2002 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| 2002 BREAKING NEWS:
NATURAL DISASTERS AND EXTREME WEATHER | G02-005 | 03/24/03 | 00:036:14 | NASA satellites have witnessed some remarkable events in 2002. Terra's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) tracked one of the largest wildfire seasons in 50 years. Landsat gave insight to the melting snows of Kilimanjaro. Earth Observing 1 (EO-1) satellite captured the path of an F5 tornado. Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) took CAT scans of the most intense tropical storms of the season. These images gave scientists, forecasters and the public a better understanding of our changing planet.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| WILD FIRESThe 2002 United States wildfire season began early and was the second largest in the past 50 years. About 74,000 fires burned nearly 7.2 million acres. Arizona, Colorado and Oregon recorded their largest wildfires this century. Twenty-one firefighters lost their lives while battling the fires. Throughout the season, NASA satellites played an important role in monitoring and fighting the wildfires. NASA satellites also aided in restoration of burned areas.
ITEM (1): Rodeo-Chediski, Arizona - The Rodeo-Chediski Fire started as two fires that grew together and quickly became the largest fire in Southwestern U.S. history. The fire burned close to 500,000 acres. Recovery and rehabilitation of the worst-hit areas began within days of the fires' ignitions. Images from Terra became a regular part of the National Interagency Fire Center's firefighting toolkit. The images helped the center track fires on a daily basis and allocate precious firefighting resources. Terra's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument provided the data for these images. MODIS has the ability to see through the smoke to locate active fire areas. The dates for these images are June 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 and 30.
Super: NASA
ITEM (2): SeaWiFS Arizona Fires - Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor on board the Orbview 2 satellite captures several images of the Rodeo-Chedeski wildfire
Courtesy: NASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (3): Progression of Rodeo-Chedeski Fire - These images show the progression of the Rodeo-Chedeski fire. Terra's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument provided the data that shows the Arizona fires' evolution from June 18 to 29, 2002.
Super: NASA
ITEM (4): Rodeo-Chedeski and Fire Recovery Efforts - Forest officials use satellite images to access active fire regions and to analyze a fire's burn scar. This information helps them quickly plan recovery strategies aimed at protecting precious watersheds and at reseeding denuded patches of forest. On June 21, 2002, the Rodeo and Chediski Fires in east-central Arizona were still two separate fires. This true-color scene from the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus instrument onboard the Landsat 7 satellite shows the massive quantities of smoke streaming northward from the fires, which were burning about 100 miles east-northeast of Phoenix. The smaller Chediski Fire is on the right, and the Rodeo Fire is on the left. Over the weekend of June 22, the two fires merged into a single 300,000+ acre blaze. The second image penetrates the smoke to show the active flame area. The third image shows the burned areas that help forest experts plan and execute forest recovery.
Super: NASA/USGS
ITEM (5): Colorado, Hayman Fire; June 8, 2002 - Located a few miles south of Denver, Colorado, the Hayman Fire was the largest wildfire in Colorado history. The fire broke out on June 8 and by nightfall had burned 290 acres. In the next two days, winds drove it toward Cheesman Reservoir and it exploded into 60,878 acres. By the time it was contained June 28, it had consumed 137,759 acres of grass and timber and 132 homes. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board the Terra Satellite snapped these stills June 8, 2002.
Super: NASA
ITEM (6): McNalley Fire, Sequoia National Forest - In late July and August 2002, the McNally Fire in Sequoia National Forest and the Pines Fire near San Diego consumed over a hundred thousand acres in California. Erratic winds and dry terrain spread the blaze that threatened the United States' largest trees. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from July 22, 2002, shows the smoke plume stretching 300 miles over the Sierra Nevada.
Super: NASA
ITEM (7): Oregon Biscuit - Several large wildfires burned out of control in Oregon through most of July and into August 2002. The Biscuit Fire, located in southern Oregon and northern California, began on July 13, 2002 and reached 499,965 acres. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board Terra satellite captured this August 11, image. The image show pillars of smoke arising from the fires.
