Tropical Storm Tim winds down

Tropical Storm Tim formed over the Coral Sea on March 13, 2013, and remained off the coast of northeastern Australia for the next four days. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image of Tim on March 17. Although lacking a distinct eye, Tim still had the spiral shape characteristic of strong storms.

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Tropical Cyclone Sandra affects Vanuatu

Sandra formed as a tropical storm over the southern Pacific Ocean on March 7, 2013, and strengthened into a cyclone two days later. On March 11, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Sandra was located roughly 350 nautical miles (650 kilometers) northwest of Nouméa, New Caledonia. 

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Tropical Cyclone Rusty Hits Australia

On February 25, 2013, Tropical Cyclone Rusty was bearing down on the northwestern coast of Australia. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image the same day. Although Rusty lacked a distinct eye, the storm sported the spiral shape characteristic of strong storms.

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Large Bushfires Range in Victoria, Australia

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image showing large bush fires burning in southwestern Victoria on February 18, 2013. 

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Asteroid to make closest Earth fly-by on record this Friday

Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass very close to the Earth on Friday (February 15, 2013), so close that it will pass inside the ring of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites.

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Magnitude 8 Earthquake Hits The Solomon Islands

Today's M 8.0 earthquake in the Solomon Islands occurred as a result of shallow thrust faulting on or near the plate boundary interface between the Australia and Pacific plates. In the region of this earthquake, the Australia plate converges with and subducts beneath the Pacific plate, moving towards the east-northeast at a rate of approximately 94 mm/yr.

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WORLD FROM SPACE Flooding In Queensland, Australia

In eastern Queensland, the Mackenzie-Fitzroy River system takes a circuitous route to the coast, finally emptying into the sea near Rockhampton. In late January 2013, flood waters swelled these rivers and their tributaries so much that satellite sensors could easily detect the changes from the sky. 

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In Review: How Widespread was the Australian Heatwave?

January 2013 brought record-setting heat to Australia; not just for days, but for weeks. Temperatures regularly eclipsed 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in multiple locations across the continent. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Australia set a new record for the highest temperature averaged across the entire nation: 40.33°C (104.59°F) on January 7. The national average reached 40.11°C (104.20°F) the following day. The overnight minimum temperature for January 7–8 also set new a record—32.36°C (90.25°F)—contributing to the hottest two-day period in Australia’s recorded history.

Each of the first eight days of 2013 were among the 20 hottest days on record. The scorching weather continued a trend of four consecutive months (September to December 2012) where temperatures were the highest on record. The persistent heat mirrors a similar pattern that developed in the continental United States in 2012.

The map above shows land surface temperature (LST) anomalies for Australia from January 1–8, 2013. LST anomalies are not absolute temperatures; instead, they show how much temperatures were above or below the average. The darkest reds show areas that were as much as 15°C (27°F) above the norm; blues show areas that were below normal; and grays depicts areas with incomplete data (often due to cloud cover). The map was built from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite, and the 2013 data is compared to the average for the same week as observed from 2005–2012.

Observed by satellites uniformly across the entire globe, land surface temperatures are a measure of the amount of infrared energy (thermal radiance) emitted by Earth’s surface as it is heated by daylight and cooled in the dark of night. LSTs are sometimes referred to as land “skin” temperatures, and indeed they are a reflection of how hot a surface would feel to the touch. (To learn more about LSTs and air temperatures, read: Where is the Hottest Place on Earth?)

Five scientists from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology wrote an analysis of the heatwave for The Conversation:

“Australia has always experienced heat waves, and they are a normal part of most summers. However, the current event affecting much of inland Australia has definitely not been typical. The most significant thing about the recent heat has been its coverage across the continent, and its persistence. It is very unusual to have such widespread extreme temperatures—and have them persist for so long. On those two metrics alone, spatial extent and duration, the last two weeks surpasses the only previous analogue in the historical record (since 1910)—a two-week country-wide hot spell during the summer of 1972-1973.”

During a January 2013 meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Hobart, Tasmania, IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri noted that the heatwave fit the patterns of global warming: “If you look at the trend then I think that's pretty unmistakeable,” Pachauri said, “and any proper analysis would tell you that we are heading in that direction.”

NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using data from the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LPDAAC). Caption by Michael Carlowicz.

Instrument: Aqua - MODIS

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NASA satellites see Cyclone Narelle torn apart

This series of infrared images of Cyclone Narelle was taken over 6 days by the AIRS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. It shows the growth into a cyclone and weakening back to a tropical storm. The purple areas are the coldest cloud top temperatures, and strongest storms with heaviest rainfall occurring in the cyclone. Top row L to R: Jan. 10 at 0623 UTC; Jan. 11 at 1759 UTC; Jan. 12 at 0605 UTC. Bottom row, L to R: Jan. 13 at 0647 UTC; Jan. 14 at 0553 UTC; and Jan. 15 at 0635 UTC. Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen

NASA's TRMM and Aqua satellites showed how Tropical Cyclone Narelle has fallen far from being a powerful cyclone in the Southern Indian Ocean. A time series of infrared images from an Aqua satellite instrument provides a clear picture of Narelle's former power and its recent demise, while TRMM 3-D data showed falling cloud heights and weaker rainfall.

