Earth’s Dynamic Surface as Viewed From Space: Using
Space Shuttle and International Space Station
photographs to observe earth system interactions and
environmental changes
Joseph F. Reese
Department of Geosciences, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania,
Edinboro, PA 16444; jreese@edinboro.edu; 814-732-2814
Looking out the window of Space
Shuttle Columbia, 1/03
1
Space flight allows humans
to view the Earth and the
large-scale systems
operating on its surface.
“Houston, Apollo 11… I
have the world in my
window.”
-- Michael Collins,
NASA astronaut
2
Space Shuttle and International Space
Station photographs are excellent
observational data that document
large-scale earth-system processes
and interactions.
They also show natural and humaninduced environmental changes and
hazards working on short time scales.
3
FOCUS ON:
GEOSPHERE – Solid Earth
PEDOSPHERE – Soils
EARTH SYSTEMS, SYSTEM
HYDROSPHERE – Water
INTERACTIONS, and
CRYOSPHERE – Ice
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES
ATMOSPHERE – Air
as observed from Space Shuttle
BIOSPHERE – Life
and International Space Station
ANTHROSPHERE – Humans
photographs.
4
(All photos used are from NASA Space Shuttle Earth Observations Photography database)
GEOSPHERE
HYDROSPHERE
ATMOSPHERE
ANTHROSPHERE
BIOSPHERE
5
What do you see?
Identify as many features as you can
on this International Space Station
photo of the San Francisco Bay area!
Look for:
• San Andreas and Hayward faults
• forests, beaches, mountains
• urban areas
• Alcatraz!
• parks, bridges, roadways
• internal waves in the Pacific Ocean
• tidal channels in the bay
• salt collection areas
• outflow from bay
• what else?
6
Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia
PROCESSING OF PHOTOGRAPHS -- STEPS:
1. Sharpen, or Unsharp Mask
2. Despeckle (if sharpened…)
3. Alter Color Contrast and / or Brightness
4. Alter Color Level
EDITING DONE USING ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
7
PHOTOGRAPHS OBTAINED FROM:
EARTH SCIENCES AND IMAGE ANALYSIS LAB
“The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth”
 http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov (several captions are from this source)
RELATED INTERNET SITES:
EARTH FROM SPACE  http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov
EARTH OBSERVATORY  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov
VISIBLE EARTH  http://visibleearth.nasa.gov
NASA HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT  http://spaceflight.nasa.gov
SE Alaska
Thunderstorms
New York, NY
8
Yellowstone area
Klyuchevskaya volcano
Mt. Fuji
INTERNAL EARTH
PROCESSES:
Volcanism and Deformation,
primarily of plate-tectonic
origin (but not entirely!)
9
Volcanoes in eruption:
Rabaul volcano, New Britain, Papua New
Guinea (upper left);
Mt. Etna, Sicily, Mediterranean Sea (left);
Klyuchevskaya, Kamchatka Peninsula,
Russia (above)
10
PYROCLASTIC FLOWS
and LAHARS,
Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines
CALDERA, RESURGENT DOME,
and RING INTRUSIONS
Jemez Mountains, NM
PRODUCTS OF EXPLOSIVE VOLCANISM
(unseen are the atmospheric-climatic impacts of these eruptions…)
11
Mt. St. Helens, WA,
post-1980 eruption
Mt. St. Helens
Mt. Adams
Mt. Rainier
CASCADE VOLCANIC ARC,
resulting from subduction of the
Juan de Fuca Plate beneath the western
margin of the North American Plate.
12
Cascadia
subduction
zone
Cascade
accreted terranes
and
volcanic arc
Olympic
accretionary
complex
“Pacific Northwest” – tectonic products of a long lived,
complex convergent margin.
13
Shield volcanoes on
Hawaii are the result of
“hotspot” volcanism
above a mantle plume.
Mauna Loa and Kilauea,
with steam plumes
Pu’u O’o
Mauna Loa
Kilauea
steam
BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII
14
INDIA
Himalaya and Tibet Plateau
ASIA
(south)
INDO-GANGETIC PLAIN
Continental collision
between India and Asia
has formed one of the
largest mountain ranges
in the last billion years
of Earth history.
