Tagged: NASA

Photo of the week: Australia’s dry season has begun

Northern Australia hosts the perfect conditions for wildfires. The wet season makes grasses grow thick and abundant, the dry season turns them in one of the best fuels for a good fire. The dry season normally begins in May, but wildfires have already been reported in Western Australia and Northern Territory, the pillars of smoke captured on photo. The fires are indicated with red marks (click on the photo to enlarge). This could be the beginning of a long and intense wildfire season, since Australia is experiencing an ongoing increase in temperatures and droughts. The photo was taken by NASA’s Aqua satellite which is equipped with six instruments monitoring all kinds of Earth’s water, temperature and energy fluxes.

Pillars of smoke rise from wildfires in Northern Territory and Western Australia (photo: NASA)

Pillars of smoke rise from wildfires in Northern Territory and Western Australia (photo: NASA)

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NASA

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Photo of the week: NASA’s SMAP satellite launched succesfully

NASA succesfully launched it SMAP satellite last Saturday

Last Saturday January the 31th, NASA successfully launched its first of five Earth satellites.  SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) will give new insights about what is happening in the top layer of Earth’s soil. For the next three years it will be scanning the top 5cm of the ground below our feet to produce global maps of soil moisture with an unseen detail. This will give scientists new insights in how the Earth’s water, energy and carbon cycles are connected. This enables scientist to forecast droughts, floods and crop yields better. It will also improve weather forecasts. “SMAP will improve the daily lives of people around the world,” said Simon Yueh, SMAP project scientist at JPL.
Find out more on NASA’s website.

A model of the SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) satellite which will scan the Earth's top soil (photo: NASA)

A model of the SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) satellite which will scan the Earth’s top soil (photo: NASA)

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sciencedaily.com

 

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Photo of the week: It’s now official – 2014 is the warmest year on record

Global temperatures are steadily on the rise since the eighties (source: NOAA)

This week Nasa and Noaa reseachers both presented their conclusions of their calculations on weather and climate data collected during 2014. Using different data analysis tools, they came to the same result: 2014 is the warmest year ever since records began in the late 19th century. (more…)

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Photo of the week: Holiday lights

By examining the Nuomi NPP data, scientists revealed patterns in light intensity (photo: NASA’s Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen)

By examining the Nuomi NPP data, scientists revealed patterns in light intensity (photo: NASA’s Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen)

By examining data from the Suomi NPP satellite, scientists of NASA have identified interesting patterns in nighttime light intensity during holiday seasons. In the Western World an increase of 30-50% in suburban areas is noted during Christmas and New Year’s time, while an increase is seen in the Middle East during the holy month of Ramadan. The data reveals patterns in the usage of energy in different societies and cultures. When we want to reduce greenhouse gases, it is necessary to understand such social phenomena that drive energy consumption. The data of the Suomi NPP satellite and processed by an algorithm which filters out reflection of the moon and influances of the clouds, will help scientists to do so.

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NASA

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Photo of the week: US air pollution

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Decrease of NO2 between 2005 and 2011 in the Northeast of the United States (photos: NASA’s Aura Satellite)

This set of pictures shows the fallback in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) between 2005 and 2011. NO2 is a yellow-brown gas that is often used as an indicator for air pollution in general. It is produced during the combustion of fossil fuels in vehicle engines and coal power plants. Thanks to new regulation, air pollution in the US has decreased significantly.  These images represent the improvement seen in the northeast corridor of the U.S., from Boston to Richmond, where some of the largest absolute changes in NO2 have occurred.

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