degrees north latitude and 117.4 east longitude, according to NASA scientists studying the Space Station imagery.

Source: NASA - Human Space Flight Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

International Space Station Imagery


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ISS010-E-21487 (26 March 2005) --- Manhattan Island and its easily recognizable Central Park are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 10 crewmember on the International Space Station. Some of the other New York City boroughs (including parts of Queens and Brooklyn) are also shown, as are two small sections of the New Jersey side of the Hudson River.

Source: NASA - Human Space Flight Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Earth from Space: Treasure peninsula


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19 May 2006
The south-western area of the Republic of Kazakhstan is captured in this Envisat image, which highlights the south-western province of Mangistau and the Caspian Sea.

With an area of 2.7 million square kilometres, Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest nation in the world – the size of Western Europe. It borders Russia to the north, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to the south and the Caspian Sea to the west. Prior to gaining independence in 1991, Kazakhstan was part of the former USSR.
The Mangyshlak Peninsula (the tip of which is seen in the lower left across from the half-moon shaped island) is often referred to as a treasure peninsula because it has a wealth of mineral deposits, including coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, uranium and gold.

Petroleum and natural gas, however, are the main riches of the peninsula. Production of oil in Mangyshlak is expected to increase with the planned sinking of new oil wells in Buzachi, located in the northernmost cape of Mangyshlak. Advanced methods of oil extraction are needed in Buzachi because the oil’s high viscosity makes it difficult to extract, despite it occurring at relatively small depths of 300-1 000 metres.

In 2001, the Caspian Consortium pipeline opened from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea. And work has begun, in cooperation with China, on the construction of an oil pipeline that will extend from the Caspian coast eastward to the Chinese border.

Also located in Kazakhstan is the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Russian-operated space launch facility, in the south-central part of the country about 200 km east of the Aral Sea near the town of Tyuratam. The former Soviet Union intentionally gave the launch facility the misleading name of Baikonur, which is a mining town located about 320 km northeast of the space centre, to conceal the actual location of the site.

The Baikonur Cosmodrome will be the launch site of MetOp-A, developed by ESA in collaboration with the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). Scheduled to launch on 17 July 2006, MetOp-A will be Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology.

This image was acquired by Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) in August 2005.

Source: ESA - Observing the Earth - Image of the Week

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Three Gorges Dam, China

Large images:

May 14, 2006 (2.6 MB)

July 17, 2000 (2.7 MB)

On May 15, 2006, Chinese news media reported that engineers were pouring the last of the concrete to finish the construction of the massive Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in central China. The dam is intended to provide flood control and hydroelectric power. When all the generators are operational (projected for 2009), Three Gorges will become the largest hydroelectric project in the world.

This pair of images shows the dam in partial completion in July 2000 and again in May 2006. The Yangtze River flows from upper left toward upper right in the images. In 2000, construction along each riverbank had occurred, but sediment-filled water still flowed freely through a narrow channel near the river’s south bank (bottom left). A smaller passage closer to the north bank of the river, where the water appears calmer, is likely a system of temporary locks that allowed for boat passage. A second dam bypass appears to be under construction about 1 kilometer to the north.

By May 15, 2006, the dam spanned the entire river, and a large reservoir had filled behind it, to the northwest. The new reservoir is more than 3 kilometers (more than 2 miles) across just upstream of the dam. White spray shoots through gates in the center portion of the dam. The former locks are much less prominent, and the new ones to the north appear as a linear arrangement of thin, blue rectangles.

Related Links:

May 20, 2000, image centered on the Wu Gorge, the middle of the three gorges that will be flooded by the Three Gorges Dam Reservoir.

Wider-perspective view of Three Gorges Reservoir on the central Yangtze

Transcript of a PBS program on the potential benefits and costs of the Three Gorges Dam project

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.

Source: NASA - Earth Observatory - Image of the Day

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina

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Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina encompasses mountains, lakes, forests, and glaciers in the Andes along the Chilean border. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization declared this area a World Heritage Site in 1981. The park provides a home for guanacos, pumas, foxes, and many bird and fish species.

