Myanmar - January 26th, 2012

The Gulf of Martaban is an arm of the Andaman Sea in the southern part of Myanmar. The gulf is named after the port city of Mottama (formerly known as Martaban). The Salween Sittaung and Yangon rivers empty into it; here their sediments give the gulf an intense tan color.

A characteristic feature of the Gulf of Martaban is that it has a tide-dominated coastline. Tides ranges between 4–7 m with the highest tidal range at the Elephant Point in the western Gulf of Martaban. During spring tide, when the tidal range is around 6.6 m, the turbid zone covers an area of more than 45,000 sq km making it one of the largest perennially turbid zones of the world’s oceans. During neap tide, with tidal range of 2.98 m, the highly turbid zone coverage drops to 15,000 sq km. The edge of the highly turbid zone migrates back-and-forth in-sync with every tidal cycle by nearly 150 km.

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Cuba - December 18th, 2012

The Gulf of Batabanó, off southwestern Cuba, appears bright blue and green due to its shallow waters, sediments and algal growth. The waters of the northeastern extension of the gulf, called Ensenada de la Broa, are a darker green color.

The Gulf of Batabanó is an inlet or strait in the Caribbean Sea, separating mainland Cuba (above) from the Isle of Youth (below). The gulf is shallow–less than 200 feet (61 m) deep–and contains about 350 smaller islands of the Canarreos Archipelago (Archipiélago de los Canarreos) besides the Isle of Youth.

Visible at the left edge of the image is the Guanahacabibes Peninsula, the westernmost point on the island of Cuba. It is located in Pinar del Río Province, in the municipality of Sandino and is sparsely populated. It also boasts the category of Biosphere Reserve, listed by UNESCO in 1987. Its location in the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico makes it vulnerable to hurricanes.

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Intense Tropical Cyclone Funso (08S) - January 27th, 2012

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Track of TC 08S

Tropical Cyclone Funso (08S), located approximately 420 nm east of Maputo, Mozambique, had tracked southeastward at 06 knots over the past six hours.

Animated infrared satellite imagery depicts an eye that is beginning to become more ragged with warming cloud tops near the eyewall. Satellite imagery is also showing the beginning of the breakdown of the eyewall in the northwest quadrant, and animated satellite water vapor imagery shows that deep convection is weakening rapidly.

The current intensity is based on the high side of Dvorak estimates at 90 knots based on the presence of the eye feature. The current position is based on a the eye feature with high confidence. TC 08S is tracking slowly south-southeastward along the western periphery of the deep subtropical ridge (STR) and is forecast to accelerate southeastward as it rounds the STR and re-curves into the midlatitude westerlies.

The system will continue to weaken as it encounters cooler sea surface temperatures within the next 12-24 hours and as it encounters increasing vertical wind shear after TAU 12. Near TAU 24, Funso is expected to begin extra-tropical transition (ETT) and should complete ETT by TAU 36. Maximum significant wave height is 28 feet.

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Intense Tropical Cyclone Funso (08S) - January 24th, 2012

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On January 17, RSMC La Reunion started to monitor an area of low pressure that had developed within the Mozambique Channel about 620 km (365 mi) to the northwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Over the next two days the area of low pressure rapidly developed further in an area of favourable conditions.

During the overnight hours of January 18, a ship carrying 54 people sank on its way from Anjouan to Mayotte amidst rough seas produced by Funso. At least 15 passengers drowned while dozens remain missing.

Early on January 19, RSMC La Reunion declared the disturbance Tropical Depression 08, shortly before the JTWC also initiated advisories and declared the depression “Tropical Cyclone 08S” as it became equivalent to a tropical storm. Later that day the Malagasy national weather service named the storm Funso before early the next day as it continued to intensify quickly, RSMC La Reunion declared that Funso had intensified into a tropical cyclone.

Due to land interaction, Funso weakened slightly on January 22-23, but soon reintensified into an intense tropical cyclone as it started heading south. Although the core of the storm remained offshore, over three million people were affected by tropical storm-force winds. On January 23 national television in Mozambique announced 12 deaths in the northern Zambezia Province, following the intense cyclone’s passage close to land. Seven of the fatalities occurred in the Maganja da Costa District and one was in the provincial capital Quelimane. More than 5000 people were displaced by the weather conditions and the only road connecting the capital Maputo to the north was reported to be seriously damaged when the Komati River flooded its banks, cutting off the capital city. At least 70,000 people were without a clean drinking water supply following the storm, and more than 56,000 were left homeless in Mozambique.

