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Tropical Cycle Domenic roars ashore in Australia
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Tropical cyclone Demonic roared ashore today in Western Australia's Pilbara region. Residents are now grappling with flooding, downed power lines, and structural damage as the storm blows itself out.
This image was captured by NASA's Terra satellite using the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument. Terra went on duty on Feb. 24, 2004, joining other NASA Earth Observatory satellites in monitoring our home planet.
Terra is a multi-national, multi-disciplinary mission involving partnerships with the aerospace agencies of Canada and Japan. Managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the mission also receives key contributions from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Langley Research Center. Terra is an important part of NASA’s Science Mission, helping us better understand and protect our home planet.
NASA has an extensive background in not only tracking Earth's environment, but also in providing assistance to disaster preparedness and response teams. The image above was provided by the MODIS team at Goddard Space Flight Center:
The MODIS Rapid Response System was developed to provide daily satellite images of the Earth's landmasses in near real time. True-color, photo-like imagery and false-color imagery are available within a few hours of being collected, making the system a valuable resource for organizations like the U.S. Forest Service and the international fire monitoring community, who use the images to track fires; the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, who monitors crops and growing conditions; and the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Air Force Weather Agency, who track dust and ash in the atmosphere.
The science community also uses the system in projects like the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), which studies particles like smoke, pollution, or dust in the atmosphere. More information about science and application partners, including links, is provided on our applications page. Captioned interpreted images for educators, the media, and the public are available through the Earth Observatory. The system is freely available everyone--scientists, operational users, educators, and the general public.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flies onboard NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites as part of the NASA-centered international Earth Observing System. Both satellites orbit the Earth from pole to pole, seeing most of the globe every day. Onboard Terra, MODIS sees the Earth during the morning, while Aqua MODIS orbits the Earth in the afternoon.
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