Posts Tagged ‘Terra Satellite’

Taken yesterday, NASA satellite Terra uses its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to view the McClure Strait a part of the Northwest passage that is mostly free of ice. The strait is named after Irish explorer Robert McClure who commanded the HMS Investigator (1848) in search of the lost John Franklin expedition, the Investigator was abandoned to pack ice on June 3rd, 1853 after three years of being stranded. McClure and his crew transited the whole of the North West passage, the rest by sledging before being rescued. Incidentally the HMS Investigator was rediscovered recently after more than 150 years, in July Parks Canada archeologists discovered the wreck with a sonar scan of Banks Island, Mercy Bay, Northwest Territories.

Latest satellite image of Tropical Storm Dianmu as it moves towards the Korean Peninsula, as imaged by NASA’s Terra earth observing satellite earlier today.

Tropical Storm Dianmu blew over the East China Sea in early August 2010, traveling slowly toward the Korean Peninsula. On August 10, 2010, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Dianmu had winds of 55 knots (100 kilometers per hour) with gusts up to 70 knots (130 kilometers per hour). JTWC stated that the storm was roughly 270 nautical miles (500 kilometers) south-southwest of Seoul.

After three months NASA continues to monitor the ever changing oil slick the result of the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20th. This image was taken by NASA’s Terra satellite, which as you may know has been imaging the earth for a full 10 years. Everything from hurricanes to dust storms or oil slicks. Along with just giving us a better understanding of our planet.

Oil continued to float across the Gulf of Mexico around the Mississippi River Delta in early July 2010, three months after a deadly explosion at an offshore drilling rig. This photo-like image of the region was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on July 9.

The sunglint region of the image—the washed-out area where the Sun’s reflection would appear if the water were as calm and smooth as a mirror—is located in the left-hand side of the view. Oil located very close to the spot where the Sun’s reflection would have appeared in this image looks very bright.

Beyond the area where the Sun’s reflection would have appeared, however, oil may make the water surface look unusually dark rather than bright. The dark arc in the water east of Timbalier Bay may also be oil; it is consistent with oil locations identified with radar images of the area captured on July 8.

New images of the oil slick in the gulf of Mexico, as imaged by two of NASA’s satellites. Earth Observing-1 and Terra.

Acquired June 26, 2010
Satellite: Earth Observing-1
Instrument: Advanced Land Imager

As of June 27, 2010, the entire gulf-facing beachfront of several barrier islands in eastern Mississippi (offshore of Pascagoula) had received a designation of at least “lightly oiled” by the interagency Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Team that is responding to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. A few small stretches of Petit Bois Island had been labeled heavily or moderately oiled.

This high-resolution image shows Petit Bois Island (top right) and the eastern end of Horn Island (top left) on June 26. In general, oil-covered waters are silvery and cleaner waters are blue-gray. This pattern is especially consistent farther from the islands. The intensely bright patches of water directly offshore of the barrier islands, however, may be from a combination of factors, including sediment and organic material, coastal currents and surf, and oil.

The islands provide a sense of scale for the ribbons of oil swirling into the area from the south. Petit Bois Island is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) long. It is one of seven barrier islands that, along with some mainland areas of Mississippi and Florida, make up the Gulf Islands National Seashore. According to the National Park Service Gulf Islands National Seashore Website, all the islands remained open to the public as of June 28, 2010, and clean-up crews were on hand to respond to any oil coming ashore.

Acquired June 27, 2010
Satellite: Terra
Instrument: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

The possibility of detecting oil slicks in photo-like satellite images depends on the slick being located in the sunglint region—the wide, washed-out strip where the mirror-like reflection of the Sun off the water is diffused by waves and currents. When the oil is located in that relatively narrow region of the scene, it can strongly influence how the water reflects light. Oil-covered water may look dramatically brighter or darker than adjacent, oil-free water.

In this image from Sunday, June 27, 2010, eastern areas of the slick are more visible than western areas, even though analysis from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates heavy concentrations of oil in the vicinity of the leaking well, which is about 75 kilometers (47 miles) southeast of the Mississippi Delta (beyond the left edge of the image). Ribbons of silvery-gray oil swirl in the waters off Alabama and Florida, while farther west—closer to the source of the leak—the reflection seems to be dominated by muddy water in the Mississippi River Delta.

Although the oil extent does change from day to day, the big difference in the appearance of oil in this image versus the previous day’s image is the location of the oil in relation to the sunglint region. In this view from June 27, the sunglint fell across an area farther east than it did in the image from June 26, and so the oil is more visible there.

Ruining a whole lot of folks summers, along with livelihoods is the still ever presence oil sick covering the Gulf of Mexico. This latest picture was taken from the same satellite as took the image in the post below or NASA’s Terra satellite. Which has been zooming around earth, giving us a detailed picture of our planet for 10 years thus far.

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig was visible on the surface of Gulf of Mexico waters on June 18, 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite took this picture the same day. The oil appears and meandering, interlocking patterns of varying shades of off white. The angle of the Sun plays a role in the oil slick’s visibility, as the oil is illuminated by sunglint.

Tropical Storms Blas and Celia as viewed in the Pacific Ocean off of Mexico by NASA’s Terra satellite in a single pass. Pacific ocean tropical cyclones don’t generally affect population centers as adversely like their Atlantic ocean counterparts. Of which things have been quiet in thus far thankfully, last thing I want is a hurricane on my doorsteps. That would just ruin my whole summer.

Tropical Storms Blas and Celia blew in close proximity to each other in late June 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite observed both storms in a single overpass on June 19, 2010. Both storms were expected to follow westward tracks over the eastern Pacific Ocean. Blas appears in the west and Celia appears in the east, closer to Central America.

On June 20, 2010, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Tropical Storm Blas had maximum sustained winds of 30 knots (55 kilometers per hour) and gusts up to 40 knots (75 kilometers per hour), having dissipated slightly over the previous two days. The JTWC reported that Tropical Storm Celia, the newer storm, was stronger, with had maximum sustained winds of 65 knots (120 kilometers per hour) and gusts up to 80 knots (150 kilometers per hour).

Hurricane season in the Atlantic begun yesterday, and while things are all quiet for the most part that isn’t true in the Arabian Sea off of Oman. The third named storm of the North Indian cyclone season, Phet was imaged by the NASA satellite Terra earlier today.

Tropical Cyclone Phet raged over the Arabian Sea, just off the coast of Oman on June 2, 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image the same day. Northwest of the storm’s eye, one of Phet’s spiral arms skirts the coastline. Inland, skies are clear.

On June 2, 2010, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Tropical Cyclone Phet had maximum sustained winds of 125 knots (230 kilometers per hour) and gusts up to 150 knots (280 kilometers per hour). The storm was located roughly 560 nautical miles (1,040 kilometers) southwest of Karachi, Pakistan. The storm had been slowly moving toward the northwest over several hours. The JTWC stated that conditions favored continued intensification, and forecast that the storm would make landfall in Oman on June 3 before dissipating. Once over Oman, the JTWC expected, Phet would turn eastward and cross back over the northern Arabian Sea, but not remain significant storm at that time.

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.