This Landsat image, acquired on October 14, 2001, shows the southern portion of Los Glaciares National Park. Snow and ice are white, water is blue, and bare or thinly vegetated ground is brown. Over time, glacial melt has formed two lakes in this park: Lago Viedma and Lago Argentino (shown in this image). Lago Argentino has an unusual feature: the Perito Moreno Glacier, appearing in more detail in this astronaut photograph, periodically dissects the lake. As the glacier advances, it cuts off one side of the lake, known as Brazo Rico, from the other side. Over time, the water level of Brazo Rico rises enough to break off the tip of the glacier. After rupturing the glacier, Brazo Rico dumps its excess water into the other side of the lake. Water pressure ruptures the Perito Moreno Glacier every four or five years on average, although the pattern of ruptures is irregular.

Besides the periodic ruptures of the Perito Moreno Glacier, the park offers other feasts for the eyes, including the rugged Cerro Torre and Mount Fitz Roy, named for Robert Fitz Roy, who captained the Beagle on Charles Darwin’s famous voyage. These tall, jagged, granite peaks have been shaped by glacial ice, and their extremely steep slopes pose serious challenges for modern mountain climbers.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the University of Maryland’s Global Land Cover Facility.

Source: NASA - Earth Observatory - Image of the Day

[frogfish]

Very nice...

[Master Sage]

Fine Photos of our planet!

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Washington, D.C.

Click here to view full image (597 kb)

George Washington not only served as the namesake for the capital city of the United States, he also chose its location, perhaps envisioning the transportation possibilities that the Potomac River flowing past the site would provide. Early on, the city saw conflict; in the War of 1812, British forces invaded and burned several public buildings. The Civil War marked the beginning of the city’s transformation from a provincial town to a world center of culture, history, and political energy during the 20th century. According to the Census Bureau, the District of Columbia, which comprises the city of Washington, supported a population of more than half a million inhabitants in 2003.

This picture was taken as the International Space Station passed over the western border of Maryland and West Virginia. The resolution and spatial coverage of this image is similar to the 15-meter-per-pixel data obtained by sensors onboard the Landsat 7 and Terra satellites. Recognizable in this image are the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument (and its shadow), and the Lincoln Memorial, along the northeast bank of the Potomac River.

Astronaut photograph ISS013-E-13549 was acquired May 2, 2006, with a Kodak 760C digital camera using an 800 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Group, Johnson Space Center. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

Source: NASA - Earth Observatory - Image of the Day Edited June 19, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Drought in Northern China

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A mild drought set in over the Yellow River Basin and parts of the North China Plain during the first five months of 2006. Dry weather and warmer-than-average temperatures in February, March, and much of April left soil dry, reported the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. The effect of the dry weather on crops and other vegetation is apparent in this vegetation anomaly (difference from normal) image. The image was created from data taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite between April 23 and May 8, and shows the relative health of plants in 2006 compared to the average for 2000-2005. Wide pockets of brown indicate regions where plants were growing more slowly than average, while brushes of green show more growth than average. The cream-colored background reveals where plants were growing normally, and regions that were cloud-covered during the entire sixteen-day period are gray.

According to the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), the drought-affected region accounts for about 38 percent of China’s winter wheat production. Despite the drought, the FAS predicted that the winter wheat harvest in the country as a whole, scheduled to peak in early June, would be slightly larger than it was in 2004 or 2005.

Further Reading:

China Winter Wheat Update from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division

Wheat Area, Yield and Production, official USDA estimates for May 2006

Measuring Vegetation (NDVI & EVI) explains how satellites measure vegetation anomalies.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided by Inbal Reshef and information provided by Assaf Anyamba 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 are available at Satellite Information for Agricultural Monitoring.

Source: NASA - Earth Observatory - Image of the Day

[Waspie_Dwarf]

International Space Station Imagery


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ISS01-E-5011 (November 2000) --- A mass of storm clouds was captured with an electronic still camera (ESC) from the International Space Station (ISS) by the Expedition One crew members. The picture was the first Earth observation still image downlinked by the three-man crew.

Source: NASA - Human Space Flight Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

International Space Station Imagery


Click image for high resolution version

ISS01-E-5078 (December 2000) --- A northwesterly-looking view from over the Gulf of Mexico reveals much of Galveston and Harris Counties, as photographed with a digital still camera from the Earth-orbiting International Space Station (ISS). Galveston Island and Galveston Bay take up most of the right side of the frame, with parts of southern Harris County and even part of north Harris County, including Lake Houston, are visible on the left side of the frame. The Texas City Dike is in the upper right quadrant of the image.

