**STS-95**

**Earth Sciences Debriefing**

**December 8, 1998**

Justin Wilkinson

  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
  STS095-707-004      Two haze columns over Japan and Korea

  STS095-743-092      Shanghai haze; panorama looking N to Japan with
                      Yangtze R. mud offshore

                      

  STS095-719-051      Smog over Japan; high oblique

  STS095-718-033      Smog over Japan; low oblique

                      

  STS095-748-043      Smog cells in low winds over Shanghai

                      

  STS095-703-070      Florida Peninsula and SE USA panorama looking NW;
                      smoke plumes

  STS095-743-076      US haze over bahamas, USA, 10/31/98

                      

  STS095-716-053      Great Bahama Bank and whitings, 11/02/98

  STS095-704-076      Little Bahama Bank and whitings

                      

  STS095-706-082      Dust cells over W Africa, with cumulus on highest
                      cells

  STS095-719-004      General formless dust pall over Canary Is.,
                      oblique, looking \~N

                      

  STS095-713-012      Offshore width of Sahara dust cloud

  STS095-721-013      Sahara dust line between Gomera I. and La Palma I.,
                      Canary Is.

                      

  STS095-740-028      Inland deltas of Chari and Logone Rivers, Chad;
                      lake shores of Paleolake megachad; blade-shaped
                      wind streaks downwind of obstacles

  STS095-713-021      Tibesti Mts. with Bodélé depression dust (Paleolake
                      Megachad)

                      

  STS095-741-091      Niger R. inland delta detail

  STS095-722-009      Bahr-el-Gazal (NW Sudd) inland deltas, drainage
                      patterns in sun glint, southern Sudan

                      

  STS095-742-049      East Coast, USA, looking N in clear atmosphere,
                      foreshortened view (CIR)

  STS095-711-044      Himalaya Mts., Arakan Yoma range, Mountains of SW
                      China; wideangle high oblique, looking W
  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------

Joe Caruana

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-742-098   | Florida panhandle and Great Bend area. This area  |
|                  | has experienced hurricanes and fires over the     |
| STS095-742-104   | last two years.                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-709-081   | Colorado River Delta in natural color and color   |
|                  | infrared. The border is marked by the difference  |
| STS095-742-018   | in agriculture.                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-713-092   | Lake Chad in natural color and color infrared.    |
|                  | Water levels continue to increase in the basin.   |
| STS095-740-023   |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

Kam Lulla

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-747-091   | Himalayan panorama                                |
|                  |                                                   |
| STS095-747-094   |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-701-059   | Mexico                                            |
|                  |                                                   |
| STS095-702-001   |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
|                  |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-716-014   | Houston                                           |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-709-082   | Phoenix                                           |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

Cindy Evans

  ------------------ ----------------------------------------------------
  STS095-712-053     Kilauea plume, 11/2/98

  STS095-712-063     Wide view of Kilauea plume, 11/2/98

                     

  STS095-708-055     Mt. Pinatubo mudflows

  STS067-721A-032    35 mm comparative view, 3/95

                     

  STS095-723-045     Honduras Rivers - Rio Patuca in flood after
                     Hurricane Mitch (11/04)

  STS095-711-069     Honduras Rivers - Rio Aguan in flood after Hurricane
                     Mitch (11/02)

                     

  STS095-723-040     Rio Motagua, Honduras. Hurricane Mitch floods
                     11/04/98. Compare with map and STS26-35-026.

                     

  STS095-748-025     Yellow River

                     

  STS095-747-014     Atchafalaya delta, 10/30/98. Compare with earlier
                     views.

  STS095-742-080     Atchafalaya, CIR

  STS095-742-086     Mississippi River birdfoot delta, CIR

                     

  STS095-719-030     Atchafalaya to Corpus Christi, 11/02. Note floods
                     from Guadeloupe, Colorado and Brazos Rivers.