Super: NASA
ITEM (8): Dust in The Wind - BAJA, CA - NASA's Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View sensor (SeaWiFS) captured this striking image of large dust and smoke plumes blowing from Baja, California, February 10, 2002. Here and there amongst the yellowish brown dust plumes, whiter smoke plumes are also visible, including a smaller one that appears to be coming from the Fallbrook, California area. Eleven people were injured and over thirty homes were destroyed in the town. At least 750 firefighters are battling to contain the blaze, which continues to burn.
Super: NASA
ITEM (9): Australian Wildfires - More than 60 fires burned in the ten-day wildfire episode that plagued Australia's most populous state. The bush fires were the longest and most destructive in the Sydney/New South Wales area since 1983. NASA's Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) caught this image of the wildfires Jan. 2, 2002 around the New South Wales region. Smoke from the fires billowed across the Tasman Sea. Many of the fires were blamed on extremely dry conditions in Sydney and arson.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (10): Western Drought - Drought was a major contributor to United States' 2002 record wildfire season. The drought plaguing the western U.S. was so intense, that its impacts on vegetation can easily be seen from space. Satellite-derived images of vegetation confirm extremely dry conditions exist that are ripe for fires in the western United States, according to a data collaboration between NASA and the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. Images created from France's SPOT satellite show the health of vegetation as severely weakened indicating very dry conditions over large areas of the western U.S.
Images for May show the driest regions to be over the western Great Plains, especially southeastern Colorado near the Texas/Oklahoma panhandle region. The data show severely dry conditions over the U.S. Southwest, and northward over the Dakotas and Montana, reaching all the way up into Canada. There is a strong correlation between the rainfall amount and vegetation "greenness" particularly for semi-arid regions. Severe and persistent below normal vegetation greenness over these regions implies drought.
Super: NASA
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| SMOKE AND SMOG These satellite images show extreme haze and smog associated with wildfires. Scientists say black carbon or soot contained in these clouds can change regional climates by blocking sunlight and warming the upper atmosphere. These images were captured by NASA's Sea Viewing Wide Field of Sensor (SeaWiFS) instrument onboard the OrbView-2 satellite.
ITEM (1): Haze From Canadian Fires, July 7, 2002 - Smoke from Canadian wildfires invaded the northeastern United States for a few days. The smoke blocked sunlight and cooled ground temperatures. SeaWiFS captured this image July 7, 2002.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (2): SeaWiFS Captures Images of Canadian Fire - NASA's Sea-viewing Wide field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) caught this image of the smoke and haze that blanketed much of the East , July 6, 2002. The brownish beige cloud seen in this picture spread from New York to Washington, DC. SeaWiFS is carried on the Orbview-2 satellite.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (3): MODIS Captures Images of Canadian Fire - NASA's Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra Satellite caught this image of the smoke that blanketed much of the East, July 7, 2002. The gray color shows the smoke and haze covering most of the Northeast.
Super: NASA
ITEM (4): Asian Brown Cloud, January 11, 2002 - A thick shroud of haze lingers over China, turning the sky an opaque grey over most of the eastern provinces and almost completely blotting out details of the land surface in this true-color scene. Beijing, China's capital city, is situated roughly 150 km (93 miles) west of Bo Hai Bay, under what appears to the densest portion of the aerosol pollution. SeaWiFS collected the data for these images January 11, 2002. The heavy aerosol concentrations can be seen blowing eastward across the Bo Hai Bay and Yellow Sea. It appears that some of the pollution has reached as far east as North and South Korea and the islands of Japan.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (5): Smog Obscures Chinese Coast - March 12, 2002 - A thick shroud of haze lingers over China, turning the sky an opaque grey over most of the eastern provinces and almost completely blotting out details of the land surface in this true-color scene. Beijing, China's capital city, is situated roughly 150 km (93 miles) west of Bo Hai Bay, under what appears to the densest portion of the aerosol pollution in this true-color scene. The heavy aerosol concentrations can be seen blowing eastward across the Bo Hai Bay and Yellow Sea. These data were collected on March 12, 2002, by the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA's Terra satellite.
