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

2003 Images

2003 Earthpics: Please note that images are chronicled by date - most recent listed first.     First Snowfall of the Season 08 December 2003     Total Eclipse Over Antarctica The moon cast a long shadow over Antarctica on November 23, 2003, in the continent’s first recorded total solar eclipse. Click on the link above for more information about this event. 23 November 2003     Hurricane Fabian 03-05 September 2003     Oregon B&B Complex Fire 05 September 2003     Typhoon Dujuan   NASA satellites captured these images of Typhoon Dujuan near noon Hong Kong time before the eye of the storm made landfall just before midnight Hong Kong time September 2, 2003. 02 September 2003     Tropical Storm Ignacio Now downgraded from hurricane status, Ignacio packed winds up to 105 mph before it hit the mountains of Baja California. The cooler waters surrounding the peninsula are expected to further dissipate the storm, and it may be gone completely within 96 hours, say forecasters at the National Hurricane Center. This image from late afternoon August 25 was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Terra satellite. Credit: NASA MODIS Land Rapid Response Team 25 August 2003     Typhoon Etau   Two different satellites give two different perspectives of the typhoon. Click here for more information. 11 August 2003     Haze Over Europe   Virtually cloudless skies and haze mean more record temperatures for Western Europe. This image, taken at 12:15 GMT August 11, shows hazy skies from fires throughout the region as well as remnants of recent African dust storms. The image comes from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) aboard the Orbview-2 satellite. Credit: NASA/Orbimage Contact: Kathryn Stofer, 301-286-5687 11 August 2003     Typhoon Etau     Two different satellites give two different perspectives of the typhoon. Click here for more information. 08 August 2003     Western U.S./Canada Border Beset By Blazes 28 July 2003     Kinishba Fire and Hurricane Claudette   17 July 2003     Summertime Thunderstorms Over the Southeastern U.S. 11 July 2003       The Melting Ice of Greenland   What might at first be mistaken for a series of images showing the approach of summer on the edge of the Greenland ice sheet in fact shows an increase in melting over the past several years. The three images above show the melting in June of 2001, 2002, and 2003. Since 2001, the amount of melting along the edges of Greenland’s ice cap has increased significantly. Credit: Images courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC For more information click here. July 2003     Hurricane Claudette Makes Landfall     15 July 2003       Updated 06/27/03 Aspen Fire in Arizona 27 June 03     May 20, 2003 - MODIS May 19, 2003 - SeaWiFS Smoke Over Eastern Russia         20 May 2003         Yucatan Sees Fire Activity Southern Mexico (left and center), Guatemala (below center), El Salvador (bottom, right of center), Honduras (lower right), and Nicaragua (lower right corner) are blanketed with smoke from hundreds of fires (marked with red dots) burning in the region on April 28, 2003. These fires have been burning off and on for two months, periodically sending smoke northward across the Gulf of Mexico toward the southern U.S. Credit: Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team High-resolution and related imagery 28 April 2003     Fire Activity in Mexico and Central America Fires continue to rage across southern Mexico (left), the Yucatan Peninsula (center), and Central America, especially Guatemala (south of Mexico.) The fires have been burning off and on for over a month, periodically sending a river of smoke northward across the Gulf of Mexico toward Cuba and the southern United States. This image of the fires (red dots) was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on April 18, 2003. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. More info: Additional event-related imagery 18 April 2003     More Oil Fires in Iraq 02 April 2003     Low Pressure System and Dust Storm in Middle East 26 March 2003     1991 Kuwait Oil Fires 21 March 2003     Ice Covers the Great Lakes 13 March 2003       Saharan Dust Off West Africa 10 March 2003     NASA Satellite Images 2003 Snow Over the Eastern United States Check out the images in an animation which morphs from May to Feb 2003. Click on title link above to go to the Top Story site. February 21, 2003     Smoke Plume from Staten Island Refinery Fire SeaWiFS captured this view of the smoke plume from the Staten Island fire. The plume stretches about 150 kilometers to the east of the fire. Provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE February 21, 2003     NASA Satellite Sees White Blanket Covering the Eastern US 21 February 2003     Train of Four Cyclones In the southern Indian Ocean, a train of four tropical cyclones has been captured in this true-color image made from observations collected by the Aqua and Terra satellites on Feb. 12, 2003.     Fires in Australia Cloudy skies hint at improving conditions for firefighters battling out of control blazes in southeast Australia. This true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Aquasatellite on Feb. 6, 2003, shows active fires (red dots) choking the air with smoke. Millions of acres have been scorched by these fires, which have been burning for about a month. Image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC. Click here for Related Images 06 February 2003     LATEST INFORMATION ON SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA For the latest information, go to the NASA home page at: http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/ For more information on the FREESTAR payload, click here. Photo Courtesy Al Lampe 01 February 2003     Australian Fires From MODIS Fire crews in southeast Australia get no break from the weather as they prepare for another long weekend. This MODIS image from Jan. 24 shows the fires and widespread smoke. Image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. 24 January 2003     Australian Fire Image from January 23 23 January 2003     Bushfires Raging in Southeast Australia On Jan. 22, bushfires in southeast Australia were still burning out of control, threatening farmland, livestock, and homes in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. Image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC 22 January 2003     Shuttle Columbia Successfully Launches with Goddard Payload The STS-107 mission got under way today when Space Shuttle Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., at 10:39 a.m. EST on January 16, 2003. The seven-member crew is slated to spend 16 days in space conducting research during around-the-clock operations. This mission includes the Goddard managed payload FREESTAR (Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science, Technology, Applications and Research) which consists of six experiments. 16 January 2003     Fires In Australia Gusty winds and high temperatures are hampering efforts to contain numerous large bushfires burning out of control in southeast Australia. This Aqua MODIS image shows the fires on January 12, 2003. 13 January 2003     China Haze   10 January 2003     Santa Ana Wind Event Over California   07 January 2003 We are interested in what you think, so please send us your comments.