Posts Tagged ‘Aqua Satellite’

Fires burning around Moscow continue to provide health risks, aircraft delays, and generally covering the city of Moscow in Russia with smoke. NASA’s Aqua satellite, with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) took this natural color image as it passed overhead. Showing just how much smoke there is covering the city as seen earlier today. For images closer to the ground to further understand why there is a smokey haze over the capital city of Russia, I’d recommend The Boston Globe’s Big Picture website.

Fires continued burning around Moscow on August 7, 2010, forcing airports to delay flights, and prompting locals to stay indoors or venture out only with gauze masks, Bloomberg reported. Carbon monoxide levels in the capital city were several times the maximum allowable limit. Meanwhile, firefighters fought 577 fires covering 193,516 hectares (747 square miles).

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on August 7. Red outlines indicate actively burning fires, and multiple fires cluster east of Moscow, many of them sending their smoke right over the city. Smoke almost completely hides the land surface throughout this scene.

High temperatures contributed to tinder-dry conditions along the Volga River, and Bloomberg reported that temperatures as high as 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) would continue to plague central Russia for at least another day.

Best and newest image of the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico as seen yesterday from NASA satellite Aqua. Using its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Aqua gives us a great image of the Gulf of Mexico 101 days after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on July 28, 2010. Around the location of the oil leak, and around the Mississippi Delta, relatively light swirls and patches appear on the ocean surface. These areas might be oil slicks, although other factors could affect the water’s ability to reflect sunlight, especially near the shore. If these pale-hued sheens are oil-slicked areas, they contain very little recoverable oil, according to NOAA.

The latest satellite image of the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico as viewed on July 19th. NASA satellites continue to give a broader view of the disaster still unfolding after 91 days on. You can also see all the satellite images NASA has taken of the oil slick in the gulf on their Earth Observatory website.

The Gulf of Mexico was speckled and streaked with small clouds on the afternoon of July 19, 2010, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image. Between the clouds, however, silvery-gray streaks of oil remained visible offshore of the Mississippi River Delta. The tan-colored waters around the river delta are full of sediment.

Churning in the Gulf of Mexico, the first named storm became a Hurricane on Tuesday and is expected to make landfall in Mexico on Thursday. NASA’s Aqua satellite took this image yesterday, giving us a better view of the havoc the US has been fortunate to miss out on. There had been some concern about the storm wrecking additional havoc to the Gulf states of the United States after 70 days of dealing with Oil from the Deepwater Horizon Spill. Fortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case, but being the first hurricane to form in June since 1995 and a forecast for an active hurricane season it does seem time is possibly against the cleanup effort.

Hurricane Alex spanned the Gulf of Mexico, from Yucatán Peninsula to the Louisiana coast, on June 29, 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image the same day. Thick, opaque clouds spiral outward from the center of the storm, and cloud cover stretches the entire north-south length of the Gulf. Clouds skirt New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta.

According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), Hurricane Alex is not forecast to travel in the direction of the Mississippi Delta or the oil slick. Instead, according to a June 30 bulletin, the storm was headed toward the northwest at roughly 7 miles (11 kilometers) per hour, in the direction of northern Mexico.

As of 10:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time on June 30, 2010. Alex was forecast to strengthen later that day, according to the NHC, and to bring substantial rainfall—6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) over northeastern Mexico, and up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) in isolated spots. A Category 1 hurricane, Alex had maximum sustained winds of 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour. The NHC reported that hurricane-force winds extended from the storm center outward up to 60 miles (100 kilometers), and tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 200 miles (320 kilometers).

Amazing Phytoplankton bloom imaged off Iceland on the 24th by NASA’s Aqua satellite with the US instrument Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer.

Shades of green and blue blend in subtle swirls in this photo-like image taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on June 24, 2010. Made of millions of microscopic, plant-like organisms called phytoplankton, this splash of color is part of the annual North Atlantic phytoplankton bloom. Every year, a massive phytoplankton bloom spreads across the North Atlantic, moving from south to north and peaking in the late spring. This image shows a manifestation of the North Atlantic bloom west of Iceland.

NASA’s Terra satellite continues to monitor the situation in the Gulf of Mexico, taking this image of the oil slick on June 19th from its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer.