  STS095-703-063     Atchafalaya sediment plume, 10/30/98

                     

  STS095-716-043     Lake Amistad, now full. Compare with earlier views.
  ------------------ ----------------------------------------------------

Remote Sensing and environmental change, Julie Robinson

  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
  STS095-724-089      Lake Nasser, Egypt, with road building related to
                      the New Valley reclamation project.

                      

  STS095-713-029      Lake Nasser, showing the newly flooded New Valley
                      reclamation project, November 6, 1998.

  STS094-709-099      Lake Nasser, comparative view from July 3, 1997
                      prior to water diversion.

                      

  STS095-724-093      Northern Lake Nasser, a good place to observe flood
                      levels and compare to previous shots.

  STS41C-38-1893,     Progressive flooding of Lake Nasser (April 1984,
  NM22-705-079,       August 1996, March 1997, respectively) can be
  NM23-702-232        compared with that observed by this mission in
                      November 1998 using this time series of shots.

                      

  STS095-705-061      Bahamas: Conception, Rum Cay, San Salvador Island,
                      low cloud cover and sharp focus make this a good
                      shot for ReefBase GIS.

                      

  STS095-714-011      Puerto Rico, very low cloud cover makes this an
                      ideal candidate for use as a base map for ReefBase
                      GIS applications.

                      

  STS095-740-016      Dahlak Archipelago, color infrared shows small
                      vegetated areas along coast that were not visible
                      in the color slide.

  STS095-715-001      Dahlak Archipelago, color positive

                      

  STS095-707-073      Bangkok area, Thailand with two airports.

                      

  STS095-748-059      Kyushu, Japan including the Ariake Sea. Diking and
                      draining for the controversial Isahaya Bay land
                      reclamation project can be seen even in this broad
                      view.

                      

  STS095-716-046      Austin and surrounding area, Texas. In the upper
                      right corner, the letters "LOECKE" can be
                      identified. The letters are 3100 ft high and were
                      formed by clearing forest to spell the name of the
                      landowner during the summer of 1997. The remaining
                      adjacent forest is Buescher State Park.
  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------

***Tectonic Junctions, Pat Dickerson***

East African Rift

  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
  STS095-713-040      Red Sea/Gulf of Aden/Ethiopia. This southwestward
                      view is an outstanding illustration of the rift
                      triple junction of East Africa! As the Earth's
                      crust is stretched over a mantle hotspot, three
                      rifts are developing at 120° angles to each other:
                      the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Ethiopian
                      rift.

  STS095-715-012      Detail of the junction of the three rifts. New
                      oceanic crust forms the floors of two \-- the Red
                      Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In the Ethiopian rift,
                      continental crust is still undergoing extension.

  STS095-715-025      Yemen. The south coast is defined by faults of the
                      Gulf of Aden rift. Long, straight fault scarps, as
                      seen here, and volcanic vents are common along both
                      continental and oceanic rifts.

  STS095-715-040      The island of Socotra. The Somali Peninsula and
                      Socotra lie opposite Yemen on the southern margin
                      of the Gulf of Aden rift.

  STS095-715-009      Erte Ale. Erte Ale is one of the volcanic vents
                      that is aligned along a fault in the Danakil
                      segment of the Red Sea rift system. Several
                      generations of lava flows can be discerned, the
                      blacker ones generally being more recent.

  STS095-726-046      Ethiopia. Lakes Ziway, Angano, Abaya and Shala have
                      formed in sags and fault-bounded depressions along
                      the axis of the Ethiopian rift valley. Eastward
                      view.
  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------

**The North American West**

  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
  STS095-743-059      California, Baja California. This northward view
                      embraces the spreading center of the Gulf of
                      California and its junction with the San Andreas
                      transform fault system north and east of Los
                      Angeles. The Imperial Valley and Salton Sea are
                      products of spreading in the Gulf, whereas the
                      Channel Islands and Point Arguello are part of the
                      transform fault boundary.

  STS095-747-041      California. Virtually the entire San Andreas fault
                      zone can be traced in this splended northward
                      photo! From its junction with structures of the
                      Gulf of California complex, the San Andreas
                      continues northward through San Francisco Bay to
                      Point Reyes, where it heads out to sea.