(above view to west,
right view to south)
15
HIGH HIMALAYA
TIBETAN PLATEAU
(north)
Mt. Everest… can you find it?
16
Deformation
related to
convergentboundary
tectonic
processes
(foreland
fold and thrust
belt)
Canadian Rockies
Glacier NP, MT
17
Blue Ridge and
Shenandoah Valley, VA
Monterrey
Bend, Mexico
Valley and Ridge, PA
FOLDED SEDIMENTARY ROCKS,
“Thin-skinned” crustal deformation
related to layer-parallel shortening
18
Transform plate boundary
between Pacific Plate and
North American Plate
NORTH
AMERICAN
PLATE
PACIFIC
PLATE
SAN ANDREAS FAULT
Pt. Reyes, CA
19
SIERRA NEVADA
and the
BASIN AND RANGE
Block faulting
related to extension
Owens Valley, CA (looking west)
Central
Sierra
MONO
LAKE
WESTERN EDGE OF THE
BASIN AND RANGE
EXTENSIONAL
PROVINCE
LAKE
TAHOE
Northern and Central
Sierra Nevada, Mono Lake,
Lake Tahoe, and Central Valley,
CA-NV
20
Northern
Sierra
Los Angeles Basin
San Francisco Bay Area
SAN ANDREAS FAULT, CA
(transform plate boundary)
21
Ganges River
RIVERS
and
DELTAS
22
Paraná River
Mississippi River
Brahmaputra River
MISSISSIPPI
RIVER DELTA
23
Rio de la Plata, estuary of Paraná and Uruguay Rivers
Mixing of sediment and nutrient laden freshwaters with seawater.
24
GRAND CANYON and the
KAIBAB PLATEAU, AZ
The Colorado Plateau has been uplifted
in the last few million years. As
regional uplift occurred, river systems
such as the Colorado River were
rejuvenated, resulting in stream erosion
and highly dissected plateaus.
Argentina
EROSION
Glaciated terrains reveal
modification of the geosphere
by a channelized, flowing
(and retreating!) cryosphere.
25
Malaspina Glacier
(piedmont glacier)
and Yakutat Bay,
SE Alaska
The Seward Ice
Field in the St. Elias
Mountains is the
main source of ice
for the glacier. The
glacier moves in
surges that
internally deform
the ice, crumpling
medial moraines.
26
EFFECTS OF PLEISTOCENE
GLACIATION
Fjords along coastline,
southern tip of Greenland
(drowned glacial valleys)
27
Raised shorelines,
James Bay, Canada
(isostatic rebound)
Iceberg, South
Atlantic Ocean,
southeast of the tip
of South America
This iceberg, ~43 mi
long and ~21 mi
wide, broke away
from the Antarctic
ice sheet. Is it, and
the break up of this
ice sheet, an indicator
of global climate
change?
28
Lake Poopó,
Altiplano, Bolivia
Lake with naturally
fluctuating water
levels (linked
with El Niño)
1990
Short-term
environmental changes
1995
29
1995
Kara-Bogaz Gol and
Caspian Sea,
Turkmenistan
Reflooded “natural”
evaporation basin (with
salt deposition)
1985
Artificially
enhanced inlet!
30
Namib Desert,
Namibia
dust blow, Mauritania (above)
Hot, dry winds blowing dust out
of western Africa and into the
Atlantic Ocean. Fine dust can
carry many toxins.
Dunes!
Atmospheric currents and
geologic products
31
Dust blowing from
Rio Grande
channelway,
Bolivia
32
Coastal Dunes,
Brazil
Interaction of wind,
water, and sand…
Small part of an active
dune field on Brazil’s
north coast. Dunes
are built by persistent
easterly winds off of
the equatorial Atlantic
and have interspersed
freshwater ponds.
33
Hurricane Claudette, along the Gulf Coast of Texas
(Category I, 7/15/03)
Solar energy drives wind and water currents on the
Earth’s surface, accounting for circulation patterns,
climate, and weather phenomena such as this cyclone.
34
Hurricane Isabel, 9/13/03
Eye of Isabel
35
SUPERCELLS
Great Plains, Canada
MONSOONAL
Bangladesh and India
THUNDERSTORMS
convection, overshoot tops, outflow, and anvil formation
36
Hydrospheric currents and
geologic products
Sediment transport and shoreline
features (barrier islands, etc.)
