vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Offshore Wind Farms Make Wakes
Some of the North Sea’s most expansive arrays are visible in these images, acquired on Jun 30, 2015, with the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite. When these images were acquired, there were 84 offshore wind farms in Europe (including some under construction). The North Sea accounts for the most offshore wind capacity—69 percent—in European seas, followed by the Irish Sea and Baltic Sea.
The turbines were built to take advantage of high winds blowing over the North Sea’s surface. The London Array, visible in the first detailed image, spans 100 square kilometers (40 square miles). The wind farm, which first became operational in 2013, sits on two natural sandbanks in water as deep as 25 meters (80 feet). The site was chosen because of its proximity to onshore electric power infrastructure and because it is beyond the main shipping lanes through the area.

June 30, 2015

June 30, 2015

Other significant wind farms, Thanet and the northern half of Greater Gabbard, are shown in the second and third detailed images. Thanet spans 35 square kilometers (14 square miles) and sits in water measuring 20 to 25 meters deep; the entirety of Greater Gabbard spans 147 square kilometers (57 square miles) and sits in water 24 to 34 meters deep.
But the environment below the water’s surface can also feel the presence of the turbines. The detailed views reveal light-brown plumes of suspended sediments extending from each tower. In a 2014 paper, researchers analyzed satellite imagery and found that the wakes (and plumes) can measure anywhere from 30 to 150 meters wide and up to several kilometers long.
“The fact that the wakes are browner than the surrounding waters shows that they contain more suspended sediments,” said Quinten Vanhellemont, a researcher at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and lead author of the 2014 paper. “This shows that the installation of the wind turbines not only modifies the wind field above the sea surface (which is expected as they are extracting wind energy), but that they also modify the currents and sediment transport in the water.”
Vanhellemont explained that the wakes are generated by the tidal current moving around the foundation of the turbine.
April | 2012 | Terra
This was a few years prior to the launch of Terra, but once ASTER started returning data it became the best way to study small-scale volcanic processes globally.

MISR Measures Drop in Cloud Height

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Tassia Owen 
	Posted in News and Events 

Deseasonalized anomalies of global effective cloud-top height from the 10-year mean. Solid line: 12-month running mean of 10-day anomalies. Dotted line: linear regression. Gray error bars indicate the sampling error (±8 m) in the annual average.
Stereo measurements from the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on the Terra satellite show a decrease in global cloud height between March 2000 and February 2010. MISR records the height of the top, thick cloud (not thin clouds), the cloud layer that has he greatest influence on radiating longwave radiation (heat) to space. Lower clouds radiate more energy than higher clouds, so a drop in cloud height could help counter rising global temperatures. In this analysis, the change in cloud height was calculated by comparing heights for a given 10-day period with the average global height calculated for that time of year over the ten-year period. The greatest change-a drop of 80 meters below average-occurred in 2007 and 2008, during a strong La NiÃ±a event. The height difference between the 2000 and 2010 is 31 meters.  The observed trend is strongly influenced by the La NiÃ±a event and may disappear over time. If the trend persists, it would represent a strong negative feedback to global warming.
 
Davies, R. and Molloy, M. (2012, February 3). Global cloud height fluctuations measured by MISR on Terra from 2000 to 2010. Geophysical Research Letters, 39, L03701.

Thermal mapping of Hawaiian volcanoes with ASTER data

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Tassia Owen 
	Posted in News and Events 

An analysis of data from Terra’s Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument mapped the thermal characteristics of Hawaii’s Kilauea, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, HualÃ£lai, and HaleakalÃ£ volcanoes between 2000 and 2010.
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Making Sense of Amazon Deforestation Patterns
“It is an interesting area because the regional economy was fueled by a gold rush in the 1980s,” explained Arima, noting that the main mining areas are along streams west of the highway. People who got wealthy from gold typically invested in ranching, which caused deforested areas to spread quickly near the highway.
One of the key things to understand about deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, Arima noted, is that a large fraction of the rainforest is unclaimed, state-owned land, or terras devolutas. Since Brazilian law permits people to claim this land if they occupy it for a year and "improve" it (which usually means clearing it), there has long been a flow of squatters, land speculators, and others willing to head to the frontier. 
As long as there are people who need to make a living or a profit and unprotected land is readily available for claiming, the waves of deforestation will likely continue to wash across the world's largest rainforest. “But because of satellites, it won’t go unnoticed,” said Arima. “Scientists, resource managers—anybody really—will easily be able to see exactly where and how the forests are changing.”
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS/LANCE and GIBS/Worldview and Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.

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Decades of satellite data make it possible to map how deforestation has evolved over time.
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Fire activity in the Amazon and much of South America often coincides with a dry season from July through October.

