Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

STS-088 Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

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STS088-720-20 Plankton Bloom, Argentina: A large, multi-colored plankton bloom was observed and photographed by the STS-88 crew in the South Atlantic Ocean, off the southern coast of Argentina. The bloom could mark productive waters that support regional fisheries. Such blooms are difficult to observe and map from the surface; the view from space provides the larger coverage necessary for regional observations.

STS088-719-29 Whitings, Bahamas: The bright, ellipitical white features in this photo are whitings in the Little Bahama Bank. Whitings are suspensions of sediment that are produced by blooms of microscopic algae. They can produce great quantities of lime muds in places like the Bahamas. Intricate patterns of sand ridges and channels that are formed by tidal currents ring the bank, marking the edge between the shallow bank waters (depths less than 10 m) and the much deeper offshore waters (dark blue).

STS088-704-75 Rio De La Plata/Buenos Aires: This photo includes the burgeoning Argentine capital of Buenos Aires (center), the upper end of the turbid estuary, Rio de la Plata, and most of the complex delta at the confluence of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers. The city of 13 million quickly gives way to intense agriculture to the southeast through west.

STS088-704-71 Rio De La Plata/Buenos Aires: The Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, known as the Paris of the southern hemisphere, is the gray area upper center, with the satellite university city of La Plata to its upper left.

STS088-706-15 Rio Limay, Patagonia, Argentina: The Rio Limay, now dammed at a series of points, flows off the southern Andes Mts., through the arid lands of Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean. The browns of the Patagonian Desert (most of the view) contrast with the greens of the forested slopes of the Andes (top left). The highest parts of the Andes appear as light-colored treeless ridges. Lake Nahuel Huapi is the dark feature along the left side of the view.

STS088-706-20 Lake Nahuel Huapi, Southern Andes Mountains, Argentina: The top half of the view shows the ridge crests and valleys of the southern Andes Mountains. This part of the view appears dark due to shadow in the valleys. The summits appear as angular, light-colored treeless ridges, with a patch of white snow top left. Curved Lake Nahuel Huapi is the dark finger top center. This lake depression was eroded by glacier ice moving east (from the mountains at the top of the view towards the Patagonian plains bottom) during the geologically recent ice ages when the Andes were covered with snow and ice caps far larger than those of today. The small gray city on the left (south) side edge of the lake (left center) is the well-known resort of San Carlos de Bariloche. The Rio Limay appears bottom right, and flows off the southern Andes Mts., through the arid lands of Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean.

STS088-705-64 Lake Cerros Colorados, Neuquen Prov., Patagonia, Argentina: Most of the views show the arid landscapes of windswept Patagonia. The only places where agriculture can be practiced are the valley bottoms where irrigation water is available. The green swaths crossing the view are fields in the floodplains of the Neuquen River (top to bottom) and the Limay River (lower right-should be lower left). The prominent lakes are Lake Pellegrini, a natural depression (bottom) probably hollowed out by the persistent and strong winds for which Patagonia is so well known; and Lake Cerro Colorado, a manmade lake (top).

STS088-705-62 Santiago de Chile, Chile: Chile’s capital city stands in excellent detail in the middle of this view. An airport appears on the northwest margin of the built-up area and numerous small farms appear as green rectangles around the city on the left (west) side of the view. The right side of the view is dominated by the steep slopes and peaks of the Andes Mountains. Snow can be seen on highest peaks all down the right (east) side of the view although the photo was taken in the summer of the southern hemisphere. Santiago routinely appears partly obscured under industrial haze on Shuttle photographs. Haze accumulates partly because the city lies in a basin at the foot of the Andes Mountains (protected from wind), and partly because the city has grown to a huge size (more than 5.3 million-1991 statistics).

STS088-701-62 West Falkland, Falkland Islands: The Falkland Islands are made up of two major islands, West and East Falkland. Much of the former is shown here with the dividing waterway between them, Falkland Sound, appearing along the bottom of the view. Small islands and capes of East Falkland appear along the bottom margin of the view.

STS088-706-46 Songhua River Valley, Northeast China: This early December (1998) view of the Songhua River shows snow in the floodplain of the river, with its numerous meandering scroll-bar features, and numerous, angular farms on the flat country to the north of the river (top). The smaller Tongken River enters the picture top right and joins the Songhua on the right margin (center). The major industrial and coal mining city of Harbin lies just outside the view center right. It is not clear why small rectangular communities in the farmland are consistently snow-free, although the existence of trees in these small centers may explain why the snow is less apparent. It appears that the snow-free lower part of the view lay immediately beyond the track of the snow storm which affected the rest of the scene.