Source: NASA - Human Space Flight Gallery

[frogfish]

Pictures from the ISS are always pretty...

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Pictures from the ISS are always pretty...

The most disappointing one is the photo of London. My house is just out of the picture.

[frogfish]

The most disappointing one is the photo of London. My house is just out of the picture

Haha That was good.

[Luziadus]

Wheres Portugal?

I would like to see the Lisbon city near Tejo river with the huge pavement of the Discoveries in Belém.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Lisbon, Portugal


Click on the image for high resolution version

This Landsat Thematic Mapper image shows Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal, as it is in 2004.

The name, Lisbon, comes from “Olissipo”, which has its origins in the Phoenician words “Allis Ubbo”, meaning enchanting port.

It lies on the north bank of the Tagus Estuary, on the European Atlantic coast. It nestles against the seven hills of Castelo, Graça, Monte, Penha de França, S. Pedro de Alcântara, Santa Catarina, Estrela.

The Rio Tejo is the largest river on the Iberian Pennisula and measures 1,800 kilometres in length, 910 kilometres of which are in Spain, the rest in Portugal. The source of the Tagus is the Fuente de García in the Albarracín Mountains and it ends in the Atlantic Ocean by Lisbon. Its delta is partially inverted and forms a large lagoon. There is evidence of heavy sedimentation in the image.

Here, you can see the Tejo Estuary where you can find the Tejo Estuary Nature Reserve. As can be seen from the image, it currently corresponds to an inner delta, with wide alluvial spaces, reed beds and salt marshes.

In the image, you can see a white line which runs across the Tagus River. This is the Ponte Vasco de Gamma which was built in 1988 and was named after the first European navigator who doubled the Cape of Good Hope. At 14 kilometres in length and 17.2km in height, 10 of which stand above the Tagus, it is one of most significant bridges in Europe. It is 14 kilometres a 17.2 kilometres in height, 10 of which stand above the Tagus.

The Ponte Vasco de Gamma leads to the Parque das Nações (former World Expo 98 site which is the bright white area to the left of the bridge) which is situated to the northeast of the city centre.

The Parque Florestal de Monsanto – The Monsanto Woodland Park - can be seen as the large, green circular area to the north of the centre.

The large green area which is situated 28 kilometres northwest of Lisbon is Sintra. It is situated on the northern slopes of the Serra de Sintra. The area is verdant and its vegetation and spectacular mountaintop views promoted the early Iberians to call the ridge the Mountain of the Moon and made it a centre of cult worship (some of its strange effects are actually caused by massive deposits of iron ore).

Technical Information:

Satellite: Landsat

Instrument: Thematic Mapper

Acquistion: 14-Aug-2004

Centre coordinates: lat. 38.71, lon. -9.13

Credit: © LANDSAT through ESA 2005

Source: ESA - Observing the Earth Edited May 25, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Activity at Cleveland Volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Click here to view full image (186 kb)

At 3:00 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time on May 23, 2006, International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams contacted the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) to report that the Cleveland Volcano had produced a plume of ash. Shortly after the activity began, he took this photograph. This picture shows the ash plume moving west-southwest from the volcano’s summit. The event proved to be short-lived; two hours later, the plume had completely detached from the volcano. The AVO reported that the ash cloud height could be as high as 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) above sea level.

Cleveland Volcano, situated on the western half of Chuginadak Island, is one of the most active of the volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands, which extend west-southwest from the Alaska mainland. It is a stratovolcano, composed of alternating layers of hardened lava, compacted volcanic ash, and volcanic rocks. At a summit elevation of 1,730 meters, this volcano is the highest in the Islands of the Four Mountains group. Carlisle Island to the north-northwest, another stratovolcano, is also part of this group. Magma that feeds eruptions of ash and lava from the Cleveland Volcano is generated by the northwestward movement of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American Plate. As one tectonic plate moves beneath another—a process called subduction—melting of materials above and within the lower plate produces magma that can eventually move to the surface and erupt through a vent (such as a volcano). Cleveland Volcano claimed the only known eruption-related fatality in the Aleutian Islands, in 1944.

Astronaut photograph ISS013-E-24184 was acquired May 23, 2006, with a Kodak 760C digital camera using an 800 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Group, Johnson Space Center. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed.
The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

Source: NASA - Earth Observatory - Image of the Day Edited June 19, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

[rapid7]

Now that is an impressive image!