Super: NASA
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| TROPICAL STORMS, HURRICANES AND TORNADOES, OH MY! The 2002 Atlantic Hurricane season produced only four hurricanes, including Hurricane Lili, the first hurricane to strike the United States since 1999. Only Hurricanes Lili and Isidore were classified as major (category 3 or higher on the Saffir Simpson hurricane scale). However, twice the normal number of storm systems (eight) affected the nation, spawning tornados, heavy rains and floods.
ITEM (1): La Plata Tornado - A number of severe thunderstorms swept through the mid-Atlantic states on April 28, 2002 bringing high winds, hailstones, and heavy rains to many areas. The intense storms spawned at least two tornadoes, one of which was classified as an F5 funnel cloud--the most severe category, with winds in excess of 260 miles per hour (425 km per hour). The powerful tornado touched down in southern Maryland and ripped through the town of La Plata, destroying most of the historic downtown. The twister--the strongest ever recorded to hit the state and perhaps the strongest ever recorded in the eastern U.S.--flattened everything in its path along a 24-mile (39 km) swath running west to east through the state.
The tornado's path can be seen clearly in this panchromatic image acquired on May 1 by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI), flying aboard NASA's EO-1 satellite. La Plata is situated toward the left hand side of this scene and the twister's swath is the bright stripe passing through the town and running eastward 6 miles (10 km) toward the Patuxent River further east. This stripe is vegetation flattened by the storm, which reflects more light than untouched vegetation. EO-1 is the first Earth observing satellite launched as part of NASA's New Millennium Program. This program is designed to spearhead development and testing of a new generation of satellite remote sensing technologies for future Earth and space science missions. The ALI is designed to improve upon and extend the measurement heritage begun by the Landsat series of satellites well into the 21st Century.
Super: NASA/USGS
ITEM (2): Cyclone Dina - NASA's Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), aboard the Terra spacecraft acquired this image of tropical cyclone Dina around 3 a.m. eastern time today. The cyclone is moving east of Madagascar after near brushes yesterday, January 22, of the islands of Mauritius and La Reunion. Two people were killed on Mauritius and two injured on La Reunion in accidents related to the storm. Thousands were left without drinking water or power. Officials say the storm was one of the strongest to affect La Reunion in years. Both islands are known for their sugar industry, which can be devastated by powerful storms.
Super: NASA
ITEM (3): Tropical Storm Edouard - Edouard made landfall on the northeast coast of Florida as a minimal tropical storm. Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument snapped this image September 3, 2002.
Super: NASA
ITEM (4): Tropical Depression Edouard - Forecasters downgraded Edourad to a Tropical Depression, Thursday September 5, 2002. This September 4, 2002 image, taken by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on board the Terra satellite, shows the storm breaking up.
Super: NASA
ITEM (5): Hurricane Isidore - Hurricane Isidore became the first major hurricane of the 2002 season with winds of 125 mph. Isidore made landfall over Western Cuba and the northern Yucatan peninsula. The hurricane eventually arrived over the Northern Gulf states as a tropical storm and dumped over 20 inches of rain on Louisiana.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (6): Tropical Storm Isidore - A NASA satellite sees Tropical Storm Isidore creeping towards Cuba. NASA's Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) on board the Orbview 2 satellite captured this image of the Hurricane Isidore around 1:00 PM September 19, 2002.
Super: ASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (7): Cat Scan of Isidore - The precipitation radar on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM),captures a dramatic image of Tropical Storm Isidore 5:00 am eastern time, September 26, 2002. The world's only space based rain radar allows scientists to create 3-D views of precipitation and height of the rain column inside powerful hurricanes and storms. Blue regions show low quantities of rain, while yellows and reds show high quantities. Red indicates rain rates in excess of 2 inches per hour. TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the National Space development Agency of Japan (NASDA), designed to monitor and study tropical rainfall.
Super: NASA/NASDA
ITEM (8): Hurricane Lili - For the United States, Hurricane Lili was the most devastating system of the season. The storm crossed Western Cuba as a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and made straight for Louisiana. Lili reached Category 4 intensity over the Gulf of Mexico. The strongest winds were 145 mph . Lili also affected the Windward Islands as a tropical storm, the northeastern Cayman Islands as a Category 1 hurricane and Jamaica as a cause of serious flooding. Nine deaths are attributed to Lili. Date of images October 1 & 2, 2002.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (9): Texas Floods - As much as two feet of rain fell on Southeastern Texas in July 2002, flooding three major river systems along the Gulf of Mexico. NASA's Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Terra satellite caught these images before and after the early July rain.
In the first still, a false-color image of Southeastern Texas taken June 24, 2002 from MODIS, the rivers were barely discernible from the satellite imagery.
In the second still, a false-color image of Southeastern Texas taken July 8, 2002, the rivers and standing water appear dark blue or black against the gold-colored landscape. The southernmost river is the Nueces River, with its northern tributary, the Frio River. To its north is the San Antonio River, and farther north is the Guadalupe River, hit especially hard by the flooding. The reddish color of the water provides evidence of this; in this false-color combination, soil and sediments appear reddish, showing how muddy the floodwaters were. The third and fourth stills are before and after shots showing San Antonio, TX.
Super: NASA
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| VOLCANOES NASA satellites capture extraordinary pictures of two major volcano eruptions spreading smoke and ash hundreds of miles away.
ITEM (1): Mt. Etna October 27 & 29, 2002 - A NASA satellite sees Europe's largest and most active volcano, Mt. Etna, spewing smoke and ash hundreds of miles over the Mediterranean Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured these spectacular true-color images of the eruption October 27and 29, 2002. The images show a long, grayish-brown plume of ash and smoke streaming over 200 miles southward from the volcano.
Super: NASA
ITEM (2): El Reventador Erupts November 3, 2002 - Ecuador went into a state of emergency after a volcano exploded, shooting a mushroom cloud nearly 10 miles into the sky. Located just east of the capital, Quito, El Reventador erupted Sunday November 3, 2002, after being dormant for 26 years. NASA's Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) onboard the Orbview 2 satellite captured this image of brown smoke shooting through the white clouds after the eruption.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
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| SNOW AND ICE NASA satellites witness the 2002 snow falls, as well as Larsen B ice shelf break up and the melting snows of Kilimanjaro.
ITEM (1): Southern Snows - Over a foot of snow fell on parts of North Carolina in early January, 2002. The winter storm affected air and ground travel and power in the Southeast. South Carolina was among the hardest hit, where schools and state offices were closed. NASA's Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) caught this image of the snows, Jan. 4, 2002, spanning from eastern Alabama to southern Delaware.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (2): Snow-Capped Lake Michigan - This breathtaking image of Lake Michigan shows a clear example of lake-effect snow. Clear dry air moves eastward from Wisconsin, picks up moisture as it crosses the lake, and forms dense clouds by the time it reaches the Michigan shore. NASA's Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) caught this blanketed image of Lake Michigan, January 18, 2002, around noon. The southern edge of an earlier snowfall is visible just to the south of the Chicago area. Except for cloudy areas in the west and east and around Lake Superior, snow is visible on the entire Canadian portion of the image. Lake Winnipeg (upper left) and James Bay (upper right of center) are frozen over.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (3): Lake Effect Snow - Terra MODIS snapped this image of lake effect snow December 2, 2002.
