Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

ISS006 Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

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ISS006-E-42125 Mount Melimoyu, southern Chile: 29 March 2003, 400 mm. Over 7800 feet high, this volcano rises in a long continuous slope out of the sea on Chile's southern coast. The volcano was photographed at sunset on 29 March 2003 with a long lens (400 mm) that reveals the permanent ice cap. During the height of the last ice age, the glaciers from this and neighboring peaks would have filled the local valleys and reached the sea nearby.
The tree line, above which trees cannot grow can be discerned in the view: most of the view is dark green, indicating the thick southern forests, whereas along ridge crests bare rock surfaces appear.
Melimoyu is one of a string of 37 volcanoes in the southern Andes between 35 and 52°S that reach above the snow line. Scientific interest in these volcanoes is small, but the new ability of astronaut and other imagery to capture detailed views means that the extent of ice cover can be monitored--for global warming reasons (and to monitor changes due to melting induced by volcanic eruptions, although Melimoyu itself has not erupted for at least 10,000 years).

ISS006-E-40458 South-central Andes, Chile and Argentina: 21 March 2003, 28mm. The wide angle view of South America between latitudes 24°S - 33°S shows cloud over the Pacific coast (foreground) and cloud free but dark landscapes of Argentina across the top of the evening view. More than 700 miles of the south-central Andes span the view.
This is one of the most interesting parts of the Andes chain which is a wide high plateau on the left of the view, but a single, narrow and low range of mountains in the middle and left of the view. The main explanation of these differences relates to the tectonic plates in the region. The tectonic plate that is diving underneath South America from the Pacific side ("subducting") changes its angle of dive in this region: the plate dives at a steep angle under the wide Andes on the left of the view, but dives at a very shallow angle in the center and right. Another effect of this change in dive angle is that there are numerous volcanoes in the Andes further north (left), and few in the narrow Andes (center and right).

ISS006-E-43644 Albermarle Sound, Kitty Hawk: This image from the International Space Station captures the birthplace of aviation - Kitty Hawk. On December 17, 1903 Wilbur flew the Wright Flyer 120 feet across the sands of Kill Devil Hills. It is a remarkable achievement that the technology of the Wright Flyer, barely able to sustain flight, evolved into human space flight in less than 100 years.
The thin line towards the center of the image is the Wright Memorial Bridge that connects the mainland to the barrier island where Kitty Hawk is located. South of the bridge and Kitty Hawk Bay is Kill Devil Hills. Albemarle Sound is the large body of water inland from the barrier island and is the largest body of fresh water in the United States, excluding the Great Lakes.

ISS006-E-41387 Mega-iceberg, south Atlantic Ocean: 29 March 2003, 180 mm. This very large iceberg had drifted as far north as 40°S, possibly having originated in the region of rapid Larsen ice shelf breakup (more than 1300 mi2) at about 75°S early in 2002. Thousands of icebergs resulted. Despite the oblique angle of view of this image, judging from the lens used, the iceberg is one of the very large ones, probably tens of miles long. Many of the icebergs from the Larsen B shelf display the elongated shape of this berg.

ISS006-E-38864 River Plate estuary, Buenos Aires and Montevideo: 16 March 2003, 50 mm. The bright area in the middle of the view is the 200 mile-long Argentine estuary known as the River Plate. The estuary appears bright here mainly due to sunglint on the water, but also due to the light-colored sediment that is delivered to the estuary by two great rivers that enter from the west (left), the Paraná and the Uruguay. The Paraná is building out a delta into the estuary (left margin). This view illustrates well how the Paraná delta has almost cut off the Uruguay River (top left) from its connection to the estuary.
Buenos Aires appears as an irregular light-colored patch on the south side of the estuary (left center). City sprawl follows major highways that radiate away from the metropolis. Thirteen million people, fully one third of the population of Argentina, live in this major capital city. The smaller university city of La Plata appears as a small bright patch (center) east of Buenos Aires.
Much of the small country of Uruguay appears across the top of the view. Uruguay's capital city, Montevideo, appears on the north side of the estuary (right), and is a favorite vacation destination for wealthy porteńos, the inhabitants of Buenos Aires.

