Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

ISS030 Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

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ISS030-E-9186 Menindee Lakes, New South Wales, Australia: In the far west of New South Wales, Australia, near the town of Menindee, a system of ephemeral, freshwater lakes are fed by the Darling River when it floods. Lake Tandou is the longest, at 18.6 kilometers from north to south. The Darling River itself is flowing in December 2011, as indicated by the dark water and blackened mud along its course (image right), and the lakes appear to have a small amount of water flooding them.
The Darling River flows southwest in tortuous fashion across the flat landscapes of this part of Australia. It has created several inland deltas in its course to the sea, with characteristic diverging channel patterns marked by younger sediments that appear grayer than the ancient red soils and rocks surrounding them. One inland delta appears at image right, where minor channels wind across the countryside. The apex of another inland delta appears at image lower left.
Some of the Menindee Lakes have been incorporated into an artificially regulated overflow system providing for flood control, water storage for domestic use and livestock, and downstream irrigation. The floor of Lake Tandou is used as prime agricultural land, as evidenced by its patchwork of irrigated fields that are protected from flooding. The lakes also serve as important wetlands supporting a rich diversity of birds.

ISS030-E-10008 Iberian Peninsula at Night: The city lights of Spain and Portugal define the Iberian Peninsula in this photograph from the International Space Station (ISS). Several large metropolitan areas are visible, marked by their relatively large and brightly lit areas, including the capital cities of Madrid, Spain—located near the center of the peninsula’s interior—and Lisbon, Portugal—located along the southwestern coastline. The ancient city of Seville, visible to the north of the Strait of Gibraltar, is one of the largest cities in Spain. The astronaut view is looking toward the east, and is part of a time-lapse series of images.
The network of smaller cities and towns along the coastline and in the interior attest to the extent of the human presence on the Iberian landscape. The blurring of city lights is caused by thin cloud cover (image left and center), while cloud tops are dimly illuminated by moonlight. Though obscured, the lights of France are visible near the horizon line on the upper left, while the lights of northern Africa are more clearly discernable at right. The faint gold and green line of airglow—caused by ultraviolet radiation exciting the gas molecules in the upper atmosphere—parallels the horizon (or Earth limb).
The Iberian Peninsula is the southwestern-most of the European peninsulas (together with the Italian and Balkan peninsulas), and includes the Principality of Andorra, as well as the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic. The approximately 590,000 square kilometer landmass is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the northwest, west, and southwest and the Mediterranean Sea to the east. Its northeastern boundary is marked by the Pyrenees mountain range.

ISS030-E-6082 Do You See What They See: Only two sets of people can fly around the entire world in one night. One is rumored to reside at the North Pole; the others live on the International Space Station (ISS). And for all of them, the night-lit view of the planet is simply extraordinary.
While orbiting over the Gulf of Mexico on November 24, 2011, Expedition 30 astronauts captured this digital photograph of Florida, Georgia, and the Southeastern U.S. coast. The region is very popular with tourists escaping cold northern winters or visiting retired family members who settle in the warmer climate.
The image is part of a time series taken between 07:30 and 07:59 Universal Time (2:30 to 2:59 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time), as the ISS passed from the tropical Pacific Ocean to the Canadian Maritimes. (A link to the movie is just below the image above.) The series starts when the ISS was near the equator; then passes over Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and the Yucatan Peninsula; across the Gulf of Mexico (with Cuba on the right); over the Sunshine State; and up the U.S. East Coast over the North Atlantic Ocean. The video ends with ISS just east of Newfoundland. A collection of similar time-lapse ISS flight paths can be viewed by visiting the Crew Earth Observations Videos page.
If you happened to be flying a reindeer-harnessed sleigh through the sky on December 24th and 25th, the view might look pretty similar to what the ISS crew witnessed. You can follow such a holiday flight by visiting the NORAD tracking page, where satellites, fighter jets, and radar stations provide airborne reconnaissance for the jolly sleigh-rider in the red suit—who has special clearance one night per year.

