Saharan Dust Reaches Italy

A plume of Saharan dust spanned the Mediterranean Sea in late January 2013. Extending roughly 1,110 kilometers (700 miles), the plume stretched from the coast of Libya to southern Italy and mingled with clouds in the north. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image on January 21.

Read More

Wildfire Breaks Out On Greek island Of Chios

In mid-August 2012, an intense wildfire broke out on the Greek island of Chios, sending a thick plume of smoke southward toward the island of Kriti (Crete).

Read More

WSI Forecasts Warm March, Cooler April And May

 

WSI (Weather Services International), a subsidiary of The Weather Channel, says it expects temperatures between March and May to average lower than normal across the UK Ireland  and most of southern mainland Europe.  

However, above-normal temperatures are expected across northern mainland Europe and most of the Nordic region.

“The bitterly cold regime over much of Europe is coming to an end as we head into late February. Recent long-range model solutions, along with the sub-seasonal drivers such as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), suggest that the large-scale pattern will be more conducive for warmer weather heading into March,” said WSI Chief Meteorologist Dr. Todd Crawford. 

“The exception will be in parts of eastern and southeastern Europe, where recent excessive snowfall will likely delay the transition towards warmer temperatures until later in the spring. Further, there are no indications that any prolonged periods of North Atlantic blocking, or negative NAO, should be expected anytime soon. For the spring season, this implies a general pattern of above-normal temperatures in northern regions and below-normal temperatures across the South. It also implies that wetter and windier conditions should return to the northern hydrological/wind generation regions, with drier and less windy conditions at more southern latitudes.”

In March, WSI forecasts:
Nordic Region* – Warmer than normal
UK/Ireland* – Warmer than normal
Northern Mainland* – Warmer than normal
Southern Mainland* – Colder than normal

In April, WSI forecasts:
Nordic Region – Warmer than normal, except southern Norway/Sweden
UK/Ireland – Cooler than normal
Northern Mainland – Cooler than normal
Southern Mainland – Cooler than normal

In May, WSI forecasts:
Nordic Region – Warmer than normal, except southern Norway
UK/Ireland – Cooler than normal
Northern Mainland – Warmer than normal
Southern Mainland – Warmer than normal, except southeastern Europe

WSI will issue its next seasonal outlook on 19 March.

*To view the map defining WSI’s European regions, click here.

Read More

WORLD FROM SPACE Rhodes

Rhodes is the biggest island in the Greek Dodecanese chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Rhodes (also known as Rodos) stretches roughly 77 kilometers (48 miles) from northeast to southwest. 

Its highest point, Mount Attavyros reaches 1,200 meters (3,900 feet) above sea level. A variety of vegetation thrives on the rugged island and migratory birds use it as a resting place. Humans have lived here since the Stone Age.

The Thematic Mapper on the Landsat 5 satellite captured this image of Rhodes on August 26, 2011. Green vegetation is fairly abundant over the island, except for Mount Attavyros and some spots along the coast.

Satellite images such as this have provided more than pretty pictures. They have contributed to geologists’ understanding of the island’s history and structure. Geological research of Rhodes is nothing new, as the first studies of the island occurred in the 1850s. More systematic research from 1960 to 1965 resulted in a map issued by the Institute of Geology at the University of Milan, Italy.

Unfortunately, these studies occurred before the widespread acceptance of plate tectonic theory. Geologists now understand that our planet’s surface is composed of plates that move relative to each other. Rhodes sits in an active area, where the African Plate slides below the Aegean Plate, producing fairly strong earthquakes. Fossils found on Rhodes date back to the late Paleozoic Era before the dinosaurs evolved. The fossils are found in limestone, indicating that the island of Rhodes was once underwater. Around 15 million years ago, tectonic activity uplifted the whole region, but between 4 million and 3 million years ago, the land sank and left just the mountaintops above water.

When geologists reexamined Rhodes to create a new map, they not only incorporated advances in geologic theory but also advances in remote sensing. A paper published in 2007 described the compilation of a new geological map of Rhodes based in part on satellite observations by Landsat and by Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite.

 

NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using Landsat data provided by the United States Geological Survey. Caption by Michon Scott. Instrument: Landsat 5 - TM

Read More