Earth from Space - Image Description

STS073-708-23 Port Arthur, Texas, U.S.A. October 1995
The grid street pattern designates the industrial city of Port Arthur along the northwest shore of Sabine Lake. Port Arthur's major industry is associated with refining petroleum products. The large white cloud and darker smoke in the general vicinity of the oil refineries suggest that a fire is in progress. Breakwaters reaching into the Gulf of Mexico help to modify the rate of coastal erosion around Sabine Pass and to reduce the amount of sediment in the ship channel that provides access to Sabine Lake. The east-to-west longshore current contains some sediment. The mottled landscape along the coast is very flat with extensive areas of swamps, lakes, and wetlands.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.