Thursday, May 08, 2008
A novel imaging instrument on NASA's Terra satellite captures the devastation that Cyclone Nargis caused to the Myanmar coast.
By Brittany Sauser
NASA has captured the effects of the powerful cyclone that
struck the Myanmar
coast on Saturday, May 3, using an imaging instrument onboard its Terra satellite. The instrument, called the
moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), measures the reflective
solar radiation and emitted thermal radiation from the earth's surface and
atmosphere. Atmospheric scientists are currently using the instrument to study
the behavior of clouds and aerosols in our atmosphere so that they can, for
example, pinpoint the locations of active fires and track the paths of
pollutants.
The instrument scans broad swaths of the earth--about 2,300
kilometers at a time--and is able to image the entire earth in one day. Because
it is observing the earth all the time, MODIS is able to capture events that
only happen occasionally, like Cyclone Nargis.
Credit: NASA
MODIS captured images of the Myanmar coast before and after Cyclone
Nargis struck. The image on the left is the coastline on April 15, and the
image on the right was taken May 5, after the cyclone hit the Irrawaddy delta
and plowed across the country and through the main city of Rangoon. At landfall, winds were
approximately 130 miles per hour, with gusts of 150 to 160 miles per hour,
accompanied by a 12-foot wave. In the images, the water is blue or nearly
black, vegetation is bright green, bare ground is tan, and clouds are white or
light blue.
U.S.
diplomats in Burma
are estimating that the death toll may reach nearly 100,000, but official
reports from the Burmese junta are announcing 22,980 deaths, 42,119 missing,
and 1,383 injured.
You can see more images of the cyclone, courtesy of MODIS, here.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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