Kerguelen Islands

The Kerguelen Islands (also known as the Desolation Islands) are part of the French Southern and Antarctic lands. Located in the southern Indian Ocean, the islands are among the most isolated places on Earth, more than 3200 km away from the nearest populated location. The largest island is Grand Terre (120 by 150 km), with the capital city of Port-aux-Francais. Total population is around 100; all travel and transport is by ship. The French Space Agency operates a satellite and tracking station near the town. The image shows the eastern part of the island, and covers an area of 43 by 35 km, is located at 49.3 degrees south, 69.4 degrees east, and was acquired February 27, 2009.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Perpetual Ocean

Driven by wind and other forces, currents on the ocean surface cover our planet. Some span hundreds to thousands of miles across vast ocean basins in well-defined flows. Others are confined to particular regions and form slow-moving, circular pools. Seen from space, the circulating waters offer a study in both chaos and order. The visualization below, based on ocean temperature, salinity, sea surface height and sea ice data collected during field observations and by NASA satellites between July 2005 and December 2007, highlights many of the world's most important ocean surface currents. Watch powerful, fast-moving currents like the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean and the Kuroshio in the Pacific Ocean carry warm waters northeastward at speeds greater than 4 mph. View coastal currents such as the Agulhas in the Southern Hemisphere transporting equatorial waters from the Indian Ocean farther southwards. Explore the image collection to compare the direction and unique flow pattern of each of these major currents.

Video credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Earth's Clouds are Getting Lower

This image of clouds over the southern Indian Ocean was acquired on July 23, 2007 by one of the backward (northward)-viewing cameras of the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's polar-orbiting Terra spacecraft. The area covered by the image is 247.5 kilometers wide and 660 kilometers long, and is shown in an approximate perspective view at an angle of 60 degrees off of vertical. The solar zenith angle ranges from about 83 degrees at the top of the image to 88 degrees at the bottom, hence the lengthening of shadows cast by the clouds on the underlying ocean surface and reddening of the hues in the foreground. Stereoscopic analysis of the data from multiple MISR cameras indicates that the cloud tops visible here range in altitude from about 0.6 to 2.5 miles (1 to 4 kilometers). A new university study using MISR data revealed an overall trend of decreasing global cloud height during the last decade.

Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Blue Marble 2012 - Africa, the Middle East and India

Responding to public demand, NASA scientists created a companion image to the wildly popular 'Blue Marble' released last week (January 25, 2012).

The new image is a composite of six separate orbits taken on January 23, 2012 by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite. Both of these new 'Blue Marble' images are images taken by a new instrument flying aboard Suomi NPP, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).

Compiled by NASA Goddard scientist Norman Kuring, this image has the perspective of a viewer looking down from 7,918 miles (about 12,742 kilometers) above the Earth's surface from a viewpoint of 10 degrees South by 45 degrees East. The four vertical lines of 'haze' visible in this image shows the reflection of sunlight off the ocean, or 'glint,' that VIIRS captured as it orbited the globe. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, NOAA and the Department of Defense.

Photo credit: NASA/NOAA

Note: For more information, see VIIRS Eastern Hemisphere Image - Behind the Scenes.