March 24, 2010 - Dust over Japan This image of gray/brown dust being blown over Japan was captured on March 21, 2010 by the MODIS on the Terra satellite. On the left is the Korean peninsula. Japan stretches diagonally across the image, up to the top right corner. The dust is likely from the sandstorm that swept across the China the previous day. The sand and dust originated from the south and east of Inner Mongolia. In this image from March 20, the dust is nearly obscuring the Bohai Sea, which is just west of the Korean peninsula. Here is a handy map. For more information related to this image go to: <a href="http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2010-03-24" rel="nofollow">modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2010-0...</a> For more information about Goddard Space Flight Center go here: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html</a>
Stable, south flowing air over the western Pacific Ocean (26.0N, 131.0E) is disturbed by islands south of Korea, resulting in sinuous clouds known as von Karman vortices. The smoke plume from Japan's Mount Unzen Volcano on Kyushu, is visible just west of the large cloud mass and extending southward. A very large, purple tinged dust pall, originating in Mongolia, can be seen on the Earth's Limb, covering eastern China and extending into the East China Sea.
ISS012-E-21250 (2 March 2006) --- Dust and smog in northeast China are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 12 crewmember on the International Space Station. Much of the land surface is obscured in this oblique image of the North China Plain and parts of Inner Mongolia. In the center of the view a mass of gray smog—mainly industrial pollution and smoke from domestic burning—obscures Beijing and surrounding cities. Numerous plumes with their source points appear within the mass. Beijing suffers some of the worst air pollution in the world from these chronic sources, and the characteristic colors and textures of the smog can be easily seen through windows of the International Space Station. The coastline of Bo Hai Bay, 300 kilometers east of Beijing, is visible at left. The light brown material in Bo Hai Bay is sediment from the Yellow and other rivers. Separated from the smog mass by a band of puffy, white cumulus clouds is a light brown plume of dust. The line of white cloud has developed along the escarpment that separates the heavily populated North China Plain – location of the largest population agglomeration on Earth – and the sparsely populated semi-desert plains of Inner Mongolia. Observers saw a number of dust events in most Northern Hemisphere deserts in the spring of 2006, and the Gobi and the Takla Makan deserts of western China were no exception. Dust plumes originating in these deserts typically extend eastward hundreds of kilometers, regularly depositing dust on Beijing, the Korean peninsula and Japan. Some plumes even extend over the Pacific Ocean. In extreme cases, visible masses of Gobi-derived dust have reached North America.
NASA image acquired Feb. 9, 2011 Less than 5 percent of Algeria’s land surface is suitable for growing crops, and most precipitation falls on the Atlas Mountains along the coast. Inland, dust-laden winds blow over rocky plains and sand seas. However, in north central Algeria—off the tip of Grand Erg Occidental and about 450 kilometers (280 miles) south of Algiers—lies a serpentine stretch of vegetation. It is the M’zab Valley, filled with palm groves and dotted with centuries-old settlements. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of M’zab Valley on February 9, 2011. ASTER combines infrared, red, and green wavelengths of light. Bare rock ranges in color from beige to peach. Buildings and paved surfaces appear gray. Vegetation is red, and brighter shades of red indicate more robust vegetation. This oasis results from water that is otherwise in short supply in the Sahara Desert, thanks to the valley’s approximately 3,000 wells. Chemical analysis of Algerian aquifers, as well studies of topography in Algeria and Tunisia, suggest this region experienced a cooler climate in the late Pleistocene, and potentially heavy monsoon rains earlier in the Holocene. The M’zab region shows evidence of meandering rivers and pinnate drainage patterns. The vegetation lining M’zab Valley highlights this old river valley’s contours. Cool summer temperatures and monsoon rains had long since retreated from the region by eleventh century, but this valley nevertheless supported the establishment of multiple fortified settlements, or ksours. Between 1012 A.D. and 1350 A.D., locals established the ksours of El-Atteuf, Bounoura, Melika, Ghardaïa, and Beni-Isguen. Collectively these cities are now a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site. NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon and Jesse Allen, using data from the GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. Caption by Michon Scott. Instrument: Terra - ASTER <b>To download the full high res file go <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=51296" rel="nofollow"> here</a></b>
NASA image acquired August 27, 2009 Like rivers of liquid water, glaciers flow downhill, with tributaries joining to form larger rivers. But where water rushes, ice crawls. As a result, glaciers gather dust and dirt, and bear long-lasting evidence of past movements. Alaska’s Susitna Glacier revealed some of its long, grinding journey when the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite passed overhead on August 27, 2009. This satellite image combines infrared, red, and green wavelengths to form a false-color image. Vegetation is red and the glacier’s surface is marbled with dirt-free blue ice and dirt-coated brown ice. Infusions of relatively clean ice push in from tributaries in the north. The glacier surface appears especially complex near the center of the image, where a tributary has pushed the ice in the main glacier slightly southward. A photograph taken by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (archived by the National Snow and Ice Data Center) shows an equally complicated Susitna Glacier in 1970, with dirt-free and dirt-encrusted surfaces forming stripes, curves, and U-turns. Susitna flows over a seismically active area. In fact, a 7.9-magnitude quake struck the region in November 2002, along a previously unknown fault. Geologists surmised that earthquakes had created the steep cliffs and slopes in the glacier surface, but in fact most of the jumble is the result of surges in tributary glaciers. Glacier surges—typically short-lived events where a glacier moves many times its normal rate—can occur when melt water accumulates at the base and lubricates the flow. This water may be supplied by meltwater lakes that accumulate on top of the glacier; some are visible in the lower left corner of this image. The underlying bedrock can also contribute to glacier surges, with soft, easily deformed rock leading to more frequent surges. NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using data provided courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. Caption by Michon Scott. Instrument: Terra - ASTER Credit: <b><a href="http://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/" rel="nofollow"> NASA Earth Observatory</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b>