References & Resources

Arima, E.Y. et al. (2015) Explaining the fragmentation in the Brazilian Amazonian forest. Journal of Land Use Science, 11, 3.
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Low Water Level on Lake Kariba

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Low Water Level on Lake Kariba
Published March 14, 2023
As water dropped to critically low levels, electricity production suffered and power outages plagued Zimbabwe and Zambia.
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Winter is Coming

October 9, 2020JPEG

When the Landsat 8 satellite acquired this natural-color image of the Dzhugdzhur Mountains, chilly autumn and winter weather had begun to leave its mark on the remote landscape in Russia’s Far East.
Fall color had come and mostly gone. In September, valleys in the area had burst with brilliant yellows and oranges as birches, larch, and other deciduous vegetation reached peak color. But the valleys had become more muted and brown by October, as leaves withered and dropped. The spruce and pine forests higher up in the hills, meanwhile, retained their green needles, as they will through the bitterly cold winter to come.
Due to the frigid winds that sweep through in winter, the tallest mountains in this area are topped with short alpine vegetation and few trees. This part of Khabarovsk territory often sees average highs in the -30s °C (-20s °F) by December, a month when the area receives just 6 hours of daylight. In October, 10 hours of daylight is the average.
With the Sun low on the horizon, long shadows had spread across the lower slopes of the mountains when the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired the image. Notice the blue areas, where shadows fall on areas where snow has fallen.
São Miguel, Azores
At 760 square kilometers (290 square miles), São Miguel is the largest of the nine Azores islands and home to half of its people—most of whom live in Ponta Delgada, the economic capital of the Azores. The island’s highest point is Pico da Vara, which rises to an elevation of 1,080 meters (3,545 feet) above sea level.
São Miguel comprises six volcanic zones that formed in the last 3 million to 4 million years. But the island didn’t take on its modern shape until about 50,000 years ago, when an eruption of land-forming lava joined the eastern and western volcanic massifs.
The oldest of the six volcanic zones is in the east; the youngest is in the west, where the most recent volcanic activity occurred. Three of the volcanos are still active, though dormant, including Sete Cidades, which last erupted from a submarine vent off the west coast in 1880.

December 9, 2018JPEG

In this detailed view, a series of smaller volcanic cones and two lakes are visible inside the caldera of Sete Cidades. The summit caldera, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) wide and 400 meters (1,300 feet) deep, formed when the summit collapsed about 22,000 years ago. Two other volcanic cones also appear in the image: Caldeira do Alfreres, which formed during an eruption around 2050 BCE, and Caldeira Seca, which last erupted in 1444.
Sete Cidades Lake is made up of two connected branches: Lagoa Verde (Green Lake) and Lagoa Azul (Blue Lake). Together they cover 4.5 square kilometers (1.7 square miles). The lake water is high in sodium and chloride due to sea salt spray.
The lakes are also prone to eutrophication, or excess nutrients. These phosphorus and nitrogen inputs come from agricultural activities, including livestock. Eutrophication happens most often in the northern part of Green Lake, leading to excess aquatic plant growth and algal blooms.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Sara E. Pratt.
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Collection - U.S. National Parks
A 20-kilometer-long tunnel under Rocky Mountain National Park diverts water from the Western Slope of the Rockies to Colorado’s Front Range and eastern plains.
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The Changing Seas of the Florida Keys
Growing corals and falling sea levels brought these small islands above the water line.
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Traces of an Ancient Watery World in Capitol Reef
In the Utah desert, the red rocks, cliffs, and canyons of this nautically named national park—and many of its famous fossils—owe their existence to water.
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Losing a Long-Watched Glacier
Scientists have been observing Peyto Glacier in Alberta since the 1960s. 
 
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Saguaro National Park
This Arizona national park was founded to protect the saguaro cactus, a keystone species of the Sonoran Desert and an iconic symbol of the Southwest, where the climate is becoming warmer and drier.
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A New Park for West Virginia
One of the oldest rivers in the world is famous for its extreme sports and hunting.
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Where Ice Still Flows into Glacier Bay
In this changing Alaskan landscape, tidewater glaciers are holding on to the bay’s West Arm.
Published Sep 16, 2020
 

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Inlet’s Iceberg Maker Is Nearly Gone
Retreating glaciers have changed how visitors experience Glacier Bay National Park in southeast Alaska.
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Grand Plateau Glacier
Views from above show the extent of change across Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park.
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Idalia Roars Into the Gulf of Mexico
Accessed August 29, 2023.
NASA Earth Observatory (2017, October 17) A Closer Look at Rapidly Intensifying Hurricanes. Accessed August 29, 2023.
National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center (2023, August 29) Peak Storm Surge Forecast, Advisory 12A. Accessed August 29, 2023.
National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center (2023, August 29) Hurricane Idalia Intermediate Advisory Number 12A. Accessed August 29, 2023.
National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center (2023, August 29) Hurricane Idalia Discussion Number 12. Accessed August 29, 2023.

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Idalia Roars Into the Gulf of Mexico
Idalia Roars Into the Gulf of Mexico

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Idalia Roars Into the Gulf of Mexico

August 29, 2023JPEG

Idalia roared into the Gulf of Mexico just after midnight local time on August 29, 2023, and within hours, strengthened to a category 1 hurricane. The hurricane is forecast to rapidly intensify before slamming into Florida’s coast near Apalachee Bay on the morning of August 30. 
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image of Idalia around 11:35 a.m. Eastern Time on August 29. At this time, Idalia was moving north and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported wind speeds of about 85 miles (135 kilometers) per hour. 
Officials in Florida issued evacuation orders for 22 counties in the state with mandatory evacuations along the coast of the Big Bend region—where Florida’s panhandle curves to meet the peninsula, and where Idalia is forecasted to make landfall. Dangerous storm surge of up to 10-15 feet above ground-level is forecast in this area, according to the NHC. 
Fueled by unusually warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, Idalia is expected to rapidly intensify into a category 3 storm—with sustained winds of at least 111 miles (179 kilometers) per hour—before reaching Florida’s shores.