Oyashio Current sea ice,
showing southward flow of
cold Arctic waters meeting
warmer waters to produce
spiral eddies that move the
sea ice (above)
37
Cape Hatteras, NC
POTENTIAL SOURCES OF
BIOGENIC SEDIMENT …
(Productive waters that may
support regional fisheries)
Algal Whitings,
Little Bahama Bank
(Suspensions of lime mud
produced by blooms of algae)
Plankton Bloom,
Southern Atlantic Ocean
… PRODUCED BY
MICROSCOPIC ORGANISMS 38
BARRIER, PATCH and
FRINGING
REEFS, and ATOLLS
Bora-Bora, Society Islands,
French Polynesia, Pacific
Ocean (looking north)
Great Barrier Reef,
Queensland, Australia
39
Atolls of the Maldives,
Indian Ocean (looking south)
40
Fires, sediment plumes,
Borneo
Tierras Bajas deforestation, Bolivia
LARGE-SCALE HUMAN-INDUCED
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
AND CHANGES
Photos show rapid modification of the Earth’s surface by humans.
41
1985
1992
TROPICAL RAIN FOREST DESTRUCTION
Southern Amazon River Basin, Rondônia, Brazil
Photos provide a visual indication of the rate of deforestation
occurring. The amount of clear-cut area now exceeds the area of
remaining rain forest timber stands.
42
2001
1983
Betsiboka River Delta, Bombetoka Bay,
Madagascar
Removal of native forest, massive soil
losses, rapid delta expansion
43
Etosha Pan,
dry salt lake,
Namibia
Angola
Namibia
Nation boundary
revealed because
of differing
grazing
practices.
Soil in Namibia
is much more
reflective
because of
de-vegetation due
to overgrazing.
44
Israel
Egypt
Mexico
USA
Other international boundaries viewed from Space…
45
1985
1992
Aral Sea, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (top to north)
(~46% water level decrease since 1960; level continues to fall)
Development of agricultural irrigation projects impedes recharge.
With reduced fresh water quantities and constant evaporation, the
sea has become more saline and shrunk drastically. It has also
become polluted with pesticides and fertilizers.
46
Aral Sea, bisected, 2002
(top to northeast)
47
Pivot irrigation,
Saudi Arabia, is
leading to
groundwater
depletion from
deep aquifers
and to further
desertification.
Water reserves
are finite.
Center pivot
irrigation systems
are ~0.6 mi (1 km) in
diameter.
48
Mono Lake, Sierra Nevada, CA
Water drawn to supply LA has
resulted in lowered lake levels,
increased salinity, and an
endangered ecosystem.
Las Vegas, NV
Rapid urbanization in a desert
setting stresses surface and
ground water resources.
49
Lake Powell and the Colorado River, Colorado Plateau, UT-AZ
“The building of Glen Canyon Dam ushered in the modern environmental
movement…” -- David Brower, Sierra Club
“The canyonlands did have a heart, a
living heart, and that heart was Glen
Canyon and the wild Colorado.”
-- Edward Abbey
Glen Canyon Dam
50
Agricultural landscape, Uzbekistan, 2002
51
LIVING AND WORKING ON
FLOOD PLAINS
Transformation of steppe-desert
into productive farmlands along
Yellow River, NW China (below)
Confluence of the Mississippi,
Missouri and Illinois Rivers,
post-1993 flood, St Louis area,
MO-IL (above)
52
Sunglint and smog layer over
Upstate New York (looking
southwest)
Air pollution layer is capped by
an atmospheric inversion, marked
by top cloud layer.
Po River Valley smog,
northern Italy (looking west)
The Alps provide a natural
barrier to smog migration, thus
trapping it in this heavily
industrialized area.
53
54
Southern California wildfires, 10/26/03
Fires in San Bernardino Mountains are being driven by Santa Ana winds
Galapagos Islands,
Pacific Ocean
SUMMARY
Manicouagan Reservoir
Impact Site, Quebec
PHOTOS
FROM
SPACE:
1. Are excellent observational data to observe Earth’s dynamic
surface and its systems.
