Start Date: End Date: Published Date Data Date
Monteregian Hills, Quebec, Canada
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Published May 28, 2007
This astronaut photograph of the area to the east of Montreal, Canada, captures two striking patterns. The circular features are the central members of a group of unusual rock formations known as the Monteregian Hills: Mont St. Hilaire, Rougemont, and Mont Yamaska. The rectangular pattern blanketing the landscape in the background reveals the intensive agriculture in the fertile lowlands in southern Quebec.
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Springtime Comes to the Niagara River
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Published May 21, 2007
The eastern end of Lake Erie is clogged with ice that is pushed against the shoreline by the prevailing westerly wind. The ice collects in Lake Erie, and the Lake Erie-Niagara River Ice Boom prevents it from flowing down the Niagara River, which is the international boundary between the Canadian Province of Ontario, and New York State. A boom is deployed each December. Operational since 1964, the boom serves several functions: it protects the water intakes for the Niagara River power plants, and it minimizes ice runs (large blocks of ice flowing downstream as ice breaks up in the spring) and blockages that can create damage and flooding along the river.
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Salt Ponds, Botswana
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Published May 13, 2007
This detailed astronaut photograph shows the salt ponds of one of Africa’s major producers of soda ash (sodium carbonate) and salt. Soda ash is used for making glass, in metallurgy, in the detergent industry, and in chemical manufacture. The image shows a small part of the great salt flats of central Botswana known as the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans.
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November 2006 Smog Event, U.S. Northeast
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Published May 7, 2007
Images of haze over the northeastern United States are shown for November 2006.
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Kwangju, South Korea
Published April 30, 2007
Kwangju (or Gwangju) Metropolitan City is the fifth largest urban area in South Korea. With a population of 1.4 million people, it is a major economic and cultural center for the southern portion of the country. The city is located in a geographic basin with high mountains to the east—the mountain of Mudeungsan has a peak elevation of 1,140 meters (3,740 feet)—and more open plains to the west.
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Venice, Italy
Published April 23, 2007
A space-based perspective of the city of Venice quickly reveals different development and land uses in the region; the major islands in the lagoon surrounding Venice—Laguna Veneta—look different from one another. The island of Venice itself, a dense urban landscape, appears almost uniformly covered with red-tiled roofs. By contrast, port facilities and the train station at the west end of the island appear in shades of gray.
Isles of Scilly, UK
Published April 16, 2007
The Isles of Scilly, an archipelago of approximately 150 islands, are located some 44 kilometers southwest of the westernmost point of England (Land’s End). They have been inhabited for over 4,000 years, and historical and geological evidence on the Isles indicates that many of the islands were larger and/or connected in the recent past.
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Plume at Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia
Published April 9, 2007
Shiveluch, one of Kamchatka’s most active volcanoes, began its latest activity with gas and steam emissions in mid- to late March 2007. This image was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) around mid-morning on or around March 21, 2007. It shows a steam plume, probably containing minor amounts of ash, blowing westward from the summit of the volcano. The astronauts were crossing over the southern tip of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, with a clear view of the volcano about 5 degrees north of the ground track of the ISS. Subsequent eruptions on March 29 and 30 have been recorded by the Kamchatka Volcano Observatory and NASA satellites.
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Plume at Mount Bagana, Bouganville Island
Published April 8, 2007
Bouganville Island is geographically part of the Solomon Islands chain to the east of Papua New Guinea. (Politically, the island is part of Papua New Guinea.) Bouganville is typical of many Pacific Rim islands in that volcanism has played a large part in both its geological and recorded history. The island hosts three large volcanoes along its northwest-southeast trending axis: Mount Balbi, Mount Bagana, and the Mount Takuan volcanic complex. Mount Bagana, located near image center in this astronaut photograph, is the only historically active volcano on the island.
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Montevideo, Uruguay
Published April 2, 2007
Reflective roofing materials and dark asphalt streets outline the urban grid pattern of Uruguay’s capital city, Montevideo, in this astronaut photograph. The city may be viewed as a precursor of a global population shift from dominantly rural to urban environments, a shift the United Nations estimates will occur by 2030. Nearly half of Uruguay’s total population now lives in the Montevideo metropolitan area. Located on the southern coastline of Uruguay along the Rio de la Plata, Montevideo Bay provides an important harbor and port facilities for transport of South American agricultural products.
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