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NASA unveils unprecedented Earth images
September 23, 1997
Web posted at: 4:34 p.m. EDT (1634 GMT)GREENBELT, Maryland (CNN) -- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Tuesday showed unprecedented color images of the oceans on planet Earth.
Watch the NASA news conference
The images were relayed by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor instrument, generally known as SeaWiFS.
The SeaWiFS project is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth, designed to look at the planet from space to better understand its ecosystem and the impact of human activities.
Scientists hope that the analysis of current and future data will allow man to better understand such phenomena as weather conditions, environmental changes and the effects of pollution.
High-resolution NASA photos of Earth:
During Tuesday's news conference, SeaWiFS project scientists showed spectacular, high-resolution images of such areas as north-central Australia's island and the northern and eastern Mediterranean regions. Such features as the Alps, the Nile River delta and the Sahara Desert are plainly visible in the images.
A key goal of the SeaWiFS project is to study the oceans, which cover about 70 percent of the Earth's surface.
The orbiting SeaWiFs sensor shoots pictures in regular intervals as it orbits Earth. After numerous orbits, the satellite has given scientists truly a "global picture."
Scientists involved in the SeaWiFS project also illustrated the new instrument's penetration capability.
For example, SeaWiFS can image the surface of the eastern Seaboard of the United States and the Chesapeake Bay. The surface picture then can be backed up by going deeper into the ocean itself, resulting in a new image that clearly shows two brightly colored outflows into the ocean and the presence of phytoplankton, sediments and dissolved organic chemicals.
The concentration of phytoplankton -- small, single-cell ocean plants -- tells scientists about the health and chemistry of the ocean.
Comparing images taken at different periods also will enable experts to analyze changes that occur over time.
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