  STS095-707-035      West-central Mexico. Spanning the region from
                      Saltillo in the interior to Los Mochis on the
                      Pacific coast, this fine westerly view covers a
                      tectonic nexus for which we have few photos. The
                      narrow sinuous ridges in the foreground are folds
                      of the Sierra Madre Oriental, formed about 60
                      million years ago (Laramide). The dark, rugged
                      ranges farther west are the \~35-million-year-old
                      volcanic rocks of the Sierra Madre Occidental.
                      Cutting both are north-trending faults (center of
                      view) that became active about 25 million years
                      ago.

  STS095-716-002      Torreón, Mexico. In this detailed view of the area
                      around Torreón, both the older folds and younger
                      block-faulted structures can be examined.

  STS095-719-028      N. Mexico and US. In this one photo, four major
                      North American tectonic provinces can be seen: Near
                      the Pacific (foreground) are the volcanic ranges of
                      the Sierra Madre Occidental; farther east are the
                      folds of the Sierra Madre Oriental. The White Sands
                      of New Mexico are in one of the fault valleys of
                      the Rio Grande rift, west of which is the Colorado
                      Plateau.

  STS095-722-063      Colorado Plateau. The Grand Canyon and Lake Powell
                      dominate this beautiful detailed view of part of
                      the Colorado Plateau.
  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------

Bill Muehlberger

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-721-00B,  | Ganges delta in flood                             |
|                  |                                                   |
| -00F, -00M,      |                                                   |
| -00P,            |                                                   |
|                  |                                                   |
| -00V, -0AA,      |                                                   |
| -0AD,            |                                                   |
|                  |                                                   |
| -0AK, -0AN       |                                                   |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

