Cool Geo-Pic: Sulfur Dioxide from Okmok Volcano

Sulfur Dioxide from Okmok Volcano
Click here to view full image (2533 kb)

"Cut & Paste" Highlights:

On July 12, 2008, Okmok Volcano, in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands erupted, releasing a plume of ash and steam. Besides emissions visible to human eyes, Okmok also released sulfur dioxide, a gas our eyes cannot see, but which can affect both human health and climate.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite measured the sulfur dioxide from Okmok Volcano from July 12-20, 2008. This image shows the estimated sulfur dioxide at altitudes around 16 kilometers (10 miles) released by the volcano over that time span, with red indicating the highest levels, and pale pink indicating the lowest. The sulfur dioxide was most intense southeast of the volcano, but lower levels spread both to the south and east, forming a large L shape, and spreading over parts of the continental United States and Canada...."

Full Article:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18098

Credits:

Image courtesy Fred Prata, NILU. Caption by Michon Scott and Rebecca Lindsey.

Cool Geo-Pic: Earth and the Moon

Cool Geo-Pic: Earth and the Moon

Click here to view animation (525 kb)

Animations
True-color high quality (9.5 MB QuickTime)
True-color web quality (530 kB QuickTime)
Infrared high quality (10.3 MB QuickTime)
Infrared web quality (570 kB QuickTime)

Another from NASA's Earth Observatory.

"Cut & Paste" Highlights:

" ... Among the leading criteria for habitable planets is the presence of liquid water. How would you know from a distance of 10 million or more miles that Earth had oceans? “A ‘sun glint’ can be seen in the movie, caused by light reflected from Earth’s oceans, and similar glints [if they were observed] from extra-solar planets could indicate alien oceans, ..."

Full Article:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18096

References:

NASA. (2008, July 17). NASA’s Deep Impact Films Earth as an Alien World. Accessed July 21, 2008.
NASA images and animation courtesy EPOXI science team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey, adapted from the NASA press release.

Cool Geo-Pic: Cordillera Huayhuash, Peruvian Andes

Another Cool Geo-Pic from NASA's Earth Observatory & the ISS crew.


Cordillera Huayhuash, Peruvian Andes: Click here to view full image (401 kb)


"Cut & Paste" highlights:
" ... Widely considered the most spectacular peak in South America, Yerupajá is so steep that it has seldom been climbed. The best climbing approach is from the southwest, the face seen in this view. Yerupajá is locally known as El Carnicero (“The Butcher”) because of its blade-like ridges, typical of mountains that have been heavily eroded by glacial ice. Other features created by the erosive effect of flowing ice are small glacial lakes, which often vary in color due to different amounts of fine mud being fed into them by meltwater from under the glaciers. During the ice ages, the glaciers advanced many kilometers outward from the cordillera, occupying all the surrounding valley floors (all of which lie above 3,000 meters), producing U-shape valleys.... "

Full Article:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=18093