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Eruption of Mt. Redoubt
On March 22, 2009, Alaska's Mt. Redoubt produced five explosive eruptions, each lasting from 4 to 30 minutes. Ash clouds reached over 18,000 meters (59,000 feet) above sea level. Melted snow inundated the nearby Drift River with a volcanic flood of water, ash, and mud, known as a lahar. The Landsat satellite image provides an overhead view of the volcano and its surroundings. Images from the Alaska Volcano Observatory reveal the volcano’s peak and condition of the Drift River the day after the eruptions.
Landsat image courtesy of Jesse Allen/USGS and AVO images courtesy of AVO/USGS
More about Landsat
In mid-March 2009, an undersea volcano began to erupt in the South Pacific nation of Tonga. The islands Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai are part of the volcano's rim. The eruption released enough rock and ash to create new land south of Hunga Ha'apai.
NASA's Terra satellite captured these false-color images. The eruption destroyed the vegetation (red) on Hunga Ha’apai and clouded the surrounding waters (light blue) with volcanic ash and debris.
Images courtesy of Jesse Allen/NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
More about ASTER
Flooding of the Red River
Running north to Canada, the Red River winds its way between Fargo, North Dakota, and Moorhead, Minnesota. The shallow river is carved into an extremely flat expanse of land, and flooding is common with the arrival of the spring thaw. These images reveal the extent of the threatening March 2009 flood. In the EO-1 satellite image, the dark swollen river stands out against the surrounding snow cover. The photographs of Fargo reveal frozen floodwaters.
EO-1 image courtesy of Jesse Allen/NASA EO-1 Team and Photographs courtesy of Donald Schwert/NDSU
More about EO-1
On December 5, 2008, the FORMOSAT-2 satellite captured this image over the southern Chilean town of Chaitén. The town is choked with ash and debris from Chaitén Volcano. Large, fan-shaped deposits of ash fill the harbor.
Located about 10 kilometers (6 miles) to the northeast, the volcano first erupted in May. During the months that followed, it continued to spew ash across the region. It also produced avalanches of volcanic ash, water, and mud known as lahars, which flooded the coastal town.
FORMOSAT-2 is the first remote sensing satellite developed by the National Space Organization.
Image courtesy of Dr. Cheng-Chien Liu, National Cheng-Kung University, and Dr. An-Ming Wu, NSO of Taiwan
More about Formosat-2
2008 Ozone Hole
Each year from August to December, a "hole" in the Earth's ozone layer opens up over Antarctica. This animation shows the formation and growth of the ozone hole (blue and pink) from July to late December 2008. In September, the maximum area of the hole was over 27 million square kilometers (10.5 million square miles). Compared to previous years, the 2008 hole is considered "moderately large." The largest recorded ozone hole occurred in 2006. It covered an area 10.6 million square miles in size.
Although the use of ozone-destroying gases has been reduced, these substances persist in the atmosphere for a long time. It may take decades for the ozone layer to fully recover.
The animation was created using data collected by NASA's Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) aboard the Aura satellite.
Animation courtesy of NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
"Daily, 2008" ozone animation
Located in central Asia, the Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest lake in the world. In the 1960s, the rivers that fed it were redirected for crop irrigation, and the Aral Sea began to shrink. The drop in water level was so severe that it split the lake in two, creating the North and South Aral Seas.
Declining lake levels have altered the local climate, and the increased occurrence of dust storms has been linked to rising rates of infectious disease. Conservation efforts have helped the North Aral Sea recover, but the South Aral Sea continues to disappear.
NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image on April 2, 2008. Dust storms cloud the view over dried-up portions of the South Aral Sea’s lake bed. The inset image, taken by the Landsat 1 satellite, reveals the water levels that existed in 1973.
Aqua image courtesy of MODIS Land Rpid Response Team at NASA/GSFC & Landsat image courtesy of UNEP.
More about Aqua
In June 2008, intense rains brought flooding to many parts of the mid-western United States. NASA's Terra satellite captured these false-color images over Iowa City. Areas covered by vegetation are red, water is deep blue to black, and flooded areas are bluish-gray.
Images courtesy of Jesse Allen, NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.
More about ASTER
Launched June 20, 2008, the Jason-2 satellite is a joint U.S./French mission to monitor global sea level changes. Continuing the work of the Topex/Poseidon and Jason-1 satellites, Jason-2 will take precise measurements of sea surface height. This data will help us better understand ocean circulation, climate change, and sea level rise.
Artist's concept courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
More about Jason-2
On May 12, 2008, a massive earthquake struck China’s Sichuan Province. The magnitude 7.9 quake was felt throughout much of the country as well as parts of neighboring Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. China’s Beichuan County experienced extensive damage as landslides along the region’s steep valleys engulfed whole mountainsides.
Taiwan's Formosat-2 satellite captured these before and after images.
Images courtesy of Dr. Cheng-Chien Liu, National Cheng-Kung University and Dr. An-Ming Wu, NSO, Taiwan
More about Formosat-2
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