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"First Light"

All "First Light" Media (39)

PACE’s Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) detects light across a hyperspectral range from the ultraviolet to near-infrared, which gives scientists new information to differentiate communities of phytoplankton – a unique ability of NASA’s newest Earth-observing satellite. This first image released from OCI identifies two different communities of these microscopic marine organisms in the ocean off South Africa on Feb. 28, 2024. The central panel of this image shows <em>Synechococcus</em> in pink and picoeukaryotes in green. The left panel of this image shows a natural color view of the ocean, and the right panel displays the concentration of chlorophyll-a, a photosynthetic pigment used to identify the presence of phytoplankton. Credit: NASA
[10-Apr-24] PACE "First Light" Composite. Credit: NASA
PACE’s OCI instrument collects data that can be used to study atmospheric conditions. The top three panels of this OCI image depicting dust from Northern Africa carried into the Mediterranean Sea, show data that scientists have been able to collect in the past using satellite instruments – true color images, aerosol optical depth, and the UV aerosol index. The bottom two images visualize novel pieces of data that will help scientists create more accurate climate models. Single-Scattering Albedo (SSA) tells the fraction of light scattered or absorbed, which will be used to improve climate models. Aerosol Layer Height tells how low to the ground or high in the atmosphere aerosols are, which aids in understanding air quality. Credit: NASA/UMBC
[11-Apr-24] PACE "First Light" – Ocean Color Instrument (OCI). Credit: NASA/UMBC
Early data from the SPEXone polarimeter instrument aboard PACE show aerosols in a diagonal swath over Japan on Mar. 16, 2024, and Ethiopia on Mar. 6, 2024. In the top two panels, lighter colors represent a higher fraction of polarized light. In the bottom panels, SPEXone data has been used to differentiate between fine aerosols, like smoke, and coarse aerosols, like dust and sea spray. SPEXone data can also measure how much aerosols are absorbing light from the Sun. Above Ethiopia, the data show mostly fine particles absorbing sunlight, which is typical for smoke from biomass burning. In Japan, there are also fine aerosols, but without the same absorption. This indicates urban pollution from Tokyo, blown toward the ocean and mixed with sea salt. The SPEXone polarization observations are displayed on a background true color image from another of PACE’s instruments, OCI. Credit: SRON
[11-Apr-24] PACE "First Light" – SPEXone. Credit: SRON
Early images from PACE’s HARP2 polarimeter captured data on clouds over the west coast of South America on Mar. 11, 2024. The polarimetry data can be used to determine information about the cloud droplets that make up the cloudbow – a rainbow produced by sunlight reflected by cloud droplets instead of rain droplets. Scientists can learn how the clouds respond to man-made pollution and other aerosols and can measure the size of the cloud droplets with this polarimetry data. Credit: UMBC
[11-Apr-24] PACE “First Light” – HARP2. Credit: UMBC
[10-Apr-24] PACE "First Light" Gallery
Located at Russia’s eastern edge, the Kamchatka peninsula covers an area about the size of Colorado but contains more than 100 volcanoes stretching across the 1000-kilometer-long (620-mile-long) land mass. Kliuchevskoi, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, is visible as a circular feature near the center of this image. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Kamchatka. Credit: NASA
This true color image includes the second-largest island of Japan, Hokkaido, and the Russian island to its north, Sakhalin. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Hokkaido & Sakhalin. Credit: NASA
The snowy Verkhoyansk mountain range and braided rivers provide stark visual contrasts in this image taken over a remote region of Russia. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Siberia. Credit: NASA
Large cracks in East Siberian Sea ice, wispy clouds and their shadows are captured in this image. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Arctic Ice. Credit: NASA
This is a true-color image centered over southern China. The next image showcases the OCI’s unique ability to bring out more scientific details. For example, this is a multi-layered cloud system... even though it looks "plain white" in this image. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Southern China: True Color. Credit: NASA
Ice clouds and snow are purple, liquid clouds are pink, water is black, barren ground is brown, and vegetated areas are deep red (at upper right, for example). This image maps 1.6, 2.1, and 2.2 micron band reflectances into red, green, and blue channels respectively. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Southern China: Ice Clouds, Snow & Ground Cover. Credit: NASA
