ISS004-E-10319
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An Astronaut’s View of Jewel-toned Lakes: Astronauts onboard
the International Space Station often observe small, otherwise
unnoticed water bodies on the ground due to their unusual colors. For
example, Lake Gribben which lies to the southeast of Ishpeming in
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Iron ore is extracted from the
Tilden/Empire Mine complex visible to the north of the lake.
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ISS004-E-10472
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An Astronaut’s View of Jewel-toned Lakes: Astronauts onboard
the International Space Station often observe small, otherwise
unnoticed water bodies on the ground due to their unusual colors. For
example, the Little Blue Run Dam and reservoir is located in western
Pennsylvania, just south of the Ohio River. It is owned by
Pennsylvania Power Company and used for industrial sludge
impoundment. The materials suspended in the water give it a striking,
turquoise color.
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ISS004-E-10414
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Pairs in April: The colors of the agricultural fields
surrounding Paris are striking in the springtime, even when viewed
from a 400 km orbital altitude. Astronauts on board the International
Space Station photographed Paris using a digital camera and
downlinked the image to the ground. This photograph of Paris is
the latest to be included in a collection of the best photographs of
cities taken by astronauts. This “Cities from Space“ collection
represents a unique view of cities around the world as they appear
from orbit. A new feature has recently been added that allows zooming
and panning to interactively view geometrically corrected photos.
This feature is available for a related more detailed photograph
of Paris taken at the same time by the Space Station Alpha
crewmembers.
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ISS004-E-11078
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Fires in Central America: The bright blue water of the Gulf of
Honduras contrasts sharply with the smokey pall over Guatemala and
Belize in this photograph taken from the International Space Station.
Fires in the Yucatan Penninsula and northern Central America began
burning in early April, and intensified by the end of the month.
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ISS004-E-8852
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Mount Everest from the International Space Station: Astronaut
Dan Bursch, a member of the Expedition 4 crew on the International
Space Station, observed Mt. Everest in late March 2002. This detailed
image of Everest, the highest (29,035 feet, 8850 meters) mountain in
the world, shows early morning light on the eastern Kangshung Face.
The mountains appear to jump out of the picture because the image was
taken with low sunlight using an electronic still camera equipped
with an 800 mm lens. Astronaut Bursch describes passing over Mt.
Everest as part of his 120-day report, which can be viewed at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/. Other
images of Everest can be viewed from an interactive tutorial, Find
Mt. Everest From Space (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/education/Everest/). The
tutorial features astronaut photographs of the Himalayas, interactive
graphics that illustrate key geographic features for locating Mt.
Everest, and information on the geology of the region. The lesson
concludes with a test of your ability to identify Everest in
different photographs taken from the Space Shuttle.
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ISS004-E-8972
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Ash and Steam, Soufriere Hills Volcano, Monserrat:
International Space Station crew members are regularly alerted to
dynamic events on the Earth’s surface. On request from scientists on
the ground, the ISS crew observed and recorded activity from the
summit of Soufriere Hills on March 20, 2002. ISS004-E-8972 and
ISS004-E-8973 provide a context view of the island (ISS004-E-8972)
and a detailed view of the summit plume (ISS004-E-8973). When the
images were taken, the eastern side of the summit region experienced
continued lava growth, and reports posted on the Smithsonian
Institution’s Weekly Volcanic Activity Report indicate that “large
(50-70 m high), fast-growing, spines developed on the dome’s summit.
These spines periodically collapsed, producing pyroclastic flows down
the volcano’s east flank that sometimes reached the Tar River fan.
Small ash clouds produced from these events reached roughly 1 km
above the volcano and drifted westward over Plymouth and Richmond
Hill. Ash predominately fell into the sea. Sulfur dioxide emission
rates remained high. Theodolite measurements of the dome taken on
March 20 yielded a dome height of 1,039 m.”