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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: 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:

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STS088-720-20	Plankton Bloom, Argentina: A large, multi-colored plankton bloom was observed and photographed by the STS-88 crew in the South Atlantic Ocean, off the southern coast of Argentina. The bloom could mark productive waters that support regional fisheries. Such blooms are difficult to observe and map from the surface; the view from space provides the larger coverage necessary for regional observations.
STS088-719-29	Whitings, Bahamas: The bright, ellipitical white features in this photo are whitings in the Little Bahama Bank. Whitings are suspensions of sediment that are produced by blooms of microscopic algae. They can produce great quantities of lime muds in places like the Bahamas. Intricate patterns of sand ridges and channels that are formed by tidal currents ring the bank, marking the edge between the shallow bank waters (depths less than 10 m) and the much deeper offshore waters (dark blue).
STS088-704-75	Rio De La Plata/Buenos Aires: This photo includes the burgeoning Argentine capital of Buenos Aires (center), the upper end of the turbid estuary, Rio de la Plata, and most of the complex delta at the confluence of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers. The city of 13 million quickly gives way to intense agriculture to the southeast through west.
STS088-704-71	Rio De La Plata/Buenos Aires: The Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, known as the Paris of the southern hemisphere, is the gray area upper center, with the satellite university city of La Plata to its upper left.
STS088-706-15	Rio Limay, Patagonia, Argentina: The Rio Limay, now dammed at a series of points, flows off the southern Andes Mts., through the arid lands of Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean. The browns of the Patagonian Desert (most of the view) contrast with the greens of the forested slopes of the Andes (top left). The highest parts of the Andes appear as light-colored treeless ridges. Lake Nahuel Huapi is the dark feature along the left side of the view.
STS088-706-20	Lake Nahuel Huapi, Southern Andes Mountains, Argentina: The top half of the view shows the ridge crests and valleys of the southern Andes Mountains. This part of the view appears dark due to shadow in the valleys. The summits appear as angular, light-colored treeless ridges, with a patch of white snow top left. Curved Lake Nahuel Huapi is the dark finger top center. This lake depression was eroded by glacier ice moving east (from the mountains at the top of the view towards the Patagonian plains bottom) during the geologically recent ice ages when the Andes were covered with snow and ice caps far larger than those of today. The small gray city on the left (south) side edge of the lake (left center) is the well-known resort of San Carlos de Bariloche. The Rio Limay appears bottom right, and flows off the southern Andes Mts., through the arid lands of Patagonia to the Atlantic Ocean.
STS088-705-64	Lake Cerros Colorados, Neuquen Prov., Patagonia, Argentina: Most of the views show the arid landscapes of windswept Patagonia. The only places where agriculture can be practiced are the valley bottoms where irrigation water is available. The green swaths crossing the view are fields in the floodplains of the Neuquen River (top to bottom) and the Limay River (lower right-should be lower left). The prominent lakes are Lake Pellegrini, a natural depression (bottom) probably hollowed out by the persistent and strong winds for which Patagonia is so well known; and Lake Cerro Colorado, a manmade lake (top).
STS088-705-62	Santiago de Chile, Chile: Chile’s capital city stands in excellent detail in the middle of this view. An airport appears on the northwest margin of the built-up area and numerous small farms appear as green rectangles around the city on the left (west) side of the view. The right side of the view is dominated by the steep slopes and peaks of the Andes Mountains. Snow can be seen on highest peaks all down the right (east) side of the view although the photo was taken in the summer of the southern hemisphere. Santiago routinely appears partly obscured under industrial haze on Shuttle photographs. Haze accumulates partly because the city lies in a basin at the foot of the Andes Mountains (protected from wind), and partly because the city has grown to a huge size (more than 5.3 million-1991 statistics).
STS088-701-62	West Falkland, Falkland Islands: The Falkland Islands are made up of two major islands, West and East Falkland. Much of the former is shown here with the dividing waterway between them, Falkland Sound, appearing along the bottom of the view. Small islands and capes of East Falkland appear along the bottom margin of the view.
STS088-706-46	Songhua River Valley, Northeast China: This early December (1998) view of the Songhua River shows snow in the floodplain of the river, with its numerous meandering scroll-bar features, and numerous, angular farms on the flat country to the north of the river (top). The smaller Tongken River enters the picture top right and joins the Songhua on the right margin (center). The major industrial and coal mining city of Harbin lies just outside the view center right. It is not clear why small rectangular communities in the farmland are consistently snow-free, although the existence of trees in these small centers may explain why the snow is less apparent. It appears that the snow-free lower part of the view lay immediately beyond the track of the snow storm which affected the rest of the scene.

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