Terra on the Earth Observatory: January

Terra images featured on NASA’s Earth Observatory this January.

January 30, 2016

Cold Snap in Asia – Features Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image showing land surface temperatures in Asia from January 17–24, 2016, compared to the 2001–2010 average for the same eight-day period. The cold snap is being attributed to the polar vortex over Asia.


January 26, 2016

Dust Storm off West Africa – On January 26, 2016, MODIS acquired this natural-color image of dust from Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Senegal blowing over the Atlantic Ocean.


January 25, 2016

Snow in South Korea – While a large snowstorm in January 2016 covered the eastern United States, winter weather was also whitening areas across Asia as seen in the MODIS image.


January 16, 2016

Waroona Fire Burn Scar – The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) acquired this image of the lightening triggered Waroona fire in Western Australia.


January 15, 2016

An Atlantic Hurricane…in January – The Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) captured images of Hurricane Alex, one of only 4 hurricanes in the past 150 years to form over the Atlantic Ocean in January.


January 12, 2016

Eruption of San Miguel, El Salvador – On January 12, 2016, MODIS acquired this natural-color image of the eruption of San Miguel in El Salvador.


Pali_tmo_2016011January 11, 2016

Hurricane Pali – MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural color image on January 11, 2016, It shows tropical storm Pali, which strengthened to a hurricane, becoming the earliest hurricane ever recorded over the Central Pacific Basin in a calendar year.


January 8, 2016

Oil Tank Fires in Libya – This MODIS image shows winds blowing smoke from oil tank fires in Libya to the southeast.


January 6, 2016

El Niño Brought Drought and Fire to Indonesia
Dry weather in southern Sumatra brought on by an unusually strong El Niño intensified seasonal fires in Indonesia. As shown in the image from MODIS on NASA’s Terra Satellite smoke blanketed parts of Indonesia throughout September and October.


January 5, 2016

Unseasonable Flooding on the Mississippi River – MODIS captured images of flooding along the Mississippi River in Missouri.


January 3, 2016

Haze over the Indo-Gangetic Plain – MODIS collected data on haze in the Indo-gangetic plain. The haze is likely the result of urban and industrial pollution, agricultural and cooking fires, and a temperature inversion.