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Year: 2013

Posted on by Tassia Owen Posted in News and Events

Oklahoma City Tornado Path

On May 20, 2013, central Oklahoma was devastated by a EF-5 tornado, the most severe on the enhanced Fujita scale. The Newcastle-Moore tornado killed at least 24 people, injured 377, and affected nearly 33,000 in some way. Early estimates suggest that more then $2 billion in damage was done to public and private property; at least 13,000 structures were destroyed or damaged. It was the deadliest tornado in the United States since an EF-5 event killed 158 people in Joplin, Missouri, in 2011. Read more

Posted on by Tassia Owen Posted in News and Events

On May 31, 2013, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of the Powerhouse fire burning in steep terrain north of Los Angeles, California. Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fires. Read more

Posted on by Tassia Owen Posted in News and Events

This article from IEEE  talks about how satellite data can predict agricultural output and famine.  Terra plays a large role in measuring the National Data Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is measured using spectral bands 1 and 2 (infrared to visible light) of the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. NDVI compares the amount of light reflected in near-infrared with that reflected in visible light; if there is more infrared, the vegetation in that spot is likely to be dense and thus yield more of the crop.” Armed with this information and data from other satellites researchers are able to get a better picture of how the worlds crops are faring.  Read more

Posted on by Tassia Owen Posted in News and Events

For the third time this century, Alaska’s Pavlof Volcano is erupting. The Alaska Volcano Observatory first detected earthquakes associated with the movement of magma and heat at Pavlof’s summit on May 13, 2013. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite captured this image of a small ash plume and lava flow on the morning of May 14. Read more

Posted on by Tassia Owen Posted in News and Events

When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite passed over northern Minnesota on May 12, 2013, spring had transformed winter’s snowy white landscape into shades of green and brown. But several lakes remained stubbornly white. In 2013, unseasonably cool spring weather has left ice choking many of Minnesota’s lakes weeks longer than usual. Read more