Click on image for larger annotated version
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, is also its largest city containing
one-fifth of the country's population. The superb natural harbor at Lisbon
is a commercially important European port handling much of the
import-export traffic for Portugal and Spain. The Tagus River, which meets
the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon, originates in central Spain. It provides
limited access to the interior Iberian Peninsula because it descends from
the great Meseta plateau of central Spain through narrow gorges.
Vapor trails, like those crossing this image, are formed by the combustion
of airplane fuel when a plane passes through a part of the atmosphere with
relatively high humidity. The contrails themselves are actually plumes of
ice crystals that can persist in the atmosphere for several hours. Most of
these contrails are probably intercontinental flights coming and going
from Madrid, Spain.
Photojournal note:
EarthKam was formerly known as KidSat. To see images of KidSat, see
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/KidSat .
