Planetary Science
Printer-friendly versionJoanne Simpson, 1923-2010
Dr. Joanne Simpson (1923–2010) pores over reams of images of tropical clouds filmed during flights across the tropical Pacific. The photos and her hand-drawn maps of cloud formations became the foundation for her groundbreaking “hot towers” hypothesis about atmospheric circulation in the tropics.
Categories: Planetary Science
Flooding in Southwestern Queensland
Acquired March 8, 2010 (top), and February 23, 2010 (bottom), these false-color images show changes in river levels in Australia’s Channel Country. Vegetation appears bright green. Clouds appear sky blue. Water varies in color from electric blue to navy. Bare ground appears tan.
Categories: Planetary Science
Glaciers off the Antarctic Coast
Acquired March 8, 2010, this true-color image shows two icebergs, Iceberg B-09B and an iceberg recently broken off the Mertz Glacier, floating in the Southern Ocean, just off the George V Coast.
Categories: Planetary Science
Snow in Eastern United States and Canada
Acquired March 6, 2010, this true-color image shows snow cover over the eastern reaches of Canada and the United States. Snow cover appears the most opaque in Ohio, central New York, and between Lake Huron and its neighboring lakes to the east.
Categories: Planetary Science
Chilean Quake May Have Shortened Earth Days
The Feb. 27 magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile may have shortened the length of each Earth day.
Categories: Planetary Science
Salt-Seeking Satellite Shaken by Quake, But Not Stirred
NASA's Aquarius instrument, and the Argentinian spacecraft that will carry it into space, rode out the Feb. 27 Chilean earthquake without a scratch.
Categories: Planetary Science
NASA and NOAA's GOES-P Satellite Successfully Launched
The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES-P, lifted off on March 4, joining four other similar spacecraft to improve weather forecasting and monitoring of environmental events.
Categories: Planetary Science
Were Short Warm Periods Typical for Traditions Between Interglacial and Glacial Epochs?
In Central and Eastern Europe, the slow transition from the Eemian Interglacial to the Weichselian Glacial was marked by a growing instability in vegetation trends with possibly at least two warming events. (Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres press release)
Categories: Planetary Science
Research Team Breaks the Ice with New Estimate of Glacier Melt
The melting of glaciers is well documented, but when looking at the rate at which they have been retreating, a team of international researchers steps back and says not so fast. (Northern Arizona University press release)
Categories: Planetary Science
Improved Near-Real-Time Tracking of 2010 El Niño Reveals Marine Life Reductions
The ongoing El Niño of 2010 is affecting north Pacific Ocean ecosystems in ways that could affect the West Coast fishing industry, according to scientists. (University of California - San Diego press release)
Categories: Planetary Science
New Evidence Hints at Global Glaciation 716.5 Million Years Ago
Geologists have found evidence that sea ice extended to the equator 716.5 million years ago, bringing new precision to a "snowball Earth" event long suspected to have taken place around that time. (Harvard University press release)
Categories: Planetary Science
Arctic Seabed Methane Stores Destabilizing, Venting
A section of the Arctic Ocean seafloor that holds vast stores of frozen methane is showing signs of instability and widespread venting of the powerful greenhouse gas, according to a new study. (University of Alaska Fairbanks press release)
Categories: Planetary Science
Oldest Measurement of Earth's Magnetic Field Reveals Battle between Sun and Earth for Our Atmosphere
Scientists have discovered that the Earth's magnetic field 3.5 billion years ago was only half as strong as it is today, and that this weakness, coupled with a strong wind of energetic particles from the young sun, likely stripped water from the early Earth's atmosphere. (University of Rochester press release)
Categories: Planetary Science
Thick Ice in the Baltic Sea
Enough ice lines the coasts of Sweden and Finland in this natural-color image from March 5, 2010, that it is difficult to tell where the coast ends and the sea begins.
Categories: Planetary Science
Snow across the Upper Midwest
Acquired March 4, 2010, this true-color image shows snow covering the ground from Missouri to the beyond the Great Lakes. Uniform snow cover in the southwest gives way to a mixture of snow and forest in the northeast.
Categories: Planetary Science
Dust Extends from Saudi Arabia to Iran
Acquired March 4, 2010, this true-color image shows a thick dust plume stretching from Saudi Arabia to Iran, obscuring part of the Persian Gulf.
Categories: Planetary Science
Heavy Rain in Queensland
This color-coded image shows estimated rainfall amounts in Queensland and neighboring states from February 24 to March 2, 2010. Lowest rainfall amounts appear in pale green, and heaviest amounts appear in dark blue.
Categories: Planetary Science
World of Change: Mountaintop Mining, West Virginia
Based on data from NASA’s Landsat 5 satellite, these natural-color (photo-like) images document the growth of the Hobet mine in Boone County, West Virginia, as it expands from ridge to ridge between 1984 to 2009.
Categories: Planetary Science
ICESat's Notable Moments in Science
ICESat has provided a critical look at ice thickness at Earth's polar regions over the course of its seven-year life. That mission is now coming to an end.
Categories: Planetary Science
