Showing posts with label
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR).
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Showing posts with label
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR).
Show all posts
This image of clouds over the southern Indian Ocean was acquired on July 23, 2007 by one of the backward (northward)-viewing cameras of the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's polar-orbiting Terra spacecraft. The area covered by the image is 247.5 kilometers wide and 660 kilometers long, and is shown in an approximate perspective view at an angle of 60 degrees off of vertical. The solar zenith angle ranges from about 83 degrees at the top of the image to 88 degrees at the bottom, hence the lengthening of shadows cast by the clouds on the underlying ocean surface and reddening of the hues in the foreground. Stereoscopic analysis of the data from multiple MISR cameras indicates that the cloud tops visible here range in altitude from about 0.6 to 2.5 miles (1 to 4 kilometers). A new university study using MISR data revealed an overall trend of decreasing global cloud height during the last decade.
Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
NASA's Terra spacecraft passed over Hurricane Irene while it was just north of the Bahamas on August 25, 2011, at 11:45 a.m. EDT. At the time, Irene was a category three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 kph), and a minimum central pressure of 951 hPa, according to NOAA's National Hurricane Center. The storm made landfall in North Carolina on the morning of August 27 as a category one hurricane.
This set of images, acquired by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on Terra on August 25, highlights geophysical parameters important to scientists studying these storms.
MISR uses nine cameras to capture images of the hurricane from different angles. The leftmost image is taken from an angle of 46 degrees. The storm is visible to the north of Cuba, which is located in the lower left of the image. Irene's eye is covered with clouds. Strong storms in the eyewall and the outer rain bands appear as bright, textured regions.
The multiple angles of MISR's cameras provide a stereographic view of Hurricane Irene. This information can be used to determine the height of the storm's cloud tops. As shown in the center image, these heights exceed 11 miles (18 kilometers) in the center of the storm, and in the outer rain bands, where the vertical motion is strongest. Lower clouds, at an altitude of about 5 miles (8 kilometers), are visible along the storm's northern edge.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument also flies on Terra and measures cloud top temperatures. Higher clouds are colder, and the highest clouds in Hurricane Irene on August 25 had temperatures less than minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 73 degrees Celsius).
While there is good correspondence between the MISR cloud top heights and the MODIS cloud top temperatures, these two observations provide different insights into the behavior of clouds near the core of the storm. Researchers are studying how the two measurements can be used in combination to estimate hurricane intensity.
These images cover more than 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) in the north-south direction, and are centered near 27 degrees North latitude, 75.5 degrees West longitude.
Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team
Welcome back to another chance to play geographical detective!
This image was taken by the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), and represents an area of about 1800 kilometers by 900 kilometers. Please note that due North may not be at the top of the page. These questions refer to a landmark, area or province within the pictured region. Please answer the questions below and tell us where on Earth you think the location is. You may use any reference materials you like to answer the quiz.
From the statements below, please indicate which are TRUE and which are FALSE.
1. Located within the lower third of the image is a dramatic landmark that has lain dormant for thousands of years.
2. The southwest part of the region pictured overlooks a capital city.
3. This area was once rich in biodiversity. However, urbanization over the past several decades has reduced the wealth of flora and fauna in the region by nearly 30 percent.
4. One of the seven natural wonders of the world lies to the northeast of this region, less than a week away by car.
5. The highest point in this region, located near the peninsula shown in the image, was first successfully climbed in the 16th century, according to records.
6. The country in which this region is located is home to one of the world's largest (by volume) rivers.
7. On the west coast of the region pictured lies a World Heritage Site surrounded by water.
What location is shown in this image?
Quiz Rules
Send us your answers, name (initials are acceptable if you prefer), and your hometown by the quiz deadline of Wednesday, August 3, 2011, using the Quiz answer form. Answers will be published on the MISR web site. The names and home towns of respondents who answer all questions correctly by the deadline will also be published in the order responses were received. The first 3 people on this list who are not affiliated with NASA, JPL, or MISR and who have not previously won a prize will be sent a print of the image.
A new "Where on Earth...?" mystery will appear periodically. The image also appears on the Earth Observatory, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/, and on the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center home pages, http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/, though usually with a several-hour delay.
Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team
The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft captured this image of Hurricane Earl at 15:00 UTC on August 30, 2010. At this time, Hurricane Earl was a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The image (left panel) extends approximately 1,110 kilometers (690 miles) in the north-south direction and 380 kilometers (236 miles) in the east-west direction. The hurricane's eye is just visible on the right edge of the MISR image swath.
Winds at various altitudes were obtained by processing the data from five of MISR's nine cameras to produce the display shown on the right. The lengths of the arrows indicate the wind speeds and their orientation shows wind direction. The altitude of a given wind vector is shown in color. Low clouds, less than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) in altitude (shown in purple), follow the cyclonic (counter-clockwise) flow of air into the hurricane. This warm, moist air is the power source for the hurricane. Mid- and high-level clouds (green and yellow-orange, respectively) move in an anti-cyclonic (clockwise) direction as they flow out from the top of the storm. The very highest clouds with altitudes around 17 kilometers (10.6 miles) are flowing directly away from the eye of the hurricane.
Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team