ISS006-E-35860 Cape Cod, Long Island: The white blankets of snow imply that this image was taken in the middle of winter, however, it was taken March 7, 2003. The large hook is Cape Cod, the shape resulting from retreating glaciers during the last ice age. The island nearest to the Cape Cod is Martha's Vineyard, the other island to the southeast is Nantucket. The city at the center of the image, at the top of Narragansett Bay is Providence, Rhode Island.

ISS006-E-35516 Palm Island Resort, Dubai, Arab Emirates: Sometimes, what looks like a palm tree from orbit is, well, a palm tree. Palm Island is a resort under construction on reclaimed land just off the coast from Dubai. Advertised as "being visible from the Moon" this man-made structure will have 17 huge fronds surrounded by 12 km of protective barrier reefs. When completed the resort will have up to 2000 villas, 40 luxury hotels, shopping centers, cinemas, and more.

ISS006-E-43068 The Caucasus Mts, Black Sea: Taken in the late afternoon on 2 March 2003, this wide-angle view (28 mm lens focal length) shows the snow-capped range stretching left to right across the view. The Black Sea is the dark blue surface lower left and the Caspian Sea a similar smooth surface top right. Dominating the whole view are clouds in lines sweeping around a mid-latitude winter storm. The cloud pattern gives a strong sense of air movement. The storm, whose center lies outside the picture to the left, is drawing in air from the south (bottom of the view), over the Caucasus range and then sweeping west (left). A flat deck of stratus cloud lies beneath these cloud lines on the north side of the range.

ISS006-E-43073 Southern Andes, Southern Patagonian Ice Field

ISS006-E-50519 Clear Lake City and Johnson Space Center, Texas: Glaveston Bay appears in the lower right of the view, with a large curved bay near the center of the view. Leading west (left) from this bay the water body known as Clear Lake extends for miles, with a cluster of buildings on the north side representing NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC). Built-up areas appear as lighter tones: Texas City appears just left of center on the bottom of the view. The southern outskirts of Houston appear along the top. Pasadena appears top right. Two subparallel lines can be seen stretching from the bottom of the of the view to the top, just left of center. The straighter line is Texas Highway 3 (the old Galveston Road) and the more sinuous is Interstate Highway 45, connecting Houston to Galveston.

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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