2. Document large-scale earth-system processes and interactions.
3. Show natural and human-induced, short-term environmental
changes and hazards.
4. Reveal the effects humans have on the Earth’s environment.
5. Are readily accessible and easily downloadable from various
NASA websites.
55
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By using Space Shuttle and International Space Station
photographs in the classroom…
1. Increases our understanding of how remote sensing is used to
document, interpret, and monitor the surface of the Earth.
2. Incorporates a vast, impressive visual resource under-utilized in
geoscience education.
3. Provides a valuable, alternative electronic data set that enhances
student learning, especially in technology based activities.
(Digital photos from STS-107, Space Shuttle Columbia, before it was lost on 2/1/03)
Dhaulagiri Himal,
Nepal
Laguna Superior, Mexico
Tokyo Bay, Japan
THE END
STS 109 landing, 03/12/02
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Appendix – A Catalog of the Photographs
Slide #
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Photo description
(position)
Earth limb, sun, windows (C)
Klyuchevskaya, volcano, Russia (uL)
Frontal system (lL)
Cape Cod, MA (uR)
Southern Florida (lR)
Shuttle blast off (R)
Earth rise (L)
Astronaut (inset)
Mt. Everest, Himalaya (uR)
Nile River delta (uL)
Von Karman vortices, Canary Islands (lL)
Cosmonaut with camera (uL)
International Space Station (uR)
Florida Peninsula
San Francisco Bay area
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (L & R)
Thunderstorms (lL)
New York City area, NY (lC)
St. Elias Mountains, AK (lR)
Klyuchevskaya volcano, Russia (L)
Yellowstone area, WY-ID-MT (R)
Mt. Fujiyama, Japan (lL)
Rabaul volcano, New Britain (uL)
Mt. Etna, Sicily (lL)
Klyuchevskaya volcano, Russia (uR)
Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines (L)
Jemez Mountains, NM (R)
Photo # (mission-roll-frame)
STS 107-E-5485
STS 068-150-045
STS 41C-040-2130
STS 106-710-060
STS 51C-143-0032
STS 108-S-013
AS 11-44-6549
STS 109-E-5247
STS 066-208-025
STS 101-717-004
STS 101-706-022
STS 108-371-019
STS 108-371-031
STS 095-743-033
ISS 004-E-10288
STS 059-225-044
STS 41B-041-2347
STS 058-081-038
STS 028-097-085
STS 068-273-033
STS 112-707-043
STS 107-E-5689
STS 064-116-064
ISS 005-E-19024
STS 068-214-043
STS 046-075-079A
STS 062-100-195
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Slide # Photo description (position)
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Cascades, WA (R)
Mt. St. Helens, WA, post-1980 eruption (L)
Pacific Northwest
Big Island of Hawaii (L)
Mauna Loa and Kilauea, HI (R)
Himalaya (uL)
Himalaya and Tibet Plateau (R)
Mt. Everest
Canadian Rockies
Blue Ridge and Shenandoah, VA (L)
Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico (uR)
Susquehenna Valley, PA (lR)
Pt. Reyes, CA (L)
Owens Valley, CA (R)
Central Sierra, CA-NV (L)
Northern Sierra, CA-NV (R)
San Francisco Bay Area, CA (L)
Los Angeles Basin, CA (R)
Ganges River delta (uL)
Mississippi River delta (lL)
Parana and Paraguay Rivers, Argentina (uR)
Brahmaputra River braids (lR)
Mississippi River delta region
Rio de la Plata, Argentina-Uruguay
Grand Canyon, AZ, with snow (L)
Upsala Glacier, Argentina (R)
Malaspina Glacier, AK
Fjorded coastline, Greenland (uL)
Raised shorelines, James Bay, Canada (R)
Iceberg, South Atlantic Ocean
Photo # (mission-roll-frame)