On Saturday, June 19, 2010, oil spread northeast from the leaking Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil appears as a maze of silvery-gray ribbons in this photo-like image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite.

The location of the leaking well is marked with a white dot. North of the well, a spot of black may be smoke; reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say that oil and gas continue to be captured and burned as part of the emergency response efforts.

Two NASA satellites Aqua and Terra use the on board Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer to image the effects of wildfires in Quebec on May 30th and 31st. The smoke had Canadian and US cities alike on alert, and you can see clearly in the second picture the haze over New England.

Acquired May 30, 2010

Acquired May 31, 2010

A thick river of smoke flowed southeast over New England from several large forest fires in southern Quebec, Canada on May 31, 2010. These images show both the fires (top image) and the thick smoke they produced (lower image). Red boxes outline the fires north of Quebec, Canada in the top image, which was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on May 30, 2010. Dense smoke pours from the fires and blows south toward the city of Quebec, a cement gray region along the St. Lawrence River.

By the following day, the smoke had reached New England and flowed over the North Atlantic Ocean. The MODIS sensor on NASA’s Terra satellite captured the lower image at 11:10 a.m. U.S. Eastern time on May 31. The image covers a much broader region than the top image. A pale gray smoke plume spans the entire width of the image—about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles). The plume is over 200 kilometers (120 miles) wide near Cape Cod, but it narrows offshore. The fires are under cloud and just beyond the upper edge of the image, but the St. Lawrence River and Quebec are visible.

On May 30, the Canadian Interagency Fire Center reported 54 fires in Quebec, eight of which were burning out of control. As of June 1, at least 1,300 people had been evacuated from communities threatened by the fires, reported the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The smoke brought air quality to unhealthy levels in the province of Quebec and throughout much of New England on May 31.

Short video showing the growing oil slick that is currently tarnishing the Gulf of Mexico. As viewed by NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites. A majority of these images I’ve been posting here on Space Gizmo, and such posted Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill pictures are here.

A view of the Deepwater Horizon spill as seen by NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellite yesterday and Monday. For a live view of the spill nearly a mile down I recommend the BP live feed. There is also this page, which lets you choose which live feeds you want to view.

Acquired May 25, 2010
Satellite: Aqua
Instrument: MODIS

On May 25, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was perfectly positioned in the sunglint part of a photo-like image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite.

In the sunglint region—where the mirror-like reflection of the Sun gets blurred into a wide, bright strip—any differences in the texture of the water surface are enhanced. Oil smoothes the water, making it a better “mirror.” Oil-covered waters are very bright in this image, but, depending on the viewing conditions (time of day, satellite viewing angle, slick location), oil-covered water may look darker rather than brighter.

The slick appears large and sprawling, reaching out in numerous ribbons toward the tip of the Mississippi River Delta. Oil is visible in the marshes of Barataria Bay and barrier islands to the southwest. Although most of the oil is located near and to the west and northwest of the damaged well, one streamer of oil continues to stretch toward the southeast.

The relative brightness of the oil from place to place is not necessarily an indication of the amount of oil. Any oil located in the precise spot where the Sun’s reflection would appear if the surface of the Gulf were perfectly smooth and calm is going to look very bright in these images. The cause of the dark patch of water in the middle of the slick just west of the well is not known, but it may indicate the use of skimmers, dispersants, or booms.

Acquired May 24, 2010
Satellite: Terra
Instrument: ASTER

On May 24, 2010, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this false-color, high-resolution view of the very tip of the Mississippi River Delta. Ribbons and patches of oil that have leaked from the Deepwater Horizon well offshore are silver against the light blue color of the adjacent water. Vegetation is red.

The latest image of the Deep Horizon oil spill as seen by NASA’s Aqua satellite earlier today.

Acquired May 9, 2010 at 19 :05 UTC

On April 20, an explosion destroyed the Deepwater Horizon oil platform operating in the Gulf 80 kilometers (50 miles) offshore, resulting in substantial loss of life and releasing 5,000 barrels of oil per day into the water. The huge oil slick was being carried towards the Mississippi River Delta, and small amounts of oil had reached the Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi shores by May 3.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team