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Smog in Northern Italy
Published January 4, 2006
In northern Italy, smog collected at the base of the Alps in late December 2005. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying onboard the Aqua satellite captured this image on December 23. In this image...
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Tasmania
Published January 3, 2006
The vibrant greens in this image depict the forests of Tasmania. The island is a part of Australia, located some 240 kilometers (150 miles) off of its extreme Southeastern tip. Tasmania is fairly large...
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Greece
Published January 2, 2006
Greece’s 3,000 islands and 15,000 kilometers ( miles) of coastline highlight this image acquired on November 11, 2005. The rich texture produced by the topographic variation in this image reveal that it is the most mountainous of all the European countries, comprising about 80% of the country’s land surface. These mountains are the product of...
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The Northern Territory of Australia
Published January 1, 2006
The Northern Territory of Australia dominates the center of this image acquired on November 26, 2005. The capital, Darwin, is located at the top of the image and is connected to Alice Springs, one of the territory’s few population centers, by the Stuart Highway, running North-South almost at the center of the image. Perhaps the most recognizable feature...
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NDVI
Published December 31, 2005
A series of images shows the extent of vegetation in the Southwestern U.S. The first image, when you first open the page, is a true color composite—exactly how the landscape looks to the human eye. If you place your mouse over the image, it will “rollover” to a new image...
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The Black Sea
Published December 30, 2005
Partially obscured by clouds, the Black Sea dominates the upper left quadrant of this image acquired on December 6, 2005. The sea takes its name from the ancient Greeks, who took note of its relative lack of clarity; visibility is limited to about 5 meters (15 feet) on average. The Black Sea receives a steady influx...
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Smoke from Alaska fires
Published January 5, 2005
Smoke from Alaska´s 115 active fires obscures Seward Peninsula and part of the Brooks Range. So far this year, the state has experienced 590 fires that have burned more than 1.3 million hectares (3.3 million acres). The Bering Straight, separating Alaska from the Russian Federation...
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Fires and smoke in central South America
Thick, heavy smoke obscures Bolivia and other South American countries. Bolivia lies in the bottom center of the image, surrounded by Brazil to the North and East, Paraguay to the South, Peru (upper left) and Chile (lower left) to the West. On the far left of the image lies Lake Titicaca...
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Ukraine
Numerous wildfires dot the landscape of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This region is mostly grassland, similar to the prairies of the United States. Grasslands are characterized by frequent fires and droughts...
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Phytoplankton bloom in the Barents Sea
Phytoplankton color the sea in this image acquired on August 27, 2005. Phytoplankton are tiny, microscopic plants that form the base of the food web in marine ecosystems. The vibrant blue color is caused by coccolithophores...
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Dust storm off West Africa
A large, swirling mass of dust, visible on the left portion of the image, is blowing from the Western Sahara into the Atlantic Ocean. The islands at the top of the image are a part of the Canary Islands, a possession of Spain. The landmass on the right side of the image...
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Phytoplankton bloom off South Africa
The vibrant blue colors visible in this image are caused by phytoplankton blooms. Phytoplankton are tiny, microscopic plants that form the base of the food web in marine ecosystems. Phytoplankton are consumed by zooplankton...
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Low over the Arctic Ocean
A low pressure system hovers in the center of this image of the Arctic Ocean. On the right (East) side of this image are the Queen Elizabeth Islands of Canada. The Arctic is the smallest ocean...
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Northeastern Australia
The Great Barrier Reef dominates the upper left portion of this image. The Great Barrier Reef is recognized as one of the most significant ecosystems on the planet and is a United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization´s (UNESCO) <a> World Heritage site. It contains a remarkable array...
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Tonga Islands, South Pacific Ocean
The islands depicted in this image belong to the Kingdom of Tonga, an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean. These tropical islands are just South of Samoa, West of Australia, and North of New Zealand. There are at least 169 islands in the chain...
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Dust storm off Egypt
A large, swirling mass of dust, visible on the top left portion of the image, is blowing from the Sahara into the Mediterranean Sea. The country on the left is Libya, while the Nile Delta of Egypt is clearly recognizable on the right side of the image. Dust storms occur when very strong winds carry sand ...
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Phytoplankton bloom off Australia
The vibrant blue colors visible in this image are caused by phytoplankton blooms. The coastline is located in the Southwestern portion of Australia, several hundred kilometers East of Perth. The body of water seen here is a part of the Great Australia Bight, a large, open bay in the Southern Ocean. The shoreline is comprised mostly of high...