[MID]

Activity at Cleveland Volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Click here to view full image (186 kb)

At 3:00 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time on May 23, 2006, International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 13 Flight Engineer Jeff Williams contacted the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) to report that the Cleveland Volcano had produced a plume of ash. Shortly after the activity began, he took this photograph. This picture shows the ash plume moving west-southwest from the volcano’s summit. The event proved to be short-lived; two hours later, the plume had completely detached from the volcano. The AVO reported that the ash cloud height could be as high as 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) above sea level.

Cleveland Volcano, situated on the western half of Chuginadak Island, is one of the most active of the volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands, which extend west-southwest from the Alaska mainland. It is a stratovolcano, composed of alternating layers of hardened lava, compacted volcanic ash, and volcanic rocks. At a summit elevation of 1,730 meters, this volcano is the highest in the Islands of the Four Mountains group. Carlisle Island to the north-northwest, another stratovolcano, is also part of this group. Magma that feeds eruptions of ash and lava from the Cleveland Volcano is generated by the northwestward movement of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American Plate. As one tectonic plate moves beneath another—a process called subduction—melting of materials above and within the lower plate produces magma that can eventually move to the surface and erupt through a vent (such as a volcano). Cleveland Volcano claimed the only known eruption-related fatality in the Aleutian Islands, in 1944.

Astronaut photograph ISS013-E-24184 was acquired May 23, 2006, with a Kodak 760C digital camera using an 800 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Group, Johnson Space Center. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed.

The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

Source: NASA - Earth Observatory - Image of the Day

Waspie...

What an astounding photo.

Absolutely gorgeous!

You are an amazing source!

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Waspie...

What an astounding photo.

Absolutely gorgeous!

You are an amazing source!

Don't thank me, thank NASA, I just do the re-posting.

One day I would love to really be the source for one of these photos. Just me, my trusty EOS 100 and an ISS port hole. We can all dream.

[frogfish]

Just me, my trusty EOS 100 and an ISS port hole. We can all dream.

Sure can

[RamboIII]

My favorite picture from space of Earth is the composite of Earth at night.

i concur, there are better pics that that however...

[Waspie_Dwarf]

International Space Station Imagery


Click image for high resolution version

ISS01-E-5316 (23 January 2001) -- Popocatépetl, or Popo, the active volcano located about 70 kilometers southeast of Mexico City, sends a plume south on January 23, 2001. The Expedition One crew onboard the International Space Station (ISS) observed and recorded this image with a digital still camera as it orbited to the northeast of the volcano. Popo has been frequently active for six years. On this day, the eruption plume reportedly rose to more than 9 kilometers above sea level (for reference, Popo's summit elevation is 5426 meters). Note the smaller ash plume below the main plume. The perspective from the ISS allowed the crew members this unique three dimensional view. Popo is situated between two large population centers: Mexico City (more than 18 million people, and just out of this image at right) and Puebla (about 1.2 million people), partially visible at lower left.

Source: NASA - Human Space Flight Gallery

[Waspie_Dwarf]

International Space Station Imagery


Click image for high resolution version

ISS002-E-5457 (13 April 2001) --- The "bull's-eye" of the Richat Structure adds interest to the barren Gres de Chinguetti Plateau in central Mauritania in northwest Africa. It represents domally uplifted, layered (sedimentary) rocks that have been eroded by water and wind into the present shape. The 25-mile-wide structure is a 300-foot-deep landmark that has caught the eye of many an astronaut in Earth orbit. Image number ISS002-E-5693 shows the same feature six days later. The image was recorded with a digital still camera.

Source: NASA - Human Space Flight Gallery

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Click image for high resolution version

ISS002-E-5693 (19 April 2001) --- The "bull's-eye" of the Richat Structure adds interest to the barren Gres de Chinguetti Plateau in central Mauritania in northwest Africa. It represents domally uplifted, layered (sedimentary) rocks that have been eroded by water and wind into the present shape. The 25-mile-wide structure is a 300-foot-deep landmark that has caught the eye of many an astronaut in Earth orbit. Image number ISS002-E-5457 shows the same feature six days earlier. The image was recorded with a digital still camera.

Source: NASA - Human Space Flight Gallery

[frogfish]

Beautiful ISS Pictures again...a good dream to have Waspie.