Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




EARTH OBSERVATION
NASA Satellite Views Massive Gulf Oil Spill
by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (JPL) May 04, 2010


A new NASA satellite image shows the extent of the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft captured this image of the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on May 1, 2010.

On April 20, 2010, an explosion destroyed the Deepwater Horizon oil platform operating in the Gulf of Mexico 80 kilometers (50 miles) offshore, resulting in substantial loss of life and releasing 5,000 barrels of oil per day into the water.

The huge oil slick was being carried towards the Mississippi River Delta, and was expected to reach the Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi shores as early as Monday, May 3.

This ASTER image is located at 29.0 degrees north latitude, 88.3 degrees west longitude and covers an area measuring 79.1 by 103.9 kilometers (49 by 64.4 miles), about 32 kilometers (20 miles) west of the mouth of the Mississippi River delta. No land is visible in the image.

The varying shades of white in the image reflect different thicknesses of oil (the whiter, the thicker the oil). The source of the oil spill is visible as the bright white area in the bottom center of the image.

The thickest part of the spill extends vertically from it, appearing somewhat like the ash plume of an erupting volcano. The wispy patterns of the oil spill reflect the transport of the oil by waves and currents.

.


Related Links
ASTER
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








EARTH OBSERVATION
Satellites, DNA And Dolphins
Washington DC (SPX) May 04, 2010
Using DNA samples and images from Earth-orbiting satellites, conservationists from Columbia University, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and Fundacion AquaMarina, are gathering new insights about the franciscana-a poorly known coastal dolphin species of eastern South America-in an effort to understand populations and conserve them. The study, one o ... read more


EARTH OBSERVATION
LRO Team Helps Track Laser Signals To Russian Rover Mirror

Lunar Polar Craters May Be Electrified

Seed Bank For The Moon

Craters Around Lunar Poles Could Be Electrified

EARTH OBSERVATION
Mars Rover Sees Distant Crater Rims On Horizon

UA Engineering Students To Display Mars Lander Camera And Flying Blanket

Opportunity For A Balancing Act

Opportunity Recharging Batteries In Between Drives

EARTH OBSERVATION
NASA Opens Applications For Inspired High School Students

LightSail: Firming Up The Spacecraft Design

Space Adventures To Sell Seats To Space For Armadillo

Japan to launch 'space yacht' propelled by solar particles

EARTH OBSERVATION
China To Launch Second Lunar Probe This Year

China, Bolivia to build communications satellite

China To Complete Wenchang Space Center By 2015

China To Conduct Maiden Space Docking In 2011

EARTH OBSERVATION
Russian Progress Freighter Docks Manually With ISS

Russian resupply ship docks at space station with sweets

Russia To Send Freighter With Books And Candy To ISS

Russian Space Freighter Undocks From ISS

EARTH OBSERVATION
Iran To Launch Two Telecom Satellites In 2010

Orbital-Built SES-1 CommSat Launched

ILS Launches Fifth Proton In Four Months

Pratt And Whitney Rocketdyne Powers Launch Of X-37B

EARTH OBSERVATION
Planet discovered lacking methane

'This Planet Tastes Funny,' According To Spitzer

Small, Ground-Based Telescope Images Three Exoplanets

Wet Rocky Planets A Dime A Dozen In The Milky Way

EARTH OBSERVATION
Sanswire Awarded Contract For Skysat UAV

Apple sells one million iPads in a month

Apple chief makes case against Adobe Flash software

James Cameron to shoot Mars in 3-D




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement