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  • December 3, 2016 - Accra, Ghana - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliament election on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zaa_p133_085.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - Accra, Ghana - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliament election on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zaa_p133_082.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - Accra, Ghana - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliament election on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zaa_p133_115.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - Accra, Ghana - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliament election on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zaa_p133_119.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - Accra, Ghana - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliament election on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zaa_p133_121.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - Accra, Ghana - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliament election on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zaa_p133_131.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - Accra, Ghana - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliament election on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zaa_p133_082.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - Accra, Ghana - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliament election on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zaa_p133_121.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - Accra, Ghana - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliament election on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zaa_p133_131.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - Accra, Ghana - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliament election on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zaa_p133_120.JPG
  • April 26, 2017 - Chornobyl, Ukraine - President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko (L) and Belarus Alexander Lukashenko walk in front of the Chornobyl NPP newly raised safe confinement during the meeting to commemorate the victims of 1986's nuclear disaster in its 31st anniversary, Ukraine, April 26, 2017. (Credit Image: © Sergii Kharchenko/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press)
    RTI20170426_zaa_n230_393.jpg
  • April 26, 2017 - Chornobyl, Ukraine - Worker walks next to the Safe Confinement arch over the fourth block of the Chernobyl nuclear plant on April 26, 2017. The presidents of Ukraine and Belarus attended the construction site of the Chernobyl plant arch to mark 31 years since the world's worst civil nuclear accident spewed radiation across Europe. The station's fourth reactor in the north of former Soviet Ukraine exploded in 1986 after a safety test went horribly wrong at 1:23 am on April 26. (Credit Image: © Sergii Kharchenko/NurPhoto via ZUMA Press)
    RTI20170426_zaa_n230_344.jpg
  • Mar 27, 2016 - Chernobyl, Ukraine - The farmstead of one of those who returned after been evicted from the site in 1986 after the nuclear disaster. Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster on April 26, 1986. (Credit Image: © Sergii Kharchenko via ZUMA Wire)
    20160327_mda_k132_288.JPG
  • Mar 27, 2016 - Chernobyl, Ukraine - The farmstead of one of those who returned after been evicted from the site in 1986 after the nuclear disaster. Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster on April 26, 1986. (Credit Image: © Sergii Kharchenko via ZUMA Wire)
    20160327_mda_k132_288.JPG
  • September 9, 2017 - Atlantic Ocean, U.S. - Image Released Today: Meteorologists struggled to find the right words to describe the situation as a line of three hurricanes, two of them major and all of them threatening land brewed in the Atlantic basin. Forecasters were most concerned about Irma, which was on track to make landfall in densely populated South Florida on September 10 as a large category 4 storm. Meanwhile, category 2 Hurricane Katia was headed for Mexico, where it was expected to make landfall on September 9. And just days after Irma devastated the Leeward Islands, the chain of small Caribbean islands braced for another blow, this time from category 4 Hurricane Jose. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured the data for a mosaic of Katia, Irma, and Jose as they appeared in the early hours of September 8, 2017. (Credit Image: © NASA/ZUMA Wire)
    RTI20170909_shs_z03_271.jpg
  • October 5, 2018 - Kiev, Ukraine - A general view of the first and world's only solar power plant 'Solar Chernobyl' in front of the 4th nuclear power block during an opening ceremony on the territory of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukraine, 05 October 2018. 'Solar Chernobyl' is a joint project of Rodina – Enerparc AG Consortium founded in 2013. The project objective is implementation of renewable energy projects in the areas that were demolished by the Chernobyl catastrophe.Solar Chernobyl Power Plant with a capacity of 1 MW is located on the industrial site of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, 100 m from the confinement of the 4th nuclear power block that exploded on 26 April 1986. Annual production capacity of Solar Chernobyl is 1024 MWh/year. Starting from 1 July 2018 SPP Solar Chernobyl sells the power produced within feed-in tariff policy. 18 years later after decommissioning of the Chernobyl NPP back in 2000, the first kWh are supplied to the United Energy System of Ukraine. (Credit Image: © Serg Glovny/ZUMA Wire)
    20181005_zap_g194_001.jpg
  • April 24, 2018 - Space - Image Released Today: Our Sun provides the light and heat that energizes our plants, our solar panels and our weather, among other things. As our nearest star, the Sun bathes Earth in a steady stream of energetic particles, magnetic fields and radiation that can stimulate our atmosphere and light up the night sky, like the aurora borealis, or northern lights. On April 21, 2018, VIIRS, on the Suomi NPP satellite acquired this image of the aurora borealis over North America. The nighttime image was made possible through VIIRS day-night band, which detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses filtering techniques to observe signals such as airglow, auroras, wildfires, city lights, and reflected moonlight. (Credit Image: © Suomi-NPP/NASA via ZUMA Wire/ZUMAPRESS.com)
    20180424_shf_z03_029.jpg
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_031.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_026.JPG
  • November can be a stormy month in the Great Lakes region, as it was again in 2015. Toward the middle of the month, a low-pressure system and cold front swept up from the Central Plains and across the lakes. In Detroit, media outlets reported wind gusts as high as 52 miles (84 kilometers) per hour that left 13,000 residents without power. On Lake Erie, gale force winds halted shipping.<br />
Winds were not the only reason ships sought safe anchorage. The high winds created a seiche - a large standing wave that occurs when strong winds and a quick change in atmospheric pressure push water from one end of a body of water to the other, according to NOAA. Seiches occur periodically on Lake Erie. In 1844, a 22-foot seiche breached a sea wall with deadly consequences. In 2008, Buffalo was flooded by waves that measured 16 feet. That's about the height of the seiche measured by a buoy at the lake's east side on November 12, 2015.<br />
Two weeks after the seiche, its effects were still evident. On November 25, 2015, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite acquired this natural-color image of colorful green and tan swirls.<br />
"The seiche stirred up a lot of sediment," said Kevin Czajkowski, a remote-sensing scientist at the University of Toledo. Not all of the colorful swirls are necessarily the result of resuspended sediments. "I wonder if Lake Erie is having a whiting event as well."<br />
Particles of calcium carbonate in the water can cause lightening, or "whiting," of the water. That usually happens in response to changes in the water temperature, or due to increased photosynthesis by phytoplankton and other microscopic marine life.<br />
But Thomas Bridgeman, an environmental scientist at the University of Toledo, agrees that the swirls of color are mostly due to sediments. "Little patterns along the shoreline suggest wind-driven sediment resuspension," he said. "There is an olive-green tint to part of the image that might be a diatom bloom, but I think t
    rtisipausa_20553495.jpg
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_030.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_029.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_009.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_032.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_025.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_015.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_014.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_006.JPG
  • March 11, 2019 - Mozambique - Suomi NPP VIIRS image of Cyclone Idai. Tropical cyclone Idai cut a swathe through Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, the confirmed death toll stood at more than 300 and hundreds of thousands of lives were at risk. (Credit Image: © NASA Earth/ZUMA Wire/ZUMAPRESS.com)
    20190311_sha_z03_636.jpg
  • View Image Comparison<br />
View Both Images<br />
For nearly 15 years, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites have scanned Earth's surface daily for fires. When the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on Suomi NPP began operating in 2012, the view got a whole lot clearer.<br />
While MODIS and VIIRS have similar orbits, the spatial resolution of the "thermal bands" on each sensor differs. The MODIS thermal band detects hot spots with a resolution of 1,000 meters per pixel; VIIRS detects hot spots at a resolution of 375 meters per pixel. In other words, VIIRS makes fire observations that are about three times more detailed than MODIS. As a result, VIIRS can detect many small and low-temperature fires that MODIS misses.<br />
The images above illustrate the difference in the fire detection capabilities of the sensors. Both images show agricultural fires burning in northeast China around the same time on November 6, 2015. MODIS captured the upper image while the lower image was acquired by VIIRS. Turn on the image comparison tool to see the differences. Though VIIRS has more detailed fire observations, the background of the MODIS image seems crisper. This is because MODIS has better resolution than VIIRS when looking at land surfaces that are not on fire. (250 meters per pixel for MODIS versus 375 meters per pixel for VIIRS).<br />
The improved resolution of the VIIRS fire observations means scientists - as well as firefighters - have a more capable tool for monitoring fire activity. As explained in the video below, the improved resolution means experts should be able to use data collected by VIIRS to more accurately model and predict shifts in a fire's direction or behavior.<br />
"We hope that by infusing the higher-resolution fire detection data and fire behavior modeling outputs into tactical fire situations, we can lessen the pressure on those working in wildfire management," said Wilfrid Schroeder, a scientist at the Universi
    rtisipausa_20553501.jpg
  • The Taklimakan desert is one of the driest, most barren expanses on Earth. Flanked by mountain ranges on three sides and parched by the resulting rain shadow, parts of the Tarim Basin receive no more than 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) of rain per year. It is no surprise that plant life is scarce. With little vegetation to hold sand in place, some 85 percent of the Taklimakan consists of shifting sand dunes. Only the dune fields of Saudi Arabia's Rub' al Khali cover a larger area. Taklimakan's dunes can soar up 200 to 300 meters (650 to 900 feet).<br />
With so much sand and so little vegetation or moisture, dust storms are a regular occurrence, particularly in the spring. On May 1, 2016, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this natural-color image of northeasterly winds pushing a wall of dust southwest across the Tarim Basin.<br />
The Tarim Basin is bordered by the Kunlun Shan mountains to the south and the Tian Shan mountains to the north. (The Tian Shan is covered with snow and partly obscured by clouds in this image.) The basin opens up on its eastern edge, but that is not generally a way out for dust. Prevailing low-altitude winds almost always blow from the east, keeping most dust below 5 kilometers (3 miles) - about the height of the mountain ranges - and trapped within the basin. In spring, strong surface winds can sometimes lift dust up to 10 kilometers (6 miles). These particles can then be transported by higher-altitude winds that send them across China and the Pacific. In this case, however, the dust appears to be relatively low in the atmosphere.<br />
Dust storms can lead to public health problems in populated areas downwind by transporting small particles, bacteria, and viruses that infiltrate human respiratory systems. Dust storms also affect Earth's climate by scattering and absorbing incoming solar radiation and changing the properties of clouds.<br />
References and Related Reading<br />
Ge, J. M. et al. (2014, October 28) Ch
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  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_028.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_026.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_011.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_010.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_030.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_028.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_029.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_027.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_024.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_020.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_018.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_017.JPG
  • July 5, 2018 - San Francisco, California, U.S. - Light from the County Fire illuminated the night skies of Northern California when the Suomi NPP satellite acquired this image overnight on July 1, 2018. With plenty of light from a nearly full Moon, the smoke was even visible streaming southwest toward San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. This nighttime image was acquired with the "day night band" of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on Suomi. (Credit Image: © NASA Earth Observatory/ZUMA Wire/ZUMAPRESS.com)
    20180705_sha_z03_373.jpg
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_032.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_022.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_019.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_020.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_016.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_001.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_005.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_023.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_011.JPG
  • March 12, 2019 - Mozambique - Suomi NPP VIIRS image of Cyclone Idai. Tropical cyclone Idai cut a swathe through Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, the confirmed death toll stood at more than 300 and hundreds of thousands of lives were at risk. (Credit Image: © NASA Earth/ZUMA Wire/ZUMAPRESS.com)
    20190312_sha_z03_634.jpg
  • View Image Comparison<br />
View Both Images<br />
In summer 2015, wildfires raged across the western United States and Alaska. Many of those fires burned in the U.S. Northwest, visible in these images from late August.<br />
The top image was acquired in the early morning local time on August 19 by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor on the Suomi NPP satellite. The image was made possible by the instrument's "day-night band," which uses filtering techniques to observe dim signals including those from wildfires. Labels point to the large, actively burning fires in the region.<br />
The bottom image shows the same area in natural-color, acquired in the afternoon of August 18 with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite. Red outlines indicate hot spots where the sensor detected unusually warm surface temperatures generally associated with fires. Thick plumes of smoke are visible emanating from the hot spots. Use the image comparison tool to see the how the view at nighttime differs from that during daylight hours.<br />
According to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, the Okanogan Complex Fire in Washington was among the larger active fires; as of August 20, the fire had burned 91,314 acres (370 square kilometers, or 143 square miles). In Oregon, the Canyon Creek Complex Fire had burned 48,201 acres (195 square kilometers, or 75 square miles), destroyed 26 residences and threatened another 500. Both fires were less than 40 percent contained. Meanwhile, firefighters have made progress on the large, damaging Cornet-Windy Ridge Fire in Oregon, which as of August 20 was 70 percent contained; smoke from this fire is more visible in<br />
earlier images.<br />
According to a story in The New York Times, fire managers have struggled to find enough crews to battle the fires burning across the Northwest and Northern California.<br />
References<br />
BuzzFeed News (2015, August 12) California Isn't Actually in the Middle of a Wildfire Apocalypse. Acces
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  • As world leaders converged on Paris for a United Nations conference on climate change, residents of Beijing and other cities in eastern China faced the most severe air pollution the nation has seen in 2015. Chinese authorities issued an "orange" air pollution alert, the second highest level on a four-tiered warning scale. They advised millions of people to stay indoors, halted construction at some sites, and ordered factories to close, according to news reports.<br />
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite acquired this natural-color image of northeastern China on November 30, 2015. The image shows extensive haze, low clouds, and fog over the region. The brightest areas are clouds or fog, which have tinges of gray or yellow because of the air pollution. Other cloud-free areas have a pall of gray haze that mostly blots out the cities below. In areas where the ground is visible, some of the landscape is covered with snow. The haze extended southwest from Beijing for hundreds of kilometers and was particularly dense in low-lying areas in the Guanzhong Plain.<br />
On the day VIIRS acquired the image, PM2.5 measurements peaked at 666 micrograms per cubic meter of air, according to ground-based sensors at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Fine, airborne particulate matter (PM) that is smaller than 2.5 microns (about one thirtieth the width of a human hair) is considered dangerous because it is small enough to enter human lungs. Most PM2.5 aerosol particles result from the burning of fossil fuels and biomass (wood fires and agricultural burning). The World Health Organization considers PM2.5 levels to be safe when they are below 25.<br />
Outbreaks of haze like this generally occur during the winter because of temperature inversions. Air normally cools with altitude, but during an inversion warm air settles above a layer of cool air near the surface. The warm air acts like a lid and traps pollutants near the surface, especially in basins and valleys.<br />
Ma
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  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_027.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_024.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_014.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_003.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_003.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_022.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_012.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_013.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_008.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_010.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_002.JPG
  • September 22, 2017 - Atlantic Ocean - On Sept. 22 at 3:18 a.m. EDT (0718 UTC) the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided this thermal image of Hurricane Maria north of Hispaniola and nearing the Bahamas. (Credit Image: © NOAA/NASA /ZUMA Wire/ZUMAPRESS.com)
    RTI20170922_sha_z03_705.jpg
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_023.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_015.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_008.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_031.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_019.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_021.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_016.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_007.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_021.JPG
  • December 3, 2016 - 12.03.16 Accra, Ghana- The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Political party holds a rally in the Ashalebotwe region of Accra ahead of the Presidential and Parliamentalelection on the 7th December. (Credit Image: © Louise Wateridge via ZUMA Wire)
    20161203_zap_w133_009.JPG
  • acquired August 31, 2015<br />
download large image (26 MB, JPEG, 12000x12000)<br />
acquired August 31, 2015<br />
download large image (26 MB, GOV/IMAGES/IMAGERECORDS/86000/86589/)<br />
There was a time when the Northwest Passage was a sort of maritime Holy Grail, a route so desired and sought after, but so elusive. For most of the recorded history of North America, the Passage has been nearly impassable and often deadly. But with the modernization of ships and the warming of the Earth, cruising and sailing through the Canadian Archipelago from Baffin Bay to the Beaufort Sea has grown more common and easier. But it's not necessarily easy.<br />
The top image above shows the Northwest Passage as it appeared on August 31, 2015, to the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi-NPP satellite. The second image was acquired the same day by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8. The white box on the top image shows the area depicted in the Landsat view. Both images are natural color. Note that much of the white covering the Northwest Passage in the VIIRS image is cloud cover, not sea ice.<br />
The Northwest Passage is a complex, winding maze of sounds, channels, bays, and straits that pass through often ice-choked Arctic waters. Mariners refer to two main routes: a southern passage and a northern passage.<br />
The southern route generally follows the one taken by Roald Amundsen from 1903–1906, when his crew completed the first successful transit through the region. The southern passage goes south of Prince of Wales Island and Victoria Island (and sometimes King William Island) and enters the Beaufort Sea south of Banks Island. It includes several narrow and shallow waterways that are better suited to small ships than large commercial vessels. This southern or "Amundsen" passage has been open for several weeks in the summer of 2015.<br />
The northern passage runs through Lancaster Sound, Parry Channel, and McClure Strait - waterways that are wider, deeper, and more suited to large sh
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  • It has been more than two weeks since wildfires first broke out in Fort McMurray in the Canadian province of Alberta. The burned area continues to grow even larger, as fires are still spreading under warm, dry conditions.<br />
On May 15, 2016, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi-NPP satellite captured a natural-color image (top) of active fires detected in Alberta and smoke that crossed into Saskatchewan. Red outlines indicate hot spots where VIIRS detected warm surface temperatures associated with fires.<br />
On the day this image was acquired, 15 wildfires burned around Fort McMurray. Nine of them were new fires, having ignited within the previous 24 hours. Two were burning out of control. The burned area's size - 2,510 square kilometers (970 square miles) - had grown somewhat, increasing by about four percent since a few days before, on May 12.<br />
The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite acquired an higher resolution image (bottom) of the burn scar on May 12, when the burn area spanned about 2,410 square kilometers (930 square miles). The false-color image combines shortwave infrared, near infrared, and green light (OLI bands 7-5-3). With this combination, burned areas appear brown. Near- and short-wave infrared help penetrate clouds and smoke (white) to reveal the hot spots associated with active fires (red).<br />
The return of residents to Fort McMurray could be hampered by poor air quality, according to news reports. On May 16, the air quality index hit 38 on a scale that typically ranges from one to 10. A lower the number indicates a lower health risk.<br />
References<br />
Alberta Environment and Parks (2016, May 16) Air Quality Health Index. Accessed May 16, 2016.<br />
Alberta Government (2016, May 15) Update 15: Fort McMurray Wildfire (May 15 at 5:45 p.m.) Accessed May 16, 2016.<br />
Edmonton Journal (2016, May 16) Premier hints at delay in Fort McMurray re-entry because of extremely poor air quality. Accessed May 16, 2016.<br />
NASA image (top) by
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