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WORLD FROM SPACE Wildfires in New South Wales

Temperatures cooled somewhat in New South Wales on January 9, 2013, a day after record-breaking temperatures seared Australia’s most populous state on back-to-back days. Despite the reprieve, bush fires continued to rage throughout New South Wales and many other parts of the continent. 

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WORLD FROM SPACE Wildfires in Tasmania

In January 2013, intense bushfires blazed in Tasmania, an island south of Australia. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image showing numbers fires burning across the island on January 7, 2013. Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fires.

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Siberia Records First Snowfall Of Autumn/Winter 2012

Few things change the appearance of Earth’s land surfaces as readily as a layer of snow. As fall approaches in the Northern Hemisphere and spring does in the Southern Hemisphere, snow’s ability to transform the greens of vegetation and browns of rock and soil to white is on display. 

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Australian Wildfire Brought Under Control

On August 19, 2012, thick smoke streamed from a fire in Western Australia near Lake Gregory when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image. 

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WORLD FROM SPACE Great Barrier Reef, Australia

NASA's Terra/MODIS satellite captured this image of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia on Friday, 10 August 2012. 

Click image to enlarge.

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10,000 Cut Off By Rising Flood Waters In Australia

Along the border between the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales, several communities were flooded in early February 2012. By mid-month, the flood waters had moved west. On February 19, online news source NineMSN reported that as many as 10,000 residents of northeastern New South Wales would likely be isolated from the outside world by high water.

  

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired these images on February 18, 2012 (top), and February 6, 2012 (bottom). Both images show flood conditions, but they also show the movement of water along the Barwon and Namoi Rivers and other waterways in the region.

These images use a combination of visible and infrared light to better distinguish between water and land. Water varies from electric blue to navy, with darker shades generally indicating deeper water. Vegetation is bright green. Bare ground is earth-toned.

On February 6, floods are largely confined to areas east of Walgett. By February 18, flooding has receded east of that town, but floods have traveled westward along tributaries of the Darling River. New flooding is especially apparent between Walgett and Brewarrina, and north of Lightning Ridge and Goodooga.

NineMSN reported that several thousand residents were already isolated in the communities of Walgett, Collarenebri, Weilmoringle, and Goodooga, and flooding in those areas could persist for weeks. Floods were also expected in Brewarrina and Bourke over the next month.

NASA images courtesy LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott. Instrument: Terra - MODIS

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Fires in Southwestern Australia

Fires in southwestern Australia sent a massive smoke plume over the Indian Ocean on February 13, 2012. 

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite took this picture the same day.

In this natural-color image, red dots show areas where MODIS detected unusually high surface temperatures associated with actively burning fires. The gray-beige smoke blows in a giant clockwise arc, over the Indian Ocean, and back toward the coast of Western Australia.

On February 14, 2012, the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) of Western Australia reported that the bushfires that were burning around Windy Harbour the day before had been contained. Still, FESA warned residents to keep abreast of new developments as conditions could change quickly.
 

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott. Instrument: Aqua - MODIS

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WORLD FROM SPACE - Rowley Shoals, Timor Sea

This astronaut photograph highlights the coral reef atolls known as Rowley Shoals, located in the southwestern Timor Sea. 

Three reef areas make up the shoals—Mermaid Reef, Clerke Reef, and Imperieuse Reef—which extend approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) from northeast to southwest. Only Clerke Reef and Imperieuse Reef have white sandy islets (or cays) that remain above water. Imperieuse Reef also has the only permanent man-made structure: a lighthouse on Cunningham Islet, a cay at the northern end of the reef. 

Rowley Shoals is located off the northwestern Australia coastline, approximately 300 kilometers (185 miles) west of the city of Broome. Since the late 1970s, fishing and diving expeditions have frequented the atolls. Clerke and Imperieuse Reefs are part of the Rowley Shoals Marine Park, established in 1990. Mermaid Reef is managed as the Mermaid Reef Marine National Nature Reserve, established in 1991. 

The biodiversity of the atolls is impressive, with 233 coral species and 688 fish species more typical of Southeast Asia than other Western Australian reef ecosystems. Species include staghorn coral, giant clams, giant potato cod, maori wrasse, mackerel, and tuna. In addition, Bedwell Island (a cay in Clerke Reef) hosts a colony of red-tailed tropicbirds, as well as species of shearwaters, sea eagles, terns, plovers, and egrets.

Astronaut photograph ISS029-E-29638 was acquired on October 18, 2011. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by William L. Stefanov, Jacobs/ESCG at NASA-JSC. Instrument: ISS - Digital Camera

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