PIA14151: NASA Spacecraft Eyes Mississippi Flooding
 Target Name:  Earth
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Terra
 Spacecraft:  Terra
 Instrument:  ASTER
 Product Size:  709 x 800 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA14151.tif (1.704 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA14151.jpg (149 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

On May 11, 2011, when this image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft was acquired, the Mississippi River had reached a level of 53 feet (16.2 meters), 3 feet (1 meter) above the major flood stage. Flood water had already inundated parts of Vicksburg, Miss., and surrounding farm land. On the image, vegetation is displayed in green, bare fields in gray, and water in brown. The image covers an area of 22 by 24.8 miles (35.5 by 40 kilometers), and is located near 32.2 degrees north latitude, 90.9 degrees west longitude.

With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on Terra. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products.

The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.

The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.

More information about ASTER is available at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/.

Image Credit:
NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Image Addition Date:
2011-05-16