ISS006-E-42125	Mount Melimoyu, southern Chile: 29 March 2003, 400 mm. Over 7800 feet high, this volcano rises in a long continuous slope out of the sea on Chile's southern coast. The volcano was photographed at sunset on 29 March 2003 with a long lens (400 mm) that reveals the permanent ice cap. During the height of the last ice age, the glaciers from this and neighboring peaks would have filled the local valleys and reached the sea nearby. The tree line, above which trees cannot grow can be discerned in the view: most of the view is dark green, indicating the thick southern forests, whereas along ridge crests bare rock surfaces appear. Melimoyu is one of a string of 37 volcanoes in the southern Andes between 35 and 52°S that reach above the snow line. Scientific interest in these volcanoes is small, but the new ability of astronaut and other imagery to capture detailed views means that the extent of ice cover can be monitored--for global warming reasons (and to monitor changes due to melting induced by volcanic eruptions, although Melimoyu itself has not erupted for at least 10,000 years).
ISS006-E-40458	South-central Andes, Chile and Argentina: 21 March 2003, 28mm. The wide angle view of South America between latitudes 24°S - 33°S shows cloud over the Pacific coast (foreground) and cloud free but dark landscapes of Argentina across the top of the evening view. More than 700 miles of the south-central Andes span the view. This is one of the most interesting parts of the Andes chain which is a wide high plateau on the left of the view, but a single, narrow and low range of mountains in the middle and left of the view. The main explanation of these differences relates to the tectonic plates in the region. The tectonic plate that is diving underneath South America from the Pacific side ("subducting") changes its angle of dive in this region: the plate dives at a steep angle under the wide Andes on the left of the view, but dives at a very shallow angle in the center and right. Another effect of this change in dive angle is that there are numerous volcanoes in the Andes further north (left), and few in the narrow Andes (center and right).
ISS006-E-43644	Albermarle Sound, Kitty Hawk: This image from the International Space Station captures the birthplace of aviation - Kitty Hawk. On December 17, 1903 Wilbur flew the Wright Flyer 120 feet across the sands of Kill Devil Hills. It is a remarkable achievement that the technology of the Wright Flyer, barely able to sustain flight, evolved into human space flight in less than 100 years. The thin line towards the center of the image is the Wright Memorial Bridge that connects the mainland to the barrier island where Kitty Hawk is located. South of the bridge and Kitty Hawk Bay is Kill Devil Hills. Albemarle Sound is the large body of water inland from the barrier island and is the largest body of fresh water in the United States, excluding the Great Lakes.
ISS006-E-41387	Mega-iceberg, south Atlantic Ocean: 29 March 2003, 180 mm. This very large iceberg had drifted as far north as 40°S, possibly having originated in the region of rapid Larsen ice shelf breakup (more than 1300 mi2) at about 75°S early in 2002. Thousands of icebergs resulted. Despite the oblique angle of view of this image, judging from the lens used, the iceberg is one of the very large ones, probably tens of miles long. Many of the icebergs from the Larsen B shelf display the elongated shape of this berg.
ISS006-E-38864	River Plate estuary, Buenos Aires and Montevideo: 16 March 2003, 50 mm. The bright area in the middle of the view is the 200 mile-long Argentine estuary known as the River Plate. The estuary appears bright here mainly due to sunglint on the water, but also due to the light-colored sediment that is delivered to the estuary by two great rivers that enter from the west (left), the Paraná and the Uruguay. The Paraná is building out a delta into the estuary (left margin). This view illustrates well how the Paraná delta has almost cut off the Uruguay River (top left) from its connection to the estuary. Buenos Aires appears as an irregular light-colored patch on the south side of the estuary (left center). City sprawl follows major highways that radiate away from the metropolis. Thirteen million people, fully one third of the population of Argentina, live in this major capital city. The smaller university city of La Plata appears as a small bright patch (center) east of Buenos Aires. Much of the small country of Uruguay appears across the top of the view. Uruguay's capital city, Montevideo, appears on the north side of the estuary (right), and is a favorite vacation destination for wealthy porteńos, the inhabitants of Buenos Aires.
ISS006-E-35860	Cape Cod, Long Island: The white blankets of snow imply that this image was taken in the middle of winter, however, it was taken March 7, 2003. The large hook is Cape Cod, the shape resulting from retreating glaciers during the last ice age. The island nearest to the Cape Cod is Martha's Vineyard, the other island to the southeast is Nantucket. The city at the center of the image, at the top of Narragansett Bay is Providence, Rhode Island.
ISS006-E-35516	Palm Island Resort, Dubai, Arab Emirates: Sometimes, what looks like a palm tree from orbit is, well, a palm tree. Palm Island is a resort under construction on reclaimed land just off the coast from Dubai. Advertised as "being visible from the Moon" this man-made structure will have 17 huge fronds surrounded by 12 km of protective barrier reefs. When completed the resort will have up to 2000 villas, 40 luxury hotels, shopping centers, cinemas, and more.
ISS006-E-43068	The Caucasus Mts, Black Sea: Taken in the late afternoon on 2 March 2003, this wide-angle view (28 mm lens focal length) shows the snow-capped range stretching left to right across the view. The Black Sea is the dark blue surface lower left and the Caspian Sea a similar smooth surface top right. Dominating the whole view are clouds in lines sweeping around a mid-latitude winter storm. The cloud pattern gives a strong sense of air movement. The storm, whose center lies outside the picture to the left, is drawing in air from the south (bottom of the view), over the Caucasus range and then sweeping west (left). A flat deck of stratus cloud lies beneath these cloud lines on the north side of the range.
ISS006-E-43073	Southern Andes, Southern Patagonian Ice Field
ISS006-E-50519	Clear Lake City and Johnson Space Center, Texas: Glaveston Bay appears in the lower right of the view, with a large curved bay near the center of the view. Leading west (left) from this bay the water body known as Clear Lake extends for miles, with a cluster of buildings on the north side representing NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC). Built-up areas appear as lighter tones: Texas City appears just left of center on the bottom of the view. The southern outskirts of Houston appear along the top. Pasadena appears top right. Two subparallel lines can be seen stretching from the bottom of the of the view to the top, just left of center. The straighter line is Texas Highway 3 (the old Galveston Road) and the more sinuous is Interstate Highway 45, connecting Houston to Galveston.

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