STS 085-707-055
STS 064-051-025
ISS 004-E-10921
STS 61A-050-0057
STS 051-102-085
STS 41G-120-0022
STS 076-727-080
ISS 008-E-6150
STS 028-074-070
STS 062-104-029
STS 080-704-022
STS 068-173-103
STS 073-726-004
STS 058-073-083
STS 040-077-057
STS 040-609-040
STS 062-098-156
STS 060-114-080
STS 087-707-092
STS 062-081-065
STS 41B-042-2483
ISS 003-ESC-6632
STS 51C-143-0027
ISS 008-E-5983
STS 060-083-005
ISS 004-E-7700
STS 028-097-081
STS 085-713-074
STS 099-706-090
STS 048-073-00Q
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Slide # Photo description (position)
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Lake Poopo, Bolivia, 1990 (L)
Lake Poopo, Bolivia, 1995 (lR)
Kara-Bogaz Gol, Caspian Sea, 1995 (L)
Kara-Bogaz Gol, Caspian Sea, 1985 (lR)
Kara-Bogaz Gol, Caspian Sea, inlet (inset)
Dust blow, Mauritania (L)
Namib Desert, Namibia (R)
Rio Grande dust plumes, Bolivia
coastal dunes, Brazil
Hurricane Claudette, Gulf Coast, TX
Hurricane Isabel
eye of Isabel (inset)
Supercell thunderstorms, Canada (L)
Monsoonal thunderstorms, Bangladesh & India (R)
Oyashio Current sea ice (uL)
Cape Hatteras, NC (R)
Plankton bloom, South Atlantic Ocean (L)
Algal whitings, Little Bahama Bank (R)
Great Barrier Reef, Australia (L)
Bora-Bora, Pacific Ocean (uR)
Maldives, Indian Ocean
Fires, sediment plumes, Borneo (L)
Radial deforestation, Tierras Bajas, Bolivia (R)
Deforestation, Rondonia Brazil, 1985 (L)
Deforestation, Rondonia, Brazil, 1992 (R)
Betsiboka River delta, Madagascar, 1983 (lL)
Betsiboka River delta, Madagscar, 2001 (uR)
Etosha Pan, Namibia-Angola
Egypt-Israel border (L)
USA (CA)-Mexico border (R)
Photo # (mission-roll-frame)
STS 032-088-069
STS 073-735-047
STS 073-701-033
STS 51F-040-0064
STS 111-E-5485
STS 103-734-020
STS 103-732-005
ISS 004-715-040
ISS 007-E-15177
ISS 007-E-10244
ISS 007-E-14750
ISS 007-E-14745
STS 064-205-050
STS 51F-031-069
STS 045-079-00N
STS 034-083-069
STS 088-720-020
STS 088-719-029
STS 046-077-031
STS 068-258-042
STS 056-152-160
STS 093-708-062
ISS 002-ESC-5654
STS 51G-034-060
STS 046-078-026
STS 007-003-058
ISS 003-ESC-5073
STS 51G-046-078
STS 111-712-008
STS 111-E-5224
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Slide # Photo description (position)
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Aral Sea, 1985 (L)
Aral Sea, 1992 (R)
Aral Sea, bisected, 2002
Pivot irrigation, Saudi Arabia
Mono Lake, Sierra Nevada, CA (L)
Las Vegas area, NV (R)
Lake Powell, UT-AZ
Glen Canyon Dam (inset)
agricultural landscape, Uzbekistan
St. Louis area, MO (L)
Yellow River, NW China (R)
Po River Valley smog, Italy (uL)
Smog layer, Upstate NY (lR)
southern California wildfires, 2003
Galapagos Islands, Pacific Ocean (uL)
Manicouagan Reservoir, Quebec (uR)
Laguna Superior, Mexico (lL)
Tokyo Harbor, Japan (lC)
Dhaulagiri Himal, Nepal (lR)
STS 109 (Space Shuttle) landing
“Blue Marble”, whole Earth (R)
Photo # (mission-roll-frame)
STS 051F-036-059
STS 047-079-083
STS 112-703-157
STS 083-747-033
STS 41G-044-019
STS 073-706-020
ISS 003-E-7751
ISS 006-E-28359
STS 111-340-017
STS 062-081-002
STS 068-239-083
NASA 6-703-044
STS 092-713-032
ISS 007-E-18088
STS 099-753-032
STS 099-749-063
STS 107-E-5180
STS 107-E-5240
STS 107-E-5308
KSC 02PD-0264
AS 17-148-22721
Position of Photograph on the Slide:
L = left; R = right; uL = upper left; lL = lower left; uR = upper right; lR = lower right;
C = center; inset = within other photo; lC = lower center
62