STS102-303-17
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Aswan High Dam in 6-meter Resolution from the International Space
Station: Astronaut photography of the Earth from the
International Space Station has achieved resolutions close to those
available from commercial remote sensing satellites—with many
photographs having spatial resolutions of less than six meters.
Astronauts take the photographs by hand and physically compensate for
the motion of the spacecraft relative to the Earth while the images
are being acquired. The achievement was highlighted in an article
entitled “Space Station Allows Remote Sensing of Earth to within Six
Meters” published in this week’s edition of Eos, Transactions of the
American Geophysical Union. Lines painted on airport runways at the
Aswan Airport served to independently validate the spatial resolution
of the camera sensor. For press information, read: International
Space Station Astronauts Set New Standard for Earth Photography
For details, see Robinson, J. A. and Evans, C. A. 2002. Space
Station Allows Remote Sensing of Earth to within Six Meters. Eos,
Transactions, American Geophysical Union 83(17):185, 188. See
some of the other detailed photographs posted to Earth Observatory:
Pyramids
at Giza
Bermuda
Downtown
Houston
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STS102-331-12
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Distributary Channels of the Orinoco River: Several meandering
distributary channels of the Orinoco River are seen draining
northward into the south side of the Gulf of Paria in eastern
Venezuela. These sediment-laden channels carry a tremendous quantity
of fluvial material that constantly changes the size and shapes of
the shoreline and adjacent islands. An assortment of mud flats and
sand bars, seen here as lighter colored features in the water, are
affected both by stream flow and tidal forces. Although some sunglint
(the sun's reflection off of the water surface) is evident in the
image, there may also be some evidence of a sheen on the surface of
the water that is caused by the oil drilling operations in the gulf.
The extensive dark landscape identifies the flat, swampy coastal
plains of northeast Venezuela that is covered by dense stands of
vegetation.
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STS102-336-35
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New England Area: The moderating influence of the Atlantic
Ocean is visible along the coastline in this synoptic, southeast view
of several New England states. The southern limit of the snow covered
landscape can be traced from southeast Massachusetts (left center)
westward along the northern shore of Long Island Sound and includes
the northern end of New Jersey (right center). In addition to Long
Island (center), other prominent features on this image includes:
Cape Cod; Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and Block Islands; and the
Hudson River (bottom center). Several southerly draining river
systems are discernible in Connecticut and extensive wetlands are
observed along New York and New Jersey coastal areas.
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STS102-716-25
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Another New Lake in Egypt: As the Space Shuttle Atlantis
passed over southern Egypt in mid-March 2001, the STS-102 astronauts
were able to document new flooding in the Toshka region west of Lake
Nasser. The formation of the Toshka Lakes in southern Egypt is part
of Egypt's New Valley Project. The flooding of the region has been
monitored by astronauts since 1998, and continues to show rapid
changes. An animation in a previous
posting on the Earth Observatory links together several
photographs of the region taken by astronauts to show the sequence of
flooding in the Toshka depression. The last image of that sequence
was acquired in September, 2000 (Image number STS106-716-96),
and is included here for reference. Since September, flooding has
occurred over a large area at the western end of the Toshka lakes.
The region will be the location of large Egyptian agricultural
developments that will support millions of people. Compare to earlier
images posted on Earth Observatory:
October
10, 2000 from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
December
1999 from the Space Shuttle.
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STS102-708-10
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Salt Evaporation Ponds, Dead Sea: The complex of Jordanian
salt evaporation ponds at the southern end of the Dead Sea has
expanded significantly over the past dozen years. The western margin
of the salt ponds marks the Jordan-Israel border. In August 1989, when the crew of Space Shuttle mission
STS28 photographed the region, the northern extension did not exist
and the large polygonal ponds in the northwestern and northeastern
sectors had not been subdivided. In the view taken by the STS102 crew
in March 2001, one can see that there has also been
expansion at the southeastern end, and that levees now segment the
northeastern wedge into four ponds. Both sodium chloride and
potassium salts are produced from the Dead Sea ponds.
Salt-evaporation works are expanding throughout the world in response
to increased manufacture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other
chemicals, for which salt is a principal feedstock. About 22.4
million metric tons of salt (sodium chloride) were consumed by the
chemical industry in 1996. Other uses are in human and animal
nutrition, water conditioning, and road de-icing.
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STS102-344-23
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Mount Ararat (Agri Dagi), Turkey: Mount Ararat (16,940 feet,
5165 m) is the largest volcano in Turkey. Although not currently
active, its most recent eruption has probably been within the last
10,000 years. It is located in extreme northeastern Turkey, near the
borders with Iran and Armenia. Southwest of the main peak lies Little
Ararat (12,877 feet, 3896 m). Ahora Gorge is a northeast-trending
chasm dropping 6000feet from the top of the mountain and was the
focus of a major earthquake in 1840. A number of claims by different
explorers to have found remnants of Noah’s Ark on Mt. Ararat have led
to continuing expeditions to the mountain, many of which have focused
their searches on the gorge area.
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STS102-349-35
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St. Vincent Island, Apalachicola River Delta, Florida: Beach
ridges sweep in bands across St. Vincent Island, a coastal barrier
about 120 km southwest of Tallahassee, Florida. These depositional
features have accumulated over time on the barrier island, and
chronicle the island's evolution. The swales between the ridges
some of which are water-filled, creating elongated lakes represent
periods of island accretion between intervals of beach ridge
development. Each ridge in the series marks the location of the
island shoreline. The oldest ridge, approximately 3000 years old,
is on the north side. The youngest the berm of the modern beach is
on the south-facing portion of the present-day Gulf beach. The
crew of Space Shuttle 102 used the reflection of the sun off water
that lies in the swales between ridges to emphasize the variable
topography of the beach ridge plain. Similar topography -- although
formed in a different manner, combining river and marine deposition
-- can be seen on the Po and Ebro river deltas of Italy and Spain,
respectively, and on the Mississippi river coast of Louisiana.
St. Vincent Island, which lies between Cape San Blas and the town of
Apalachicola on the Florida Panhandle, is a national wildlife refuge
and an important breeding ground for loggerhead turtles. Sambar
deer, a variety of Asian elk that can weigh as much as 700 pounds,
roam the marshlands, and eastern gray wolves have been bred there.
The deer were introduced in the early 1900s, when the island was a
privately owned hunting ground for exotic game.
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