ISS030-E-9271 Lake Eyre Floods, South Australia: Heavy rain in March 2011 produced a relatively unusual event: water flowing into Lake Eyre.
The southernmost and deepest lobes, Belt Bay and Lake Eyre South, were filled first. In this northeast-looking view from the International Space Station, water appears in the southern basins of Lake Eyre, especially Belt Bay (where it appears green) and in Madigan Gulf (where it appears in shades of pink and red). Despite some clouds, water is also apparent in narrow Jackboot Bay and at the estuary where Cooper Creek—one of the most important inflow rivers—fills a small, dark green lake.
The varying colors are the result of different water depths and different resident microorganisms. The green color of Belt Bay is likely related to its depth, which was reported in early December 2011 to be just less than 1 meter. The red color of Madigan Bay appears to be related to salt-loving bacteria. At half the depth of Belt Bay (0.4 m), evaporation raised salt concentrations high enough to allow salt-loving bacteria to flourish when this image was taken.
In Australian lakes with salinities above 30 percent, the majority of microbes are haloarchaea (family Halobacteriaceae, domain Archaea). The density of microbes in Australia’s salt lakes can reach 107 to 108 cells per milliliter - so dense that the pink-red carotenoid pigments in the cell membranes color the water.
By August 2011, more than half the lake floor was covered by shallow water, with local creeks continuing to deliver water. Lake Eyre is an internal drainage basin, which means that all of the water accumulates in the lake, without an outlet to the sea. Any water that reaches the lake evaporates in subsequent months.
Water levels were reported to be falling everywhere in late 2011, when this image was acquired. The bright white salt of the floor of Lake Eyre South shows that this lake is entirely dry.

ISS030-E-5118 Dust Plume over the Bahia Blanca: Northwestern and central Argentina are subject to frequent dust storms. A combination of late Pleistocene loess—fine sediments deposited by wind and associated with former glaciers—and dry westerlies blowing down from the Andes Mountains combine to produce sudden and extensive clouds of the fine soil. The strong winds are known locally as the pampero sucio.
This panoramic, oblique view of eastern Argentina and its coastline shows a large plume of dust blowing from the interior to the Atlantic Ocean. This image is centered on Bahia Blanca, which is also highlighted by sun glint—light reflected off the water surface back towards the astronaut-observers on the International Space Station (ISS). The only significant cloud cover is located offshore. A docked Russian Progress spacecraft is visible at image upper right.
The dust event illustrated above spans parts of the province of Rio Negro and southern parts of the provinces of La Pampa and Buenos Aires. The view also includes the coastal terrain between the Gulf of San Matias and Bahia Blanca, which are separated by about 330 kilometers. The area includes the agriculturally productive southern Pampas plain region, where the landscape transitions to the drier, less productive low hills and valleys of northern Patagonia.

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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: Susan Runco

