The mountains and desert plateaus of northwest Colorado are contrasted here in
two views from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR). On the left, a
natural-color view acquired by MISR's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera illustrates
these features at a pixel resolution of 275 meters. A striking example of the
capability of multiple view angles to illustrate topography is provided by
the 3D stereo anaglyph view on the right, which was created by combining data
from MISR's 46-degree forward-viewing and nadir cameras. To facilitate stereo
viewing, both images have been oriented with north toward the left. Viewing the
stereo image in 3D requires the use of red/blue glasses
(
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/Help/VendorList.html#Glasses) with the
red filter placed over your left eye.
Undoubtedly the dominant feature of central Colorado are the Rocky Mountains.
Running roughly north-south within the eastern portion of the image (across the
top in this orientation) mountain ranges pictured here include the Medicine Bow,
Front, Gore and the Sawatch. The Colorado River originates in the Rocky
Mountains National Park near Lake Granby -- a dark blue lake in the upper
edge of the image toward the right of center. Other water bodies shown include
Antero Reservoir in the top right corner. The highest peak in the U.S. Rocky
Mountains, Mount Elbert, is situated west of Antero about halfway between the
Turquoise and Twin Lakes.
The Colorado River traverses the length of the image, running roughly east and
south to the lower right-hand corner, where it meets the Gunnison River at the
city of Grand Junction. The striking "L" shaped feature in the lower image center
is a sandstone monocline known as the Grand Hogback. The Yampa River runs
from its headwaters in the highlands about 65 kilometers north of Steamboat
Springs to Dinosaur National Monument in the lower left corner. Steamboat
Springs is the site of the Third International Workshop on Multiangular
Measurements and Models
(
http://cires.colorado.edu/iwmmm-3/) through June 12, 2002.
The images were acquired on September 12, 2000 (during Terra orbit 3923) and
cover an area of about 226 kilometers by 257 kilometers. They utilize data from
blocks 58 to 59 within World Reference System-2 path 35.
MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA,
for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed
by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the
California Institute of Technology.
Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL,
MISR Team