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Atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia
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Published July 1, 2001
These two images of the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia, illustrate diversity in the morphology of atolls, one of the major types of coral reef formations. A typical atoll structure is a lagoon surrounded by a closed rim of cays and shallow spillways that control the exchange of water between the ocean and the lagoon. However, like human beings, this general scheme may vary according to the history of each individual atoll, resulting in a high diversity of morphology, especially for small atolls. The two neighboring atolls shown here have some unique features. What was a lagoon on Nukutavake (19°17′ S 138°48′ W, 6.2 km²) is now dry and completely covered by vegetation. Pinaki (3.54 km²) has a drying shallow lagoon still connected to the ocean via a single narrow spillway. The variation of morphology implies that each atoll may have a different equilibrium between ocean, lagoon, and land ecosystems.
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Downtown Houston from Space Station Alpha
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Published June 3, 2001
A series of digital photographs of Houston illustrates the new detail being obtained for cities around the world by crewmembers on the International Space Station. This image, captured on 17 December 2000 centers on the downtown region and shows extensive detail of streets, parks and major buildings.
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Tierras Bajas Deforestation, Bolivia
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Published May 27, 2001
The area east of Santa Cruz was originally dry tropical forest.
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Niagara Falls
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Published May 20, 2001
The Niagara River forms the U.S.-Canadian Border and allows Lake Erie to drain northwest into Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario is about 100 m lower than Lake Erie; the Falls and the rapids account for most of the elevation difference. The energy derived from water falling over the falls, with average total flows of 750,000 U.S. gallons (2.8 million liters) per second, fuel multiple power plants on the river. Power Plants downstream from the plant generate 4.4 million kilowatts of power for both Ontario and New York.
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Dhaulagiri, Himalayan Ranges of Nepal
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Published April 29, 2001
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Dhaulagiri, Himalaya
Dhaulagiri, seventh-highest peak in the world (26,794 ft/8167 m), dominates the skyline in this image taken by the Expedition 1 crew from the International Space Station using a high-magnification lens. Although it looks like a view from a high-altitude airplane, the photograph was taken out of the window of the Space Station from an orbital altitude of 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers). The view is southeastward across the southern Tibetan Plateau of China, to the Dhaulagiri Range of the Himalayas in central Nepal. The upper reaches of the more than 1,500-mile-long Brahmaputra River, which enters the Indian Ocean near Calcutta, are within the broad, high (about 17,000 feet) valley in the foreground. Uplift of the Himalayas continues today, at a rate of several millimeters per year, in response to the continuing collision of India with Eurasia that began about 70 million years ago.
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San Francisco from the International Space Station
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Published February 25, 2001
his image shows a photograph of San Francisco taken as the International Space Station passed 383 km overhead on November 10, 2000. The view includes the area stretching from the Golden Gate Bridge in the north to the San Mateo Bridge on the southeast.
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Popocatepetl from the Space Station
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Published February 18, 2001
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