New Zealand’s North Island and South Island each have bright blue-green "outlines" in this image. This may be caused by sediment being re-suspended from the ocean floor by the action of waves and tides. In some places, such action can stir up nutrients from the ocean depths, fueling populations of tiny algae that form the base of the marine food web, known as phytoplankton. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] New Zealand. Credit: NASA
Located off the coast of Antarctica, the Ross Sea is home to a variety of penguins, seals, whales, seabirds, and fish. What is key player in supporting this diverse food web? Phytoplankton! These productive algae may be responsible for the greenish hues in the Ross Sea. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Ross Sea. Credit: NASA
Centered in this image is the Gulf of Thailand, a relatively shallow body of water with an average depth of only 58 m (190 ft). Unfortunately, many of the reefs in this area have experienced coral bleaching triggered by prolonged warm ocean temperatures. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Southeast Asia. Credit: NASA
Folded mountains and river plains of Pakistan and northwest India are captured in this image along with a small part of western Tibetan Plateau. Notice a lot of green? Known as the Indo-Gangetic Plain or Indus–Ganga Plain, it is named for the Indus and Ganges rivers. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Indian Subcontinent. Credit: NASA
The Gulf of Oman connects the Arabian Sea to the east with the strait of Hormuz to the west. For decades, massive phytoplankton blooms have occurred during the winter in the Gulf of Oman. The swirling bands of green seen here may be caused by a phytoplankton type identified by earlier in-water studies: a dinoflagellate known as Noctiluca scintillans. With its ability to detect hundreds of wavelengths, the OCI may identify phytoplankton communities from space! Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Gulf of Oman. Credit: NASA
On the left of this image is the world’s largest inland body of water, the Caspian Sea. Green colors are likely the result of phytoplankton blooms. At top right is a narrow body of water with a patch of beige to its east. This is the Aral Sea, which was once the fourth largest lake in the world. In the 1960s, however, the Soviet Union diverted its water to irrigate crops. For decades, airborne particles, known as aerosols, have blown from the exposed lakebed. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Caspian & Aral Seas. Credit: NASA
Centered on the North Sea, this image shows clouds over the United Kingdom, high-elevation snow in Norway and the Alps, and clear skies over much of central and northern Europe (e.g., France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark). Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Northern Europe. Credit: NASA
The narrow Strait of Gibraltar separates the continents of Europe and Africa. This is the only entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Gibraltar. Credit: NASA
Moving to the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea reveals a diversity of terrains. The Nile delta (bottom left) stands out as green within the desert of Egypt. Green patches are also seen along the coasts of Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. Centered on the image is the island of Cyprus, located south of Turkey. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Eastern Mediterranean. Credit: NASA
Dust blowing northward off Africa’s Sahara Desert can be seen over the central Mediterranean Sea. Located south of the dust storm, an artistic palette of yellow, orange, and red hues are captured by the OCI. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Sahara Dust. Credit: NASA
Moving to the southern end of the continent, a palette of blues, greens and browns are visible offshore. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] South Africa. Credit: NASA
What makes the OCI so special? It detects a large number of wavelengths at very small increments! This movie sweeps through various wavelengths, depicting the breadth of information that can be derived from the OCI. It demonstrates the OCI’s potential to detect phytoplankton community composition... including potentially toxic species! Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] PACE Ocean Color Instrument Sweep: South Africa & Gulf of Oman. Credit: NASA
This image encompasses all of the letters in the PACE acronym. Blooms of phytoplankton (P) are seen as green colors off the coast. Red dust aerosols (A) blow from western Africa over the Atlantic Ocean that is dotted with clouds (C). Minerals carried within the dust deliver key nutrients such as iron to sustain life at the base of the ocean ecosystem (E). Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Spelling Out P-A-C-E. Credit: NASA
Why include this super cloudy image? Its location is vital to the delivery of PACE data. Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago and home to one of the primary centers that capture telemetry from – and send commands to – the PACE satellite. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Norway and Svalbard. Credit: NASA
