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Tag Archives: VIIRS
Rare Super Cyclone in the Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean has just had its first Super Cyclone since 2007. The name of it is “Phailin” and I bet you just pronounced it incorrectly (unless you speak Thai). It’s closer to “PIE-leen” than it is to “FAY-lin”. The … Continue reading
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Tagged airglow, day/night band, I-5, India, IR window, Meteosat, Phailin, tropical storm, VIIRS
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Copahue, the Stinky Volcano
On the border between Chile and Argentina sits the volcano Copahue. (If you say it out loud, it is pronounced “CO-pa-hway”.) In the local Mapuche language, copahue means “sulfur water”. This name was given to the volcano as the most … Continue reading
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Tagged Argentina, ash detection, Chile, M-14, M-15, M-16, M-3, M-4, M-5, MODIS, RGB composite, split window difference, true color, VIIRS, volcano
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End of Autumn in the Alps
Much of the United States has had a below-average amount of snow this fall (and below-average precipitation for the whole year). Look at how little snow cover there was in the month of November. Parts of Europe, however, have seen … Continue reading
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Tagged Alps, Europe, false color, I-1, I-2, I-3, ice and snow, M-10, M-11, M-15, M-5, M-7, Meteosat, resolution, RGB composite, VIIRS
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Remote Islands, part III: Îles Kerguelen and Heard Island
“At 10 o’clock the Captain was walking on deck and saw what he supposed to be an immense iceberg. … the atmosphere was hazy, and then a heavy snow squall came up which shut it out entirely from our … Continue reading
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Tagged false color, gravity waves, Heard Island, I-1, I-2, I-3, ice and snow, Kerguelen, remote island, RGB composite, VIIRS
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Aurora Australis from the Day-Night Band
How fast does an aurora move? I “googled” it, and got answers ranging from “fast” to “very fast”. Not very scientific. It also doesn’t help that the majority of aurora videos on the Internet are time-lapse footage, and there’s no … Continue reading
The Outback on Fire
I’m not talking about a Subaru. I’m talking about the vast expanse of sparsely-populated Australia. We’ve already seen fires in the United States, Russia and the Canary Islands. Well, they have been happening down under, too. (Is there any part … Continue reading
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Tagged Australia, false color, fire, M-10, M-11, M-13, M-5, M-7, RGB composite, VIIRS
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VIIRS Captures a Glimpse of Hell
VIIRS has seen Hell and, luckily, it did not get scared. No, I’m not talking about Hell, Michigan, which is actually a nice place (and not as scary as their website would indicate). I’m talking about the Gates of Hell … Continue reading
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Tagged day/night band, fire, M-12, oil rig, resolution, Turkmenistan, VIIRS
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Hurricane Isaac: Before, During and After
While Hurricane Isaac (then a tropical storm) did not destroy Tampa, Florida as many people feared, it certainly left its mark on the Gulf Coast. With many locations from Florida to Louisiana receiving more than 12″ of rain, and levees … Continue reading
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Tagged false color, flood, Florida, I-1, I-2, I-3, Isaac, Louisiana, M-6, resolution, RGB composite, tropical storm, VIIRS
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Fires in Paradise
Sometimes, it seems like the whole world is on fire. Siberia. The western United States (which has been burning for some time). And now, the Canary Islands. The Spanish islands have been under a drought, as has much of Spain. … Continue reading
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Tagged Canary Islands, day/night band, fire, I-1, I-2, I-3, I-4, M-11, M-13, M-3, M-4, M-5, M-7, resolution, RGB composite, VIIRS, vortex street
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Fires near the “Coldest City on Earth”
Raise your hand if you’ve only ever heard of Yakutsk because of the board game “Risk”. (If you raised your hand, you might want to look around and make sure that no-one saw you raise your hand for no reason.) … Continue reading
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Tagged day/night band, false color, fire, I-1, I-2, I-3, M-1, M-10, M-11, M-2, M-3, M-4, M-5, M-7, resolution, RGB composite, Siberia, true color, VIIRS
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