earth observatory

The tornado damage in Mayflower, Arkansas

May 6, 2014

The NASA Earth Observatory site brings us amazing images from time to time (such as some of these), and they’re back with some fresh imagery from the tornadoes that have ripped across the central United States in recent weeks.

The Mayflower tornado hit on April 27 and was rated an EF4. It left a path nearly 41 miles long and destroyed between 400-500 homes. From the Earth Observatory site:

At MODIS resolution, the entire town of Mayflower is barely distinguishable; but at ALI’s top resolution of 10 meters per pixel, it is possible to distinguish between individual buildings. In this ALI image, a trail of damaged trees and homes is visible near Interstate 40. The storm moved in a northeasterly direction, hitting the southern part of Mayflower first, then crossing I-40, and flattening neighborhoods along the shore of Lake Taylor.

You can read more on the NASA Earth Observatory site or download this KML file to view it for yourself in Google Earth.

Pacific eruption turns two islands into one

April 4, 2014

Back in 1973, a volcanic eruption in the western Pacific ocean caused the formation of a new island named Nishino-shima. Four months ago, a nearby eruption caused the formation of a new island named Niijima. The Niijima eruption has continued and the island has been growing and has now consumed Nishino-shima and it is continuing to grow larger.

It’s quite a look at the birth of an island. From the NASA Earth Observatory site:

The Niijima portion of the island is now larger than the original Nishino-shima, and the merged island is slightly more than 1,000 meters across. Two cones have formed around the main vents and stand more than 60 meters above sea level, triple the highest point of the island in December. Volcanic lava flows are reported to be most active now on the south end of the island.

For more, check out the full article on the NASA Earth Observatory site or visit the Japan Coast Guard page to see aerial photographs of the island.

Amazing extratropical cyclone over the United Kingdom

February 18, 2014

The NASA Earth Observatory site is constantly releasing amazing images from space, including items such as this awesome image of Mount Everest, lava flow shapes, Laguna Verde, and many others. Their latest image is a stunning view of an extratropical cyclone over the United Kingdom that was captured last week.

This particular cyclone brought winds of over 100 miles per hour, and caused power outages to more than 700,000 people. They released a large image to show it off, which I’ve matched up in an image overlay and included in this KML file for you to view directly in Google Earth.

Read more about this cyclone on the Earth Observatory site or see other images from the Earth Observatory that we have showcased.

Awesome Google Earth image of Mount Everest from NASA

January 28, 2014

We’ve talked about Mount Everest quite a few times on Google Earth Blog. Natural formations such as mountains and volcanoes tend to look stunning in Google Earth, and Everest is no exception. In the past we’ve shown you a panorama from the summit, a map of the ice on the mountain, Street View imagery from it, and last year we commemorated the 60th anniversary Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic ascent.

The NASA Earth Observatory has just put out an image of the mountain that is simply awesome.

The image was actually captured back in 2011, but it’s a stunning look at the mountain. You can read more about the image here, or grab this KML file to view it directly in Google Earth as an image overlay.

For more, check out the main Earth Observatory site to see some of the great new items they’ve been publishing.

Lava flow shapes in Google Earth

December 13, 2013

Because of the way Google Earth work, volcanoes are almost always amazing to view inside of it. 3D terrain combined with high-resolution imagery makes for some stunning views, as we explained a while back in our “A to Z” post about Volcanoes.

The NASA Earth Observatory recently posted an image and article about “lava flows”, seen here:

From their article:

Streams of molten rock that ooze from gaps or vents in the Earth’s surface are called lava flows, and they can pose a hazard to everything in their paths. These rivers of rock can take many shapes and move at very different rates depending on the viscosity of the magma, the slope of the land, and the rate of an eruption.

While viscous lava flows are defined by steep flow fronts and pressure ridges, low-viscosity lavas tend to move faster and create longer, narrower shapes. They also tend to have smaller flow fronts and levee-like structure along their edges. Many characteristics of a low-viscosity lava flow are visible in this image of Zhupanovsky and Dzenzursky volcanoes on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The image was acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite on September 9, 2013.

To see this volcano for yourself, simply download this KML file and load it in Google Earth. For more, you can read the full story on the NASA Earth Observatory site.