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Astronaut Photography of Earth - Display Record

ISS005-E-21572

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	File Name	File Size (bytes)	Width	Height	Annotated	Cropped	Purpose	Comments
View	ISS005-E-21572.JPG	45656	540	405	Yes	Yes	NASA's Earth Observatory web site
View	ISS005-E-21572.JPG	61665	639	435	No	No		From STIC, color adjusted
View	ISS005-E-21572_2.JPG	82639	540	405	Yes	Yes	Presentation
View	ISS005-E-21572.JPG	218531	540	356			Scientist Request	Online Publication
View	ISS005-E-21572.JPG	245632	540	405			Photographic Highlights	(540 px resized images)
View	ISS005-E-21572.JPG	710099	1000	754	No	Yes	NASA's Earth Observatory web site

Large Images to Request for Downloading

	File Name	File Size (bytes)	Width	Height	Annotated	Cropped	Purpose	Comments
Request	ISS005-E-21572_3.JPG	428304	1024	768	Yes	Yes	Presentation
Request	ISS005-E-21572.JPG	774885	1000	659		Yes	Presentation	Color adjusted
Request	ISS005-E-21572.JPG	861572	1024	768			Photographic Highlights	(actual files used)
Request	ISS005-E-21572.JPG	1292050	3032	2064	No	No		From STIC, color adjusted

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Electronic Image Data

Camera Files >> No sound file available.

Identification

Mission: ISS005 Roll: E Frame: 21572 Mission ID on the Film or image: ISS005
Country or Geographic Name: AUSTRALIA-Q
Features: PLANKTON BLOOM, LINEAR
Center Point Latitude: Center Point Longitude: (Negative numbers indicate south for latitude and west for longitude)
Stereo: (Yes indicates there is an adjacent picture of the same area)
ONC Map ID: JNC Map ID:

Camera

Camera Tilt: Low Oblique
Camera Focal Length: 800mm
Camera: E4: Kodak DCS760C Electronic Still Camera
Film: 3060E : 3060 x 2036 pixel CCD, RGBG array.

Quality

Film Exposure:
Percentage of Cloud Cover: 25 (11-25)

Nadir

Date: 20021127 (YYYYMMDD)GMT Time: 050711 (HHMMSS)
Nadir Point Latitude: -22.5, Longitude: 152.6 (Negative numbers indicate south for latitude and west for longitude)
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: West
Sun Azimuth: 261 (Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point)
Spacecraft Altitude: 215 nautical miles (398 km)
Sun Elevation Angle: 41 (Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point)
Orbit Number: 2949

Captions

Detailed imagery taken by astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) provides a new way of looking at many features on the Earth’s surface. This image captures a plankton bloom in the Capricorn Channel off the Queensland coast of Australia. The whispy pattern of the bloom suggests that the plankton are Trichodesmium—a photosynthetic cyanobacteria, also called “sea saw dust” that is common in the world’s oceans. Trichodesmium is frequently observed around Australia this time of year. In fact, Captain Cook’s ship logs written while he was sailing in Australian waters in the 1700s contain detailed descriptions of Trichodesmium blooms. Trichodesmium species are particularly important because of their role as primary producers: by sheer abundance, they fix a large amount of CO2 and N2.

Astronauts frequently photograph large plankton blooms during their missions because a significant portion of the ISS orbits cross long stretches of ocean. In the process, astronauts become acute observers of subtle changes in sea surface dynamics. Imagery of surface plankton blooms are multi-dimensional (in space and time) visualizations for the unique physical and chemical circumstances that support the blooms. Astronauts are trained and encouraged to document phytoplankton blooms, and to make repeated observations to better understand the longevity and temporal variations of the blooms. Only recently have astronauts had the capability of documenting these ocean features at high resolution—we estimate that each pixel in this image represents a square with sides of 6-8 m. The inset box shows zooms in on part of the bloom to illustrate the level of detail available.

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