It should be noted that the Earth Science Photos archives began in 1999, therefore, they are "highlights" for 1978 - 1998.

2001 Images

2001 Earthpics: Please note that images are chronicled by date - most recent listed first. Snowstorm Blankets Midwestern U.S. An early blast of wintry weather swept across the midwestern United States on November 27-28, 2001, leaving a wide swath of snow and ice on the ground extending from northern Texas up into the Dakotas and as far east as Michigan. More than 2 feet of snow fell in parts of the Dakotas, Wisconsin and Michigan. By December 1, the clouds had cleared enough to afford the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) this true-color view of the midwest. The wide swath of white snow, contrasted with the brownish colors of the bare surface, reveals the extent of the region affected by the snowstorm. This scene spans from Ontario, Canada, and Minnesota (upper right) westward across the Dakotas and Montana (upper left). Moving southward, we see the storm blanketed half of Nebraska and the northeast corner of Colorado (lower left). Click here for higher resolution images. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC 27 November 2001     Hurricane Olga NASA's Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) caught this image of Olga kicking up large ocean swells near Bermuda yesterday, November 28, as the storm's eye hovered due east of the island. Olga's only forecasted effect on North America is strong swells for the next few days. Late-season storm Olga barely formed before the November 30 hurricane season ended. She is not expected to cause significant damage. Image courtesy:NASA/ SeaWiFS/Orbimage. 28 November 2001     Taklimakan Desert The Taklimakan Desert in northwest China is a vast region of sand desert sitting in a depression between two high, rugged mountain ranges. Seen in this true-color MODIS image from October 27, 2001, the Taklimakan's rolling sand dunes stretch out over several hundred thousand square miles in the Xinjiang region of China. The desert is hemmed in to the north by the snow-covered Tien Shan Mountain range and to the south by the rugged Kunlun Mountains. At the lower left corner of the image is the Karakoram Mountain range, where the world's second highest mountain, K2, casts a blue shadow (see high-resolution image for an up-close look). Desertification and shifting sand dunes are a major concern for the farmers and herders who live at the Taklimakan's edge. At the bottom of the image lies the Tibetan Plateau. A 500 meter (medium) resolution is available at by clicking this link. A high resolution (250 m) is available at by clicking this link. 27 October 2001     MODIS Sees Appalachian Fires Raging Drought conditions have plagued the Appalachian Mountains in October and November, and low relative humidity combined with dry leaves on the ground has created extreme fire danger in many eastern states. This true-color MODIS image made from data collected on November 13, 2001, shows smoke from numerous fires (indicated in red), predominantly in southern West Virginia (image center), Kentucky (to the southwest), and Tennessee (south). The fires, at least some of which are likely the result of arson, have burned thousands of acres throughout the region. Unfortunately for those fighting the fires, the fire danger is likely to remain high, with no significant rain expected in the near term. South of Lake Erie, the southernmost of the Great Lakes, numerous aircraft contrails crisscross Ohio. Water vapor emitted with engine exhaust condenses in the cold, dry air at high altitudes, leaving behind a trail of condensation-a contrail. Image credit: The MODIS Land Rapid Response System. For a medium resolution image, click here. For a high resolution image, click here. 13 November 2001     Cloudfree Eastern U.S. The eastern United States were uncommonly cloud-free as seen in this SeaWiFS image on November 6. The lack of water clouds makes the smoke clouds over Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia stand out even more. Snow cover is visible on the ground in northern Ontario and Quebec. This image is courtesy of the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE. 06 November 2001       Lake Michigan Over Time Two possible explanations for the brightening were advanced in 1999: a large bloom of cyanobacteria such as microcystis or an inorganic precipitation of calcium carbonate triggered by warming surface waters. A variety of atmospheric aerosols and clouds over the lake also effect the perceived brightness of the water from image to image in this 2001 time series. Image courtesy: Provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE. 05 September 2001     Libyan Dust Storm This image from SeaWifs collected August 22, 2001 shows a significant dust storm originating in Libya and blowing out across the Mediterranean Sea. Click for hi-res image. For an MPEG movie and downloadable TIF file, click here. 22 August 2001     More Fires on the Western Horizon SeaWiFS view of the smoke over the western U.S. and Canada--August 16, 2001. Provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE. 16 August 2001     SeaWiFS Eyes Europe This image was taken by the SeaWiFS satellite on August 14, 2001. Picture credit: NASA/Orbimage 14 August 2001     Western Wildfires Two smoke plumes show up prominently in this SeaWiFS image of western North America -- the Quartz Fire near Medford, Oregon and and the Emigrant Gap fire, northwest of Lake Tahoe.Provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE 13 August 2001     More Images from Mt. Etna For more views of this spectacular volcano and an animation sequence, click here. 02 August 2001     Mt. Etna Smoke Plume Reaches the Coast of Africa Click on pic for animation. Click here for hi-resolution image (14 MB) Photo credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFs Project and ORBIMAGE, Scientific Visualization Studio. 2000 August     Tornadoes In Wisconsin The top image, taken May 18, 2001, shows green crops as they would typically appear. The bottom image, taken the morning after the storm passed through, features a bright stripe directly through the center. This stripe is the result of the vegetation flattened by the storm. For more information on this story about the tornadoes in Wisconsin and for higher resolution images, click here.     