***Sue Runco***

+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| NM21-727-006     | **Baraawee, Somalia, March 1996.** Barraawe,      |
|                  | Somalia is located among the coastal sand dunes   |
|                  | south of Mogadishu. A cold episode or what some   |
|                  | have called a La Nina, was ending in the Pacific  |
|                  | when this photo was taken. The temperatures along |
|                  | the west coast of equatorial South America were   |
|                  | still slightly cooler than normal, but not more   |
|                  | than 1 deg C, and continuing toward normal        |
|                  | conditions.                                       |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| NASA6-708-056    | **Baraawee, Somalia, January 1998.** Barraawe,    |
|                  | Somalia is located among the coastal sand dunes   |
|                  | south of Mogadishu. El Nino conditions were at    |
|                  | their peak when this photo was taken. Sea Surface |
|                  | Temperatures along the west coast of South        |
|                  | America were up to 5 to 6 deg C above normal.     |
|                  | Rainfall over southern Somalia was at least 400   |
|                  | mm above normal which explains the greeness of    |
|                  | the vegetation surrounding the sand dunes.        |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-722-036   | **Baraawee, Somalia and the Central Somalia       |
| and              | coast, November 1998.** Barraawe, Somalia is      |
|                  | located among the coastal sand dunes south of     |
| STS095-726-051   | Mogadishu. A cold episode or a moderate La Nina,  |
|                  | was taking place in the Pacific when this photo   |
|                  | was taken in Nov. 1998. Sea surface temperatures  |
|                  | (SSTs) were cooler than average across the        |
|                  | tropical Pacific from 160°E and 100°W, with       |
|                  | equatorial SSTs more than 2°C below normal        |
|                  | observed in several areas between the date line   |
|                  | and 110°W  during mid-November. The equatorial    |
|                  | oceanic thermocline remained shallower than       |
|                  | normal across the entire tropical Pacific during  |
|                  | October, with subsurface temperatures as much as  |
|                  | 5°C below average.  The latest statistical and    |
|                  | coupled model predictions indicate cold episode   |
|                  | conditions continuing through May 1999.           |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | Somalia had been in a dry period for 4 to 8       |
|                  | weeks, depending on location, when this photo was |
|                  | taken. At the time of this debrief, the Food and  |
|                  | Agriculture Organization of the United Nations    |
|                  | reported in their Nov. 98 *Food Outlook*          |
|                  | newsletter that the food supply situation in      |
|                  | Somalia is cause for serious concern as a result  |
|                  | of a sharply drought-reduced 1998 main "Gu" crop, |
|                  | which followed the worst floods in decades. Also, |
|                  | the number of plantings and pest infestations     |
|                  | helped reduce the "Gu" yield.                     |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | In the next set of images of this area we expect  |
|                  | the area to be more brown or orange in color due  |
|                  | to the drier conditions.                          |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-707-015   | **Maui, Lanai, Molokai, and Oahu**, respectively, |
| and              | November 1998. During the 1997/1998 El Nino, the  |
|                  | usual NE tradewinds were drastically reduced and  |
| STS095-712-045   | even reversed at times. The low-level equatorial  |
|                  | winds have remained near normal across the        |
|                  | eastern Pacific, including Hawaii, since early    |
|                  | June 98 and stronger than normal over the western |
|                  | Pacific.  The islands are acting as a barrier to  |
|                  | the NE winds and creating island wakes in both    |
|                  | the atmosphere and ocean.                         |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-724-023   | **Maro Reef, Central North Pacific**. This reef   |
|                  | is located by Laysan Island between Niihau and    |
|                  | Midway at about 25.5N 170.5W.                     |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-705-027   | **Gulf of Batabano** between mainland SW Cuba and |
|                  | the Isle of Juventude. This shallow gulf,         |
|                  | economically important for sponge fishing, is     |
|                  | dotted with many smaller islands and keys. The    |
|                  | Gulf is a shallow carbonate bank which is similar |
|                  | in composition to some areas in the Bahamas.      |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-708-018   | **Air Mass Boundaries** (Front and Low Pressure   |
| and              | Center, respectively). The classic dynamic        |
|                  | processes of a low pressure system are visible in |
| STS095-709-023   | both of these views. There is instability before  |
|                  | the front with a line of thunderstorms along the  |
|                  | front. Cold air is being advected into the low    |
|                  | and behind the front.                             |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | The frontal thunderstorms are located near 19.5N  |
|                  | 70.3W near the Dominican Republic.                |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | The weak low pressure system was taken from nadir |
|                  | of 26.1N 67.7W in the central north Atlantic..    |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-706-009   | **Cirrus clouds** in a collected area. This       |
|                  | picturesque cloud pattern may be a confluent area |
|                  | in the topics where the winds emerge from one     |
|                  | area within the streamlines. Nadir was 8.7S       |
|                  | 103.5W, several degrees west of northern Peru.    |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| STS095-708-064   | **Golden sunglint.** The nadir was 7.3N 118.5W.   |
|                  | It places this beautiful view west of Clipperton  |
|                  | Is., west of Central America in the Tropical      |
|                  | Pacific. The sun elevation at the time this image |
|                  | was -5 degrees. This means the sun was just below |
|                  | the horizon and its light was being filtered by   |
|                  | the atmosphere making it appear golden.           |
+------------------+---------------------------------------------------+

Kim Willis

  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
  STS095-711-064      Moon

  STS095-722-062      Meteor Crater

                      

  STS095-709-013      Chesapeake Bay

                      

  STS095-724-077      Aorounga

  STS076-701-082      Tibesti

                      

  STS095-748-095      Gevenifada

                      

  STS095-714-068      Richat

                      Richat dust 10/30
  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------

Planetary

  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
  STS095-714-037      Tibesti

                      Olympus Mons

                      

  STS095-715-022      Wadi Hadramawt

                      Valley Network

                      

  STS095-716-00Q      Canywall

                      Valles Marineris

                      

  STS095-716-00M      Barchan dunes

                      Barchan dunes, Mars

                      

  STS095-706-077      Dust

                      Local dust storm

                      Monkey face

                      Mars Gods
  ------------------- ---------------------------------------------------