Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

ISS024 Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

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ISS024-E-14580 Hurricane Igor from the Space Station: Astronauts aboard the International Space Station took this digital photograph of the eye of Hurricane Igor at 10:56 Atlantic Daylight Time (13:56 UTC) on September 14, 2010. The storm was a category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity.
At the time of the image, Igor was centered in the Atlantic Ocean near 18° N 52° W and slowly moving west-northwest at 11 kilometers (7 miles) per hour, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Maximum sustained winds of 213 km (132 mi.) per hour, with gusts to 259 km (161 mi.) per hour.

ISS024-E-13690 Es Safa Volcanic Field, Syria: Es Safa is a striking basaltic volcanic field located to the southeast of Damascus, Syria. It lies within the larger Harrat Ash Shamah—the largest volcanic field on the Arabian tectonic plate. Harrat Ash Shamah parallels the Red Sea and extends from northeastern Israel, through southern Syria and Jordan, and into Saudi Arabia, covering an area of over 50,000 square kilometers (19,000 square miles).
Es Safa contains numerous vents that have been active during the Holocene Epoch (beginning approximately 12,000 years ago). The most recent recorded activity was a boiling lava lake observed in the area around 1850. The dark lava flow field (center) likely represents the latest activity of the volcanic field, and is emplaced over older, lighter colored flows. The older flow surfaces also have light tan sediment accumulating in shallow depressions, in contrast to the relatively pristine surfaces of the darker, younger flows.
Cinder cones are scattered throughout the Es Safa field, but many are aligned along northwest-southeast trends that likely indicate faults through which magma rose to the surface. Two such alignments are visible at image left. To the southeast (image right) a small reservoir feeds water distribution ditches extending northwards.

ISS024-E-15121 Twitchell Canyon Fire, Central Utah: The Twitchell Canyon Fire, near central Utah’s Fishlake National Forest, was reported to cover approximately 13,383 hectares (134 square kilometers, or 33,071 acres) as of September 21, 2010. The crew on the International Space Station (ISS) took this photograph of the smoke plumes generated by fires close to the southwestern edge of the burned area. The fire was started by a lightning strike on July 20, 2010.
The photograph is highly oblique; that is, it was taken at an angle rather than looking straight down towards the Earth’s surface (a nadir view). The ISS was located over a point approximately 509 kilometers (316 miles) to the northeast, near the Colorado/Wyoming border, at the time. Southwesterly winds stretched smoke plumes to the northeast.
While the Twitchell Canyon region is sparsely populated, Interstate Highway 15 is visible at the upper right. A MODIS image acquired a day earlier than the astronaut photograph provides a regional view of the fire.

ISS024-E-14233 Smoke Plume, Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan: This broad view of the north coast of the Caspian Sea shows a smoke plume (image left) and two river deltas (image bottom and lower right). The larger delta is that of the Volga River which appears prominently here in sunglint (light reflected off a water surface back towards the observer), and the smaller less prominent delta is that of the Ural River. Wide angle, oblique views – taken looking outward at an angle, rather than straight down towards the Earth - such as this give an excellent impression of how astronauts onboard the International Space Station view the Earth. For a sense of scale, the Caucasus Mts. (across the Caspian , image top right) are approximately 1100 km to the southwest of the International Space Station’s nadir point location - the point on the Earth directly underneath the spacecraft - at the time this image was taken.
The smoke plume appears to be sourced in the dark-toned coastal marsh vegetation along the outer fringe of the Ural River delta, rather than in a city or at some oil storage facility. Although even small fires produce plumes that are long and bright and thus easily visible from space, the density of the smoke in this plume, and its 350-km length across the entire north lobe of the Caspian Sea, suggest it was a significant fire. The smoke was thick enough nearer the source to cast shadows on the sea surface below. Lines mark three separate pulses of smoke, the most recent, nearest the source, extending directly south away from the coastline (image lower left). With time, plumes become progressively more diffuse. The oldest pulse appears to be the thinnest, casting no obvious shadows (image center left).

ISS024-E-14071 ISS View of the Southwestern USA: This panoramic view of the southwestern United States and Pacific Ocean was taken by an astronaut looking out at an angle from the International Space Station (ISS). While most unmanned satellites view the Earth from a nadir perspective—collecting data while looking “straight down”—astronauts onboard the ISS can acquire imagery at a wide range of viewing angles using handheld digital cameras. The ISS nadir point—the point on Earth’s surface directly below the spacecraft—was located in northwestern Arizona, approximately 260 kilometers (160 miles) to the east-southeast, when this image was taken.
The image includes parts of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and California, as well the coastline of Baja California, Mexico (image center left). The Las Vegas metropolitan area appears as a gray region adjacent to the Spring Mountains and Sheep Range (both covered by white clouds). The Grand Canyon, located on the Colorado Plateau in Arizona, is visible to the east of Las Vegas, with the blue waters of Lake Meadin between.
The image also includes the Mojave Desert, stretching north from the Salton Sea to the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The Sierra Nevada is roughly 640 km long (north-south) and forms the boundary between the Central Valley of California and the adjacent Basin and Range physiographic province. The Basin and Range is so called because of the pattern of long linear valleys separated by parallel mountain ranges. The landscape was formed by extension and thinning of the Earth’s crust.

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Recommended Citation: Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center. "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth." .

