# Presentation: 369423

## Tropical Cyclone Monty Strikes Western Australia

**Tropical Cyclone Monty Strikes Western Australia**
**February 29 and March 2, 2004**

**Notes:**
The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) acquired these natural color images and cloud top height measurements for Monty before and after the storm made landfall over the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia, on February 29 and March 2, 2004 (shown as the left and right-hand image sets, respectively). On February 29, Monty was upgraded to category 4 cyclone status. After traveling inland about 300 kilometers to the south, the cyclonic circulation had decayed considerably, although category 3 force winds were reported on the ground. Some parts of the drought-affected Pilbara region received more than 300 millimeters of rainfall, and serious and extensive flooding has occurred.
The natural color images cover much of the same area, although the right-hand panels are offset slightly to the east. Automated stereoscopic processing of data from multiple MISR cameras was utilized to produce the cloud-top height fields. The distinctive spatial patterns of the clouds provide the necessary contrast to enable automated feature matching between images acquired at different view angles. The height retrievals are at this stage uncorrected for the effects of the high winds associated with cyclone rotation. Areas where heights could not be retrieved are shown in dark gray.
The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously and every 9 days views the entire globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbits 22335 and 22364. The panels cover an area of about 380 kilometers x 985 kilometers, and utilize data from blocks 105 to 111 within World Reference System-2 paths 115 and 113.
MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.
Image credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team.Text acknowledgment: Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS / Jet Propulsion Laboratory).

## Dust and Sand Sweeps Over Northeast China 

**Dust and Sand Sweeps Over Northeast China **
**March 10, 2004**

## Snowstorm Along the China-Mongolia-Russia Borders 

**March 1****3****, 2004**

**Notes:**
Heavy snowfall on March 12, 2004, across north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Mongolia and Russia, caused train and highway traffic to stop for several days along the Russia-China border. This pair of images from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) highlights the snow and surface properties across the region on March 13. The left-hand image is a multi-spectral false-color view made from the near-infrared, red, and green bands of MISR's vertical-viewing (nadir) camera. The right-hand image is a multi-angle false-color view made from the red band data of the 46-degree aftward camera, the nadir camera, and the 46-degree forward camera.
About midway between the frozen expanse of China's Hulun Nur Lake (along the right-hand edge of the images) and Russia's Torey Lakes (above image center) is a dark linear feature that corresponds with the China-Mongolia border. In the upper portion of the images, many small plumes of black smoke rise from coal and wood fires and blow toward the southeast over the frozen lakes and snow-covered grasslands. Along the upper left-hand portion of the images, in Russia's Yablonovyy mountain range and the Onon River Valley, the terrain becomes more hilly and forested. In the nadir image, vegetation appears in shades of red, owing to its high near-infrared reflectivity. In the multi-angle composite, open-canopy forested areas are indicated by green hues. Since this is a multi-angle composite, the green color arises not from the color of the leaves but from the architecture of the surface cover. The green areas appear brighter at the nadir angle than at the oblique angles because more of the snow-covered surface in the gaps between the trees is visible. Color variations in the multi-angle composite also indicate angular reflectance properties for areas covered by snow and ice. The light blue color of the frozen lakes is due to the increased forward scattering of smooth ice, and light orange colors indicate rougher ice or snow, which scatters more light in the backward direction.
The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuously and every 9 days views the entire Earth between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude. These data products were generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 22525. The panels cover an area of about 355 kilometers x 380 kilometers, and utilize data from blocks 50 to 52 within World Reference System-2 path 126.
MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.
Image credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team.Text acknowledgment: Clare Averill (Raytheon / Jet Propulsion Laboratory).