Latest Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Stories

At 3 p.m. EDT on May 18, NASA's Aqua satellite swept over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from its vantage point in space and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument captured sunglints in a visible image of the spill.The visible image showed three bright areas of sunglint within the area of the gray-beige colored spill. Sunglint is a mirror-like reflection of the sun off the water's surface. In calm waters, the rounded image of the sun would be seen in a satellite image....

The first tropical storm of the Northern Indian Ocean cyclone season has formed and NASA's Aqua satellite captured its birth. Tropical Storm 1B formed in the early morning hours as the convection around the low level circulation center increased since May 17.NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of 1B from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) at 7:25 UTC (12:25 p.m. Asia/Kolkata time) today, May 18, where if formed off of India's east coast in the Bay of...

NASA's Terra satellite continues to provide visible and infrared imagery of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull Volcano ash plume, and the most recent imagery showed the plume being pulled in a northeasterly direction over the island nation.The brownish ash plume was being pushed to the northeast from a low pressure area situated to Iceland's northeast. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard Terra captured an image on May 18 at 12:20 UTC (8:20 a.m....

A visible satellite image on Wednesday, May 12 at 13:10 UTC (9:10 a.m. EDT) from NASA's Aqua satellite's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano's ash plume (brown).Compared to the MODIS image from May 11, the May 12 image shows that lower level winds have shifted from blowing to a southerly direction to a more east-southeasterly direction, as an occluded front is positioned just to the east of the volcano.An occluded front is a...

NASA has mobilized its remote-sensing assets to help assess the spread and impact of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico at the request of U.S. disaster response agencies.As part of the national response to the spill, NASA deployed its instrumented research aircraft the Earth Resources-2 (ER-2) to the Gulf on May 6. The agency is also making extra satellite observations and conducting additional data processing to assist the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...

NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites are helping the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) keep tabs on the extent of the recent Gulf oil spill with satellite images from time to time. NOAA is the lead agency on oil spills and uses airplane fly-overs to assess oil spill extent.A semisubmersible drilling platform called the Deepwater Horizon located about 50 miles southeast of the Mississippi Delta experienced a fire and explosion at approximately 11 p.m. CDT on April 20....

NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of the ash plume from Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano this morning, April 20, as it flew overhead from its vantage point in space.The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captured visible image of the ash plume (consisting of fine particles of pulverized rock) at 11:55 UTC (7:55 a.m. EDT). The plume appeared to be lighter in color than the previous few days, and it was drifting south and east...

NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites fly around the world every day capturing images of weather, ice and land changes. Over the last three days these satellites have provided visible and infrared imagery of the ash plume from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.Eyjafjallajökull is pronounced similar to "EYE-a-fyat-la-yu-goot," and it is still spewing ash into the atmosphere. Volcanic eruptions are important sources of gases, such as sulphur dioxide (SO2) and volcanic ash...

NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the remnants of ex-tropical storm Paul early today, April 1 and noticed its circulation and form had weakened in the last 24 hours. All weather warnings for the mainland in the Northern Territory have been cancelled.The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of the remnants of Cyclone Paul over the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia at 04:45 UTC (12:45 a.m. EDT) today, April 1, 2010. The...

Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have released images that provide the most detailed view of Earth ever produced.The scientists, using a collection of satellite-based observations, stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile) of our planet.These images perfectly capture the fragility of the Earth in one remarkable shot, showing the entire North American...