Super: NASA
ITEM (4): Rhode Island-Sized Piece of Antarctica Takes to The High Seas - A chunk of ice larger than Rhode Island broke off Antarctica this month, releasing thousands of mini icebergs into the Weddell Sea. Similar events over the last five years have left the Larsen B ice shelf less than half its original size. NASA's Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra spacecraft caught these images of the break-up, starting in late January. Large numbers of melt ponds are visible in the first image. The ponds disappear in February images, probably as they melt through holes in the ice. The main retreat is seen in the last two images, acquired March 5 and 7, with a large light blue zone of shattered ice depicting the shelf's former area. Over 700 tons of ice were released into the sea. Since the ice shelf was floating, Larsen B's break-up should have little effect on sea level rise.
Super: NASA
ITEM (5): Melting Snows of Kilimanjaro - Some scientists believe the snowcap of Mount Kilimanjaro will be gone in two decades. Researchers say the ice fields on Africa's highest mountain shrank by 80 percent in the past century. The snowcap formed some 11,000 years ago. The Landsat satellite captured these images of Kilimanjaro February 17, 1993 and February 21, 2000.
Super: NASA/USGS
ITEM (6): Flying Over Kilimanjaro June 2, 2002 - These Landsat satellite captured this image of Kilimanjaro June 2, 2002.
Super: NASA/USGS
ITEM (7): Landsat Kilimanjaro Fly-Overs: a. Kilimanjaro February 17, 1993.
b. Kilimanjaro February 21, 2000.
Super: NASA/USGS
ITEM (8): Landsat Kilimanjaro Still Images: a. Kilimanjaro February 17, 1993.
b. Kilimanjaro February 21, 2000.
Super: NASA/USGS
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| OCEAN COLOR NASA satellites can monitor the Earth's health through the ocean. By monitoring the color of reflected light via satellite, scientists can determine how successfully plant life is photosynthesizing. A measurement of photosynthesis is essentially a measurement of successful growth. NASA satellites spotted some unusual as well as beautiful ocean color in 2002 that sparked a bit of attention.
ITEM (1): Black Water - Scientists are baffled at the cause of a mysterious outbreak of "black water" around the Florida Keys, an area known for its crystal clear water. Scientists speculated an algae bloom was at fault, but samples of the water have ruled the theory out. Bacteria is a likely culprit. As if the split pea soup ocean were not strange enough, fishermen report few sightings in the area - dead or alive.
NASA's Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor caught these black water images. High levels of chlorophyll, a product of these bacteria, are shown in red, the lowest levels in blue. Satellites showed black water north of the Keys as early as mid- December. It reached its peak in early February and spread out as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico. The first series shows the phenomenon in true color, while the second series looks at the progression with a focus on chlorophyll concentration.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (2): Upwelling Brings Colorful Life to California Coast - A NASA satellite penetrates the blue waters off the west coast to reveal a spectacular image of a 700-mile long phytoplankton bloom stretching from southern California to the middle of Oregon. Phytoplankton represents the bottom rung of the ocean food chain and consists of many diverse species of microscopic free-floating ocean plants. An upwelling that brought cold nutrient rich water to the ocean surface fed the bloom. Upwellings occur regularly and often spawn large phytoplankton blooms that nourish an incredible diversity of creatures.
Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) on board the Orbview 2 satellite captured the phytoplankton bloom October 6, 2002. Red represents high concentration of chlorophyll, follow by orange, yellow and green. Land and cloud portions of the image are presented in natural color. SeaWiFS monitors ocean plant life by measuring the amount of chlorophyll in the ocean.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
ITEM (3): Deep Water Feast: Upwellings Bring Nutrients to The Surface - Winds blowing southward along the west coast of the United States brought on the upwelling around the California coast. Friction and the effects of the Earth's rotation cause the surface layer of the ocean to move away from the coast. As the surface water moves offshore, cold, nutrient-rich water wells up from below, replacing it. This upwelling fuels the growth of marine phytoplankton which, along with larger seaweeds, nourishes the incredible diversity of creatures found along the northern and central California coast.
Super: NASA/ORBIMAGE
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Earth Science Gallery