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Haze over Eastern China
A thick layer of haze obscures the coastline in this image of Eastern China. Beijing (China´s capital and second largest city) is located in the upper left portion of the image, while Shanghai (China´s largest city and the word´s largest port) is located in the lower right portion of the image. Haze is a generic term for visible air pollution...
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Solar eclipse over North Africa
On October 3, 20005, observers in Europe and Africa, as well as parts of Asia, saw a partial eclipse of the Sun. Solar eclipses occur when the Earth, Moon, and Sun are all in a straight line with the Moon in the middle. This particular eclipse was an annular...
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Cloud vortices off the Crozet Islands, south Indian Ocean
Cloud vortices- the interesting patterns seen here- are produced by the flow of air in the atmosphere. Clouds are made up of many small droplets of water or ice crystals, formed around what is called a condensation nucleus, which could be a small particle of dust, ash, or smoke. They reflect all visible wavelengths of sunlight...
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Phytoplankton bloom off Argentina
Brilliant streaks of blue and duller swirls of green color the South Atlantic Ocean in this Terra MODIS image acquired on January 4, 2005. The colors are a result of millions of microscopic plants growing near the surface of the water. Generally called phytoplankton, some varieties of the plants, called coccolithophores...
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Fires in Eastern Australia
Numerous fires – depicted as red dots in this image- continue to rage across Eastern Australia. The coastline seen here extends from above Cairns in the upper right portion of the image to just below Brisbane in the lower right part of the image; the Great Barrier Reef is visible on the right. Natural or "wild" fire is an...
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Uruguay and Argentina
From the flat grasslands of Argentina, known as the Pampas, the terrain of southern South America transitions to gently rolling hills in Uruguay, and still more in southern Brazil. This true-color Terra MODIS image, acquired on December 31, 2004, features the region through which two of South America's major rivers...
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Southern Chile and Argentina
he rugged, snow-capped Andes dominate the left side of this image of Southern Chile and Argentina. The Andes measure approximately 7000 kilometers (4400 miles) long and 500 kilometers (300 miles) wide and range along the West coast of South America. The light-colored landscape...
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Dust Storm over the Persian Gulf
Tan clouds of airborne dust obscured the Persian Gulf when the Terra MODIS instrument flew over the region to collect this image on January 7, 2005. The dust is blowing out of Iraq and Iran in the northwest where winds were reported to be blowing at 13 kilometers per hour (8 mph) near the coast. MODIS also...
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Fires and smoke in eastern Russia
Smoke from numerous fires (shown as red dots) obscure the Eastern coastline of the Russian Federation and the island of Sakhalin. In recent years, researchers have emphasized the importance of boreal (Northern) forests as a reservoir for carbon, which is related to the problem of global warming. The burning of forests...
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Phytoplankton bloom in Shark Bay, Western Australia
The vibrant blue colors visible in this image of Shark Bay, Western Australia are caused by phytoplankton blooms. The bay is located in the Western part of Australia, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) North of Perth. Shark Bay is a United Nations ...
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Icebergs in the Ross Sea, Antarctica
As winter deepens its hold across the Northern Hemisphere, summer shows its face in the Southern Hemisphere. At the southernmost extreme is Antarctica, which even at its most balmy is covered in ice and painted in shades of black and white. In the center of the scene are a number of large icebergs, including the huge B-15A iceberg, which calved...
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Dust Storm off the Western Sahara Coast
Thick tan streamers of dust blow out from the Western Sahara over the Atlantic Ocean in this true-color Aqua MODIS image from New Year's Day 2005. The Saharan Desert dust stretches for a few hundred kilometers off the coast, while underneath the veil blue-green sediment...
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Cape Verde Islands
Cape Verde, an island country in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, is clearly visible in this image acquired on October 17, 2005. The islands total about 4,000 square kilometers (1,500 square miles) in area, slightly larger than the State of Rhode Island in the United States. The islands were claimed by Portugal in 1456...
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Fires in the Southeastern United States
Scores of fires – and their smoke – are clearly visible in this image of the Southeastern United States. It has been another active fire season in the U.S. So far this year (from 01/01/05 to 10/14/05), there have been close to...
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Dust storm in Bodele Depression, Chad
A dust storm cuts a wide swath across this image of the Bodélé Depression in the country of Chad. The brown, tan, and gold colors are the sands of the Sahara; the country on the right, dominating the image is Chad. On the left side of the image is Southeastern Niger...
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