Reno Fire Landsat 7 true color of the fire between Lake Tahoe and Reno, Nevada. Reno is under the cloud of smoke. This image was taken June 19, 2001. For more on this story, visit the Earth Observatory page. Image courtesy USGS Eros Data Center and Landsat 7 project.     Deforestation in Brazil The deforestation of the Amazon River Basin is one of the world's best-known environmental problems. This image shows fires and smoke plumes near the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon. Fire locations are superimposed in red on the true-color image, taken by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Terra satellite on May 2, 2001. For more information on this image and for a larger image and a print resolution image, click here. 02 May 2001 Spectacular UK May 23rd was a sunny day in most of the UK as can be seen in this SeaWiFS image. 23 May 2001     Droughts Aggravated by Dust in the Wind 15 May 2001     Wildfires Continue to Plague Florida According to news sources, there were nine large fires burning in Florida Saturday, May 19, and as many as fifteen fires burning May 21. Florida has been parched by drought in recent months, and there is still no rain in the immediate forecast. For more on this story, click here.  21 May 2001     Fires in Russia This scene shows a large number of fires burning across southeastern Russia, releasing a considerable amount of smoke and haze into the atmosphere over the entire region. This true-color image was acquired on May 13, 2001, by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft. The many red pixels correspond to the locations of fires burning on the ground.  For more information and a slightly larger image, click here.  For print resolution, click here. 16 May 2001     White Sea Tragedy? EDITORS NOTE:  According to Masha Vorontsova, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Moscow, the situation with the seal pups in the White Sea is normal. There is no disaster and there never was. For more details, refer to the article entitled http://www.newscientist.com/ "No Danger" on the New Scientist homepage. Goddard Space Flight Center regrets the earlier errant report. 04 May 2001     NASA Marks Earth Day With Majestic Views of Our Home Planet For an extensive look at our magnificent planet, visit the Earth Imaging website by clicking here. This site is replete with numerous images and animations of the Earth taken by NASA's satellite fleet. 19 April 2001     Asian Dust Storms Make Their Way East Before and After photos of the Outer Banks area show Asian dust blanketing the landscape.  For larger images, click here. 20 April 2001     Wetter Upper Atmosphere May Delay Global Ozone Recovery 17 April 2001     Saharan Dust "Cools" Climate Warming Estimates For more on this story, click here. 12 April 2001     Iceland's Receding Glacier The Breidamerkurjökull glacier of Iceland has receded by as much as 2 km since 1973.  For more pictures and animations of this phenomenon, please click here. 10 April 2001     First Chapter of Earth's "Biological Record" Documented From Space For detailed information about this Earth Science Update, please visit the website, by clicking here. 27 March 2001     Click on pic to enlarge NASA Satellite Imagery Tracks a Deadly Algae Bloom NASA's SEAWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor) instrument captured images showing high concentrations of harmful algae. Reuters has reported that the algae have been blamed for killing over 700 tons of salmon in recent days at farms on the southern tip of Norway. For more images and an animation of this bloom, click here.  SeaWiFS imagery courtesy: NASA/ORBIMAGE 28 March 2001     NASA Satellite Tracks Hazardous Smoke and Smog Partnership 15 March 2001     NASA Image Reveals Giant Chip Off the Antarctic Ice Block Click here for press release, images and animation 22 March 2001     Click on pic to enlarge Disappearing Lake Chad For the story, including images and quicktime movies go to the Lake Chad website. 27 February 2001     Cyclone Dera Cyclone Dera had moved to the southern end of the Mozambique Channel as of local noon March 11, 2001.  This image was taken by SeaWiFS. 11 March 2001     Ultra-Long Duration Balloon ULDB "Go" For Second Launch to the Edge of Space   Pictures and animations of ULDB 08 March 2001     NASA Satellite Saw More U.S. Snow in Early Winter; Groundhog May See More Coming For the press release and larger images, click here. 02 February 2001     Sahara Dusting High winds over the Sahara Desert sent high concentrations of dust out over the Atlantic Ocean as can be seen in this SeaWiFS image. The mountainous Canary Islands perturb the flow leaving slightly clearer air on the lee sides of several of the islands. February 2001     Virtual Rain, Electronic Storms: New Tools for Understanding Seasonal Climate Variations Weather prediction is hard enough. But what are the possibilities for predicting events related to weather? With new tools being developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and NASA's ever increasing suite of Earth observations, scientists just might be on the road to estimating future weather-related incidents. For more on this story, go to the Scientific Visualization Studio website for details or link to the press release . 25 January 2001     NASA'S IMAGE Reveals Earth's Invisible Magnetic Tail For more images and the press release go to the story page. 25 January 2001     Galapagos Oil Spill Seen by SeaWiFS Click on pic to enlarge and see San Cristobal Island SeaWiFS captured this view of the Galapagos Islands on Sunday, 21 January 2001, several days after a tanker ran aground off the western coast of San Cristobal Island releasing thousands of gallons of oil into the ocean creating a spill that has grown from 50 to 117 square miles. Aerial photographs show a large discolored patch in the waters that correspond to a feature seen in the SeaWIFS image.  For more information, go to the SeaWiFS home page.     Cracks In The Ice New Insight Into Antarctic Ice Sheet Failures Images and Animations Press release     Happy New Year! SeaWiFS reveals Australian and Tasmanian Glory on New Year's Day. 01 January 2001 We are interested in what you think, so please send us your comments.