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ISS004-E-8973
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Ash and Steam, Soufriere Hills Volcano, Monserrat:
International Space Station crew members are regularly alerted to
dynamic events on the Earth’s surface. On request from scientists on
the ground, the ISS crew observed and recorded activity from the
summit of Soufriere Hills on March 20, 2002. ISS004-E-8972 and
ISS004-E-8973 provide a context view of the island (ISS004-E-8972)
and a detailed view of the summit plume (ISS004-E-8973). When the
images were taken, the eastern side of the summit region experienced
continued lava growth, and reports posted on the Smithsonian
Institution’s Weekly Volcanic Activity Report indicate that “large
(50-70 m high), fast-growing, spines developed on the dome’s summit.
These spines periodically collapsed, producing pyroclastic flows down
the volcano’s east flank that sometimes reached the Tar River fan.
Small ash clouds produced from these events reached roughly 1 km
above the volcano and drifted westward over Plymouth and Richmond
Hill. Ash predominately fell into the sea. Sulfur dioxide emission
rates remained high. Theodolite measurements of the dome taken on
March 20 yielded a dome height of 1,039 m.”
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ISS004-E-7267
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Glacial Retreat in Chilean Patagonia: The San Quintín Glacier
is the largest outflow glacier of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field
in southern Chile. Its terminus is a piedmont lobe just short of the
Golfo de Penas on the Pacific Ocean and just north of 47°S. Like many
glaciers worldwide during the twentieth century, San Quintín appears
to be losing mass and possibly retreating. Such a change is evident
with this photograph in comparison with STS068-260-73, taken by
astronauts only seven years prior. STS-068 was taken in October 1994
and ISS004-E-7267 by the Increment 4 crew of the International Space
Station in February 2002. Even with the reversal of season and
different lighting conditions of these two acquisitions, a loss of
mass and change of structure, particularly in the lobe, are
strikingly evident in these comparative photos. Glaciers are one of
the special topics identified as scientific objectives for monitoring
with photography from the International Space Station. Astronaut
photography is a complimentary source of remote sensing data
available for use with other sensor systems being used to monitor and
study glaciers. They also provide strong, visual context information
on glacier environments and processes using a familiar medium, the
camera.
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ISS004-E-6737
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Mosaic of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field: Outside of
Antarctica, the largest contiguous ice field in the Southern
Hemisphere is the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in the Andes
Mountains of Chile and Argentina. It has an area of about 13,000
square kilometers, a length of approximately 360 kilometers (over
three degrees of latitude), and an average width of about 40
kilometers. To the west of the ice field, nearly fifty significant
outlet glaciers reach sea level in rugged fiords on the Pacific
coast. The largest of these,
Brüggen, was featured in a previous image on Earth Observatory.
East of the ice field, several of the larger glaciers on the eastern
flank form large piedmont lakes (such as Lago Argentina). Whether
taken on the ground or by remote sensing satellites, scientific
measurements of the ice field and its glaciers are difficult to
obtain due to the rugged terrain and harsh, stormy climate of the
region. The estimated loss of ice mass of this large system is an
important indicator of climate variability on both a local and global
scale. Additional information on this and other Patagonian glaciers
may be found at the following link: USGS – Historic Fluctuations of Outlet Glaciers from the
Patagonian Ice Fields This mosaic is based on images ISS004-E-6737
and ISS004-E-6738.
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ISS004-E-7999
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Santa Maria Volcano, Guatemala: The eruption of Santa Maria
volcano in 1902 was one of the largest eruptions of the 20th century,
forming a large crater on the mountain’s southwest flank. Since 1922,
a lava-dome complex, Santiaguito, has been forming in the 1902
crater. Growth of the dome has produced pyroclastic flows as recently
as the 2001-they can be identified in this image. The city of
Quezaltenango (approximately 90,000 people in 1989) sits below the
3772 m summit. The volcano is considered dangerous because of the
possibility of a dome collapse such as one that occurred in 1929,
which killed about 5000 people. A second hazard results from the flow
of volcanic debris into rivers south of Santiaguito, which can lead
to catastrophic flooding and mud flows.
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