ISS042-E-001166

Browse image
Resolutions offered for this image:
1000 x 666 pixels 540 x 360 pixels 2040 x 1360 pixels 720 x 480 pixels 4928 x 3280 pixels 640 x 426 pixels
Cloud masks available for this image:

Spacecraft nadir point: 40.7° N, 25.1° E

Photo center point: 40.0° N, 16.9° E

Photo center point by machine learning:

Nadir to Photo Center: West

Spacecraft Altitude: 221 nautical miles (409km)
Click for a map
Width Height Annotated Cropped Purpose Links
1000 pixels 666 pixels No No Earth From Space collection Download Image
540 pixels 360 pixels Yes No Earth From Space collection Download Image
2040 pixels 1360 pixels No No NASA's Earth Observatory web site Download Image
720 pixels 480 pixels Yes Yes NASA's Earth Observatory web site Download Image
4928 pixels 3280 pixels No No Download Image
640 pixels 426 pixels No No Download Image
Other options available:
Download Packaged File
Download a Google Earth KML for this Image
View photo footprint information
Download a GeoTIFF for this photo
Image Caption: Gulf of Taranto, Italy

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station took this image of the Gulf of Taranto at the base of the boot of Italy. The Gulf of Taranto is roughly 140 km long and 140 km wide. The well-defined light blue swirls that hug the shorelines in the coastal waters could represent sediment introduced by local rivers or beach erosion, or they may be pollutants introduced from cities along the coastline. The tight sediment curl off the city of Taranto shows a clockwise water circulation and suggests that this major plume originates from one of the largest rivers flowing into the gulf (the Sarmento, image top right). But some contribution to the plumes seems to come from urban areas because the largest plumes are associated with the main city regions of the gulf, Taranto and Gallipoli, whereas the largest river, the Crati, gives rise only to a thin plume (image upper margin). Taranto is an important commercial and military port with steel and iron factories, oil refineries, chemical works, shipyards, and food-processing plants.