Earth from Space - Image Description

STS090-726-047 Tampa Bay Area, Florida, USA April 1998
The intensively urbanized land that surrounds Tampa Bay stands out in this STS-90 photograph of the west central coast of Florida. The two bays north and northeast of Tampa Bay are Old Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Bay respectively. Several bridges (linear, light colored features) are visible connecting the three major cities of Clearwater (west side of photograph, adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico); St. Petersburg (southernmost city on the large peninsula); and Tampa (northeast quadrant of the picture). From north to south bridges in Tampa Bay include Courtney Campbell Causeway, Howard Franklin Bridge, Gandy Bridge, and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The runways of Macdill Air Force Base south of Tampa; Tampa International Airport along the east side of Old Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport along the west side of Old Tampa Bay, are discernible.

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