Earth from space: August 2014
As satellites continuously orbit our planet, they keep a watchful eye upon us, taking image after image of how the landscape below is changing.
Nasa has a large collection of these images, which are frequently updated and available to view on its Earth Observation website.
During August, there have been some particularly good images, so I thought I’d pull some of them together in a blog and share them with you.
Iron mines in Michigan
This striking image shows iron mines in the rugged, lake-filled terrain near Negaunee, Michigan, which were discovered back in 1844.
What stands out the most are the orange lakes, which are water reuse ponds, serving the Tilden mine.
The water is orange because of the high concentration of hematite, a mineral that often has a rusty brown colour.
A growing Japanese island
Just over a year ago, a new island broke through the surface of the Pacific Ocean, next to Nishino-shima, due to a volcanic eruption.
This image shows that the volcano is still active, which is causing the newly-formed island to continue to grow in size.
It has grown so much since it formed that it has now merged with the island next to it.
Hurricane Iselle
Early in August, two hurricanes were in the vicinity of the Hawaiian islands in the Pacific ocean, spinning around and drawing up energy from the abnormally warm ocean waters.
This image, taken on 4 August, is of Hurricane Iselle. At the time this picture was taken, the National Hurricane Center said that it was a category four storm, with sustained winds of 140mph.
The eye of the storm is extremely clear, around which lies the eye wall of the storm, where the strongest winds rotate.
Towards the periphery of the storm, arms of thunderstorm clouds spin outwards, extending the storm’s influence far from its centre.
Red Sea dust storm
In the summer months, the dry, hot weather means that there is a lot of dust present in the countries that border the Red Sea.
This image shows dust being whipped up into the sky over the eastern side of Sudan, before being blown out across the Red Sea by the wind.
Some of the thickest plumes of dust from this particular episode were seen around Tokar – a town in the north east of Sudan with a population of 40,000 people.
Algae bloom on Lake Erie
During the last 50 years, phytoplankton and algae blooms have occurred regularly in summer on Lake Erie.
They flourish in June and July as the water warms and stratifies, with numbers generally peaking in August and September.
The image below shows an algae bloom at the western end of the lake, shown by the muddy green colour.
You can view many more images on Nasa’s Earth Observatory website.
Images: Nasa