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

ISS030-E-9186	Menindee Lakes, New South Wales, Australia: In the far west of New South Wales, Australia, near the town of Menindee, a system of ephemeral, freshwater lakes are fed by the Darling River when it floods. Lake Tandou is the longest, at 18.6 kilometers from north to south. The Darling River itself is flowing in December 2011, as indicated by the dark water and blackened mud along its course (image right), and the lakes appear to have a small amount of water flooding them. The Darling River flows southwest in tortuous fashion across the flat landscapes of this part of Australia. It has created several inland deltas in its course to the sea, with characteristic diverging channel patterns marked by younger sediments that appear grayer than the ancient red soils and rocks surrounding them. One inland delta appears at image right, where minor channels wind across the countryside. The apex of another inland delta appears at image lower left. Some of the Menindee Lakes have been incorporated into an artificially regulated overflow system providing for flood control, water storage for domestic use and livestock, and downstream irrigation. The floor of Lake Tandou is used as prime agricultural land, as evidenced by its patchwork of irrigated fields that are protected from flooding. The lakes also serve as important wetlands supporting a rich diversity of birds.
ISS030-E-10008	Iberian Peninsula at Night: The city lights of Spain and Portugal define the Iberian Peninsula in this photograph from the International Space Station (ISS). Several large metropolitan areas are visible, marked by their relatively large and brightly lit areas, including the capital cities of Madrid, Spain—located near the center of the peninsula’s interior—and Lisbon, Portugal—located along the southwestern coastline. The ancient city of Seville, visible to the north of the Strait of Gibraltar, is one of the largest cities in Spain. The astronaut view is looking toward the east, and is part of a time-lapse series of images. The network of smaller cities and towns along the coastline and in the interior attest to the extent of the human presence on the Iberian landscape. The blurring of city lights is caused by thin cloud cover (image left and center), while cloud tops are dimly illuminated by moonlight. Though obscured, the lights of France are visible near the horizon line on the upper left, while the lights of northern Africa are more clearly discernable at right. The faint gold and green line of airglow—caused by ultraviolet radiation exciting the gas molecules in the upper atmosphere—parallels the horizon (or Earth limb). The Iberian Peninsula is the southwestern-most of the European peninsulas (together with the Italian and Balkan peninsulas), and includes the Principality of Andorra, as well as the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic. The approximately 590,000 square kilometer landmass is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the northwest, west, and southwest and the Mediterranean Sea to the east. Its northeastern boundary is marked by the Pyrenees mountain range.
ISS030-E-6082	Do You See What They See: Only two sets of people can fly around the entire world in one night. One is rumored to reside at the North Pole; the others live on the International Space Station (ISS). And for all of them, the night-lit view of the planet is simply extraordinary. While orbiting over the Gulf of Mexico on November 24, 2011, Expedition 30 astronauts captured this digital photograph of Florida, Georgia, and the Southeastern U.S. coast. The region is very popular with tourists escaping cold northern winters or visiting retired family members who settle in the warmer climate. The image is part of a time series taken between 07:30 and 07:59 Universal Time (2:30 to 2:59 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time), as the ISS passed from the tropical Pacific Ocean to the Canadian Maritimes. (A link to the movie is just below the image above.) The series starts when the ISS was near the equator; then passes over Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and the Yucatan Peninsula; across the Gulf of Mexico (with Cuba on the right); over the Sunshine State; and up the U.S. East Coast over the North Atlantic Ocean. The video ends with ISS just east of Newfoundland. A collection of similar time-lapse ISS flight paths can be viewed by visiting the Crew Earth Observations Videos page. If you happened to be flying a reindeer-harnessed sleigh through the sky on December 24th and 25th, the view might look pretty similar to what the ISS crew witnessed. You can follow such a holiday flight by visiting the NORAD tracking page, where satellites, fighter jets, and radar stations provide airborne reconnaissance for the jolly sleigh-rider in the red suit—who has special clearance one night per year.
ISS030-E-9271	Lake Eyre Floods, South Australia: Heavy rain in March 2011 produced a relatively unusual event: water flowing into Lake Eyre. The southernmost and deepest lobes, Belt Bay and Lake Eyre South, were filled first. In this northeast-looking view from the International Space Station, water appears in the southern basins of Lake Eyre, especially Belt Bay (where it appears green) and in Madigan Gulf (where it appears in shades of pink and red). Despite some clouds, water is also apparent in narrow Jackboot Bay and at the estuary where Cooper Creek—one of the most important inflow rivers—fills a small, dark green lake. The varying colors are the result of different water depths and different resident microorganisms. The green color of Belt Bay is likely related to its depth, which was reported in early December 2011 to be just less than 1 meter. The red color of Madigan Bay appears to be related to salt-loving bacteria. At half the depth of Belt Bay (0.4 m), evaporation raised salt concentrations high enough to allow salt-loving bacteria to flourish when this image was taken. In Australian lakes with salinities above 30 percent, the majority of microbes are haloarchaea (family Halobacteriaceae, domain Archaea). The density of microbes in Australia’s salt lakes can reach 107 to 108 cells per milliliter - so dense that the pink-red carotenoid pigments in the cell membranes color the water. By August 2011, more than half the lake floor was covered by shallow water, with local creeks continuing to deliver water. Lake Eyre is an internal drainage basin, which means that all of the water accumulates in the lake, without an outlet to the sea. Any water that reaches the lake evaporates in subsequent months. Water levels were reported to be falling everywhere in late 2011, when this image was acquired. The bright white salt of the floor of Lake Eyre South shows that this lake is entirely dry.
ISS030-E-5118	Dust Plume over the Bahia Blanca: Northwestern and central Argentina are subject to frequent dust storms. A combination of late Pleistocene loess—fine sediments deposited by wind and associated with former glaciers—and dry westerlies blowing down from the Andes Mountains combine to produce sudden and extensive clouds of the fine soil. The strong winds are known locally as the pampero sucio. This panoramic, oblique view of eastern Argentina and its coastline shows a large plume of dust blowing from the interior to the Atlantic Ocean. This image is centered on Bahia Blanca, which is also highlighted by sun glint—light reflected off the water surface back towards the astronaut-observers on the International Space Station (ISS). The only significant cloud cover is located offshore. A docked Russian Progress spacecraft is visible at image upper right. The dust event illustrated above spans parts of the province of Rio Negro and southern parts of the provinces of La Pampa and Buenos Aires. The view also includes the coastal terrain between the Gulf of San Matias and Bahia Blanca, which are separated by about 330 kilometers. The area includes the agriculturally productive southern Pampas plain region, where the landscape transitions to the drier, less productive low hills and valleys of northern Patagonia.

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: Susan Runco 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