Known as the land of fire and ice, Iceland is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the seam along which two tectonic plates are moving apart. Fire is the volcanic activity that helps to "fill in the gaps" between these diverging plates. Ice refers to the fact that glaciers and ice caps cover roughly 1/10th of the country. These are the result of Iceland’s high latitude (65°N) and high elevations (500 m or 1640 ft on average). Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Iceland. Credit: NASA
The world’s largest island that is not a continent, Greenland is three times the size of Texas. It is 80% covered by an ice sheet, which has been losing ice for more than 2 decades. Scientists have calculated that if these ice caps were to melt completely, sea levels would rise by about 7 m (23 ft), impacting billions of people who live along the world’s coasts. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Greenland. Credit: NASA
The northeast United States and parts of Canada are captured in this OCI image. Prominent coastal features from north to south include Nova Scotia, Cape Cod, Long Island, New Jersey shore, and Chesapeake Bay. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Northeast US & Canada. Credit: NASA
This image is centered near Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), located in Greenbelt, Maryland. This is where PACE data are processed. Not only that, the OCI was built at GSFC! Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Chesapeake Bay. Credit: NASA
Colors on this image are processed to enhance green hues in the ocean. Why do we care about ocean greens? They are an important sign of productivity in our ocean ecosystem and thus a key indicator of ocean health! Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Ocean Color Enhanced!. Credit: NASA
An important location for PACE? Its launch site: Cape Canaveral, Florida. This OCI image was captured in relatively clear conditions. That wasn’t the case in early February 2024, however. After being delayed twice due to clouds, PACE had a flawless launch at 1:33 AM ET on February 8th. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Cape Canaveral. Credit: NASA
With a drainage basin that includes 32 states and 2 Canadian provinces, the Mississippi River empties into the northern Gulf of Mexico. The river brings huge quantities of suspended sediments and nutrients. In some places, an excess of nutrients – for example, from fertilizers – cause large algal blooms that deplete the water of oxygen, a process known eutrophication. Eutrophication can lead to the loss of marine life and decrease biodiversity. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Mississippi River Plume. Credit: NASA
Like glare we see off water near sunset, reflection of the sun’s rays from the ocean surface can result in data loss. The OCI’s design includes a tilting mechanism to reduce sun glint, allowing scientists to focus on the ocean signals, rather than unwanted noise. (Note that this particular image was taken before the OCI began tilting.) Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Sun Glint. Credit: NASA
What’s behind the aqua blue colors in parts of Caribbean Sea? A better question might be "What’s in and below the aqua blue waters?" That’s because clear and shallow waters allow sunlight to scatter light off the sea bottom and back toward the sky. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Caribbean. Credit: NASA
The southern part of South America is home to mountains, glaciers, fjords, forests, and deserts. Patagonia is shared by the countries of Chile and Argentina, with the Andes Mountains as the dividing line. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Patagonia. Credit: NASA
Swirls of green attest to the high productivity of waters in the Gulf of California, also known as the Sea of Cortez. Biodiversity abounds in this region with nearly 900 species of fish, 39% of the world’s total number of species of marine mammals, and a third of the world’s marine cetacean (i.e., whale, dolphin, or porpoise) species. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Gulf of California. Credit: NASA
Clear coastal skies reveal phytoplankton swirling offshore of northern California, Oregon, and southern Washington. This productivity is caused by upwelling, when alongshore winds promote the upward movement of deep, nutrient-rich water into the sunlit upper ocean... the perfect recipe for algal growth. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] US West Coast. Credit: NASA
Clear coastal skies reveal phytoplankton swirling offshore of northern California, Oregon, and southern Washington. This productivity is caused by upwelling, when alongshore winds promote the upward movement of deep, nutrient-rich water into the sunlit upper ocean... the perfect recipe for algal growth. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Alaska. Credit: NASA
Alaska has thousands of kilometers of shorelines and coastal ecosystems. This image captures just a portion of the coast, including glimpses of the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and Chukchi Sea. Credit: NASA
[25-Apr-24] Alaska Coast Zoom. Credit: NASA

PACE "First Light" Gallery

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