Authorities in Malawi were concerned about the fate of more than 450 families that lost their homes in the southern Nsanje District due to the effects of Funso, which mostly affected Bangula and Phokela, as three rivers overflowed. Heavy rains destroyed more than 320 houses and flooded 125 more and local crops were devastated, leaving whole communities at risk of starvation.

Funso strengthened a little more on January 24, the day this image was captured, as it continued to move southward slowly. On January 24 the death toll in Mozambique jumped to at least 25 as government officials were trying to reach the hardest-hit areas in the northern Zambezia province. Authorities confirmed that they expected the numbers to rise even further.

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Canada - January 5th, 2012

This APM image shows the city of Ottawa, the capital of Canada. The city centre is located at the confluence of the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers. The Ottawa River forms the entire northern boundary of the city (which appears bright green in this image), which it shares with the province of Quebec’s municipalities of Pontiac and Gatineau.

Here, Gatineau can be seen as an orange area across the Ottawa River, which also forms the border between Ontario and Quebec. The highest point in the Ottawa is 166 m (545 ft) above sea level, while the lowest point in the city is the Ottawa River, at 44m above sea level. Located on a major, yet mostly dormant fault line,[50] Ottawa is occasionally struck by earthquakes.

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USA - January 5th, 2012

This orthorectified wide-swath ASAR image shows the Sierra de Picachos, in the state of Nuevo Léon, Mexico, appearing as an oval area of mountains near the left edge. The mountains cover a surface area of 1405 km². It ranges from 400 to 1200 meters above sea level.

Visible northeast of the range, near the right edge, is the Falcon International Reservoir, commonly called Falcon Lake. It is a reservoir on the Rio Grande 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Laredo, Texas, USA, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The huge lake is bounded by Starr and Zapata counties on the Texas side of the international border and the municipality and city of Nueva Ciudad Guerrero on the Tamaulipas side of the border. The reservoir was formed by the construction of the Falcon Dam to provide water conservation, irrigation, flood control, and hydroelectricity to the area.

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Guinea Bissau - January 6th, 2012

This FAPAR image shows the vegetation index of the Gambia, Senegal and Guinea Bissau, in Western Africa. The index in Gambia and northern Senegal is quite low (yellow), with areas of good (green) photosynthetic activity visible only near the banks of the Gambia River.

To the south, the vegetation index is generally good, particularly near the coast and the Geba River, on on the offshore islands. Here, the distribution of activity appears to be the opposite of the pattern to the north: lower activity is visible by the banks of the rivers.

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India - January 5th, 2012

This wide-swath ASAR image shows western India, near the border with Pakistan. Visible as a dark area at the left edge is the Rann of Kutch, is a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India and the Sindh province of Pakistan. Desertification has emerged as a major
economic, social and environmental problem in the western part of India.

The Thar Desert is a large, arid region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent and forms a natural boundary running along the border between India and Pakistan. With an area of more than 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi), it is the world’s 9th largest subtropical desert. It is surrounded by the Indus plains in the west, the Aravalli Range in the southeast, the Rann of Kutch in the south, and the Punjab plains in the north and northeast. Encroachment of the Thar Desert towards its Eastern boarder has become a serious problem to the adjoining districts of the desert.

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United Kingdom and France - January 6th, 2012

Contrails (short for “condensation trails”) or vapour trails are artificial clouds that are the visible trails of condensed water vapour made by the exhaust of aircraft engines. As the hot exhaust gases cool in the surrounding air they may precipitate a cloud of microscopic water droplets or, if the air is cold enough, tiny ice crystals. Here, many such contrails can be observed in the airspace over the United Kingdom and France.

Depending on atmospheric conditions, contrails may be visible for only a few seconds or minutes, or may persist for many hours, which may affect climate. Contrails tend to last longer if there is higher moisture in the atmosphere and associated higher level clouds such as cirrus, cirrostratus and cirrocumulus already present before the plane flies through.

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