NASA Responsible Official: Tracy Calhoun

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Contributors: Earth Sciences Web Team

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

International Space Station National Laboratory

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ISS024-E-14580	Hurricane Igor from the Space Station: Astronauts aboard the International Space Station took this digital photograph of the eye of Hurricane Igor at 10:56 Atlantic Daylight Time (13:56 UTC) on September 14, 2010. The storm was a category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity. At the time of the image, Igor was centered in the Atlantic Ocean near 18° N 52° W and slowly moving west-northwest at 11 kilometers (7 miles) per hour, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Maximum sustained winds of 213 km (132 mi.) per hour, with gusts to 259 km (161 mi.) per hour.
ISS024-E-13690	Es Safa Volcanic Field, Syria: Es Safa is a striking basaltic volcanic field located to the southeast of Damascus, Syria. It lies within the larger Harrat Ash Shamah—the largest volcanic field on the Arabian tectonic plate. Harrat Ash Shamah parallels the Red Sea and extends from northeastern Israel, through southern Syria and Jordan, and into Saudi Arabia, covering an area of over 50,000 square kilometers (19,000 square miles). Es Safa contains numerous vents that have been active during the Holocene Epoch (beginning approximately 12,000 years ago). The most recent recorded activity was a boiling lava lake observed in the area around 1850. The dark lava flow field (center) likely represents the latest activity of the volcanic field, and is emplaced over older, lighter colored flows. The older flow surfaces also have light tan sediment accumulating in shallow depressions, in contrast to the relatively pristine surfaces of the darker, younger flows. Cinder cones are scattered throughout the Es Safa field, but many are aligned along northwest-southeast trends that likely indicate faults through which magma rose to the surface. Two such alignments are visible at image left. To the southeast (image right) a small reservoir feeds water distribution ditches extending northwards.
ISS024-E-15121	Twitchell Canyon Fire, Central Utah: The Twitchell Canyon Fire, near central Utah’s Fishlake National Forest, was reported to cover approximately 13,383 hectares (134 square kilometers, or 33,071 acres) as of September 21, 2010. The crew on the International Space Station (ISS) took this photograph of the smoke plumes generated by fires close to the southwestern edge of the burned area. The fire was started by a lightning strike on July 20, 2010. The photograph is highly oblique; that is, it was taken at an angle rather than looking straight down towards the Earth’s surface (a nadir view). The ISS was located over a point approximately 509 kilometers (316 miles) to the northeast, near the Colorado/Wyoming border, at the time. Southwesterly winds stretched smoke plumes to the northeast. While the Twitchell Canyon region is sparsely populated, Interstate Highway 15 is visible at the upper right. A MODIS image acquired a day earlier than the astronaut photograph provides a regional view of the fire.
ISS024-E-14233	Smoke Plume, Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan: This broad view of the north coast of the Caspian Sea shows a smoke plume (image left) and two river deltas (image bottom and lower right). The larger delta is that of the Volga River which appears prominently here in sunglint (light reflected off a water surface back towards the observer), and the smaller less prominent delta is that of the Ural River. Wide angle, oblique views – taken looking outward at an angle, rather than straight down towards the Earth - such as this give an excellent impression of how astronauts onboard the International Space Station view the Earth. For a sense of scale, the Caucasus Mts. (across the Caspian , image top right) are approximately 1100 km to the southwest of the International Space Station’s nadir point location - the point on the Earth directly underneath the spacecraft - at the time this image was taken. The smoke plume appears to be sourced in the dark-toned coastal marsh vegetation along the outer fringe of the Ural River delta, rather than in a city or at some oil storage facility. Although even small fires produce plumes that are long and bright and thus easily visible from space, the density of the smoke in this plume, and its 350-km length across the entire north lobe of the Caspian Sea, suggest it was a significant fire. The smoke was thick enough nearer the source to cast shadows on the sea surface below. Lines mark three separate pulses of smoke, the most recent, nearest the source, extending directly south away from the coastline (image lower left). With time, plumes become progressively more diffuse. The oldest pulse appears to be the thinnest, casting no obvious shadows (image center left).
ISS024-E-14071	ISS View of the Southwestern USA: This panoramic view of the southwestern United States and Pacific Ocean was taken by an astronaut looking out at an angle from the International Space Station (ISS). While most unmanned satellites view the Earth from a nadir perspective—collecting data while looking “straight down”—astronauts onboard the ISS can acquire imagery at a wide range of viewing angles using handheld digital cameras. The ISS nadir point—the point on Earth’s surface directly below the spacecraft—was located in northwestern Arizona, approximately 260 kilometers (160 miles) to the east-southeast, when this image was taken. The image includes parts of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and California, as well the coastline of Baja California, Mexico (image center left). The Las Vegas metropolitan area appears as a gray region adjacent to the Spring Mountains and Sheep Range (both covered by white clouds). The Grand Canyon, located on the Colorado Plateau in Arizona, is visible to the east of Las Vegas, with the blue waters of Lake Meadin between. The image also includes the Mojave Desert, stretching north from the Salton Sea to the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The Sierra Nevada is roughly 640 km long (north-south) and forms the boundary between the Central Valley of California and the adjacent Basin and Range physiographic province. The Basin and Range is so called because of the pattern of long linear valleys separated by parallel mountain ranges. The landscape was formed by extension and thinning of the Earth’s crust.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science Directorate. Recommended Citation: Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center. "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth." .
	NASA Responsible Official: Tracy Calhoun Curator: jsc-earthweb@mail.nasa.gov Contributors: Earth Sciences Web Team	National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center	International Space Station National Laboratory Last Update:
Server: 1