NASA image acquired January 15, 2012
Snow rested on the land surface while ice rested on the sea surface in southwestern Alaska in mid-January 2012. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on January 15. Pristine snow blankets the mountains and plains, and tendrils of sea ice fill Bristol Bay, which is surrounded by land on three sides. Arctic sea ice waxes and wanes throughout the year, and conditions fluctuate each season and year—including conditions in the Bering Sea. Although sea ice extent in mid-January 2012 was not at a record high, it was the highest ice extent in several years, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
North of the area in this image, in Nome, Alaska, harsh weather conditions hampered the delivery of much-needed winter fuel. A strong storm in November 2011 prevented the customary pre-winter fuel delivery, and thick sea ice hampered efforts to reach the area through mid-January. A Russian tanker finally succeeded in delivering fuel to Nome by January 16, 2012.
Overall, Arctic sea ice typically grows throughout the month of January, reaching its peak in late February or March. For animations of Arctic sea ice minimum and maximum extents, see the World of Change feature on Arctic sea ice.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team
NASA image acquired January 3, 2012
One of the most documented dead zones on Earth is in the northern Gulf of Mexico in the summer when solar heating increases the buoyancy of surface waters thereby reducing mixing between the surface and the bottom. Phytoplankton — powered by the same sunlight and fed by a rich nutrient broth flowing out of local rivers — bloom, die, sink, and get remineralized by bacteria which use up all the available oxygen in the isolated bottom waters which then become dead zones.
The above view looking eastwards from Louisiana on the left towards northern Florida in the distance on the right was collected in winter when oxygenated water is more easily mixed down to the sea floor. The tell-tale tan and greenish-brown plumes from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers show that even though dead zones may not form in winter, transport of the suspended sediments that are usually accompanied by nutrients continues all year long.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Aqua MODIS
In Focus: Images of Earth From Above
Yesterday was Earth Day, a time set aside to increase awareness of the natural environment and the impact of our collective actions. In honor of Earth Day, gathered here is a collection of scenes of our home planet from above, from vantage points we don’t see in everyday life. These scenes help show the Earth as a larger system and demonstrate the extent to which human activity has affected it.
See more. [Images: NASA, Google]
In Focus: Remembering Project Gemini
Fifty years ago, NASA began a program called Project Gemini, developing deep space travel techniques and equipment to prepare for the upcoming Apollo program. Two unmanned and ten manned missions were flown, and astronauts and engineers accomplished hundreds of goals, including the first American spacewalk, a 14-day endurance test in orbit, space docking, and the highest-ever manned orbit at 1,369 km (850 mi). After the project ended in 1966, many Gemini astronauts brought their experiences with them as they went on to fly Apollo missions to the Moon. Collected here are remarkable images of Project Gemini half a century ago — some beautiful, some technical, and a few surprisingly intimate.
See the rest. [Images: NASA]
BBL, spending the rest of the day looking at Gemini photos.
Perpetual Ocean
This visualization shows ocean surface currents around the world during the period from June 2005 through Decmeber 2007. The visualization does not include a narration or annotations; the goal was to use ocean flow data to create a simple, visceral experience.
This visualization was produced using NASA/JPL’s computational model called Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II or ECCO2.. ECCO2 is high resolution model of the global ocean and sea-ice. ECCO2 attempts to model the oceans and sea ice to increasingly accurate resolutions that begin to resolve ocean eddies and other narrow-current systems which transport heat and carbon in the oceans.The ECCO2 model simulates ocean flows at all depths, but only surface flows are used in this visualization. The dark patterns under the ocean represent the undersea bathymetry. Topographic land exaggeration is 20x and bathymetric exaggeration is 40x.
This visualization was created as a last minute entry for theSIGGRAPH 2011 computer animation festival; however, it was not accepted.
(Source: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov)
GREAT BRRRRRRRR-ITAIN A view of the British Isles from yesterday, March 26 (left) and from January 2010. (Photo: NASA via the Telegraph)
Pagan Island, Northern Marianas
ISS030-E-122047 (6 March 2012) —- Pagan Island, Northern Marianas is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 30 crew member on the International Space Station. A steam plume flows south from the peak of Pagan Island’s northernmost volcano in this photograph. Pagan is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, an island chain of volcanoes that form the margin between the Pacific Ocean (to the east) and the Philippine Sea (to the west). Pagan is made up of two stratovolcanoes separated by an isthmus, and is one of the more volcanically active islands. The last eruption was in 2010, but the island was completely evacuated in 1981 when a large eruption forced the small Micronesian community to flee. According to NASA scientists, the islands themselves mark the tectonic boundary where the old, cold Pacific plate is subducted beneath the younger, less dense Philippine Sea crust at the Marianas Trench. The subduction results in substantial volcanic activity on the upper plate, forming the island arc of the Marianas. Considered to be one of the type examples for an oceanic subduction zone, the Marianas Trench includes the deepest spot in Earth’s oceans (more than 10,000 meters). The foreshortened appearance of the island is due to the viewing angle and distance from the space station, which was located over the Pacific Ocean approximately 480 kilometers to the southeast of Pagan Island when the image was taken.
Before and After: the Southwest drought from space
Dead Trees in Memorial Park, Houston, Texas
Before (left): May 3, 2010 | After (right): September 26, 2011The Southwest drought has had a devastating impact on the state’s trees. The Texas Forest Service estimates more than 500 million trees were killed by the drought. The trees that were under the most stress were actually urban trees, when local governments restricted watering public landscapes. These pictures from the Texas Forest Service show Memorial Park in Houston, where trees turned brown and died over the course of a year.
Move the slider over to see before and after shots of this image and more here.
(Image from USGS)
-KC
Felix Baumgartner on track for highest ever free-fall jump
Stunt co-ordinator, skydiver, helicopter pilot and B.A.S.E. jumper Felix Baumgartner is on track to break four world records by jumping out of a balloon 36.5 kilometres above the earth.
Austrian Baumgartner conducted the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos on Thursday in Roswell, New Mexico. In this test he reach the altitude 21,800 meters (71,500 ft) and landed safely near Roswell.
Red Bull Stratos is a mission to the edge of the earths atmosphere, where upon reaching altitude of 36,000 meters (120,000 ft) by helium balloon, the 41-year-old hopes to complete the highest-ever freefall jump made by a human by plunging out of a specially designed balloon in the stratosphere.
Daredevil Baumgartner will also attempt to break the speed of sound in the free-fall to the ground. (Photo: Jay Nemeth/Red Bull via Getty Images)
Earth exploration.
dvdp:
View From ISS Cupola (2012.02.26)
