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Sakura-jima Volcano, Kyushu, Japan (October 1993)

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Sakura-jima, a very active stratovolcano rising 3665 feet (1117 meters) above sea level, is located on a small peninsula near the northern end of Kagoshima Bay along the southern coast of Kyushu Island. This closeup, near-vertical, infrared photograph shows two craters—one with an ash plume along the volcano’s southern flank and another farther north. The absence of red coloring, indicating little or no vegetation, confirms that the most recent lava flows occurred on the eastern flank of the volcano. The volcano’s Minami-dake crater produces an eruption with a minimal ash plume almost daily. The characteristic radial drainage pattern for most stratovolcanoes is observed for Sakura-jima. The infrared film helps accentuate the blue-gray urban areas and the pink agricultural and forested areas. Visible are the larger port city of Kagoshima west of Sakura-jima Volcano, the two smaller cities of Kajiki and Kokubu, and an airport with one runway along the northern end of Kagoshima Bay.

San Diego, California (October 1989)

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This near-vertical photograph shows metropolitan San Diego. A city of more than 2.5 million people, San Diego boasts one of the world’s great natural harbors. San Diego Bay, where the harbor facilities are located, is 12 miles (19 kilometers) long and up to 3 miles (5 kilometers) wide. The city is an important port of entry, home of numerous military and naval installations, and headquarters for the 11th U.S. Naval District. In addition to being a major retirement area, San Diego is a center for scientific research; major industries include aerospace, electronics, and shipbuilding. Sporting goods, clothing, rugs, furniture, and office equipment are manufactured, and tuna fishing and canning are important industries. The city has a delightful year-around climate, ocean beaches, and many historic sites, as well as a strategic location—only 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of the Mexican border. These attractions draw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The northern portions of Tijuana, Mexico, are visible south of San Diego.

Sandstorm, Southern Algeria and Niger (May 1992)

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When viewed from the altitudes at which the Space Shuttle flies, sandstorms and duststorms are impressive natural phenomena. This high-oblique photograph of a rapidly moving duststorm is a dramatic example of a storm in the northern Sahara Desert, probably in southern Algeria and Niger. Too few recognizable landmarks are visible to determine the storm’s exact geographic location. Small cumulus clouds have formed over the most vigorously ascending parts of the storm front, thus enhancing the visual effect of the leading edge. Such storms can continue into the Atlantic Ocean, sending dust as far as the Western Hemisphere and into North and South America.

Sandy Desert, Eastern Chad (October 1992)

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The scene displayed in this high-oblique, southeast-looking photograph, which points toward the Ennedi Plateau (darker structure toward the horizon) of eastern Chad, is part of the great Sahara Desert. This photograph shows vast quantities of sand and several major corridors where sand continually moves across a landscape that has little or no vegetation. The only impediments to the sand, which is moved by the prevailing northeasterly winds, are the darker, fragmented remnants of resistant sandstone rock outcrops. The reds, yellows, and oranges identify the various sand colors in the region. The somewhat linear, uniform bands are depressions where massive deposits of sand have accumulated. It is through these "sand valleys" that much of the blowing sand is channeled during sandstorms. This photograph helps explain why this hostile environment does not promote the establishment of permanent human settlements.

Sea of Azov, Ukraine (February 1994)

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The sediment-laden Sea of Azov (center of the photograph), an arm of the Black Sea (dark blue), can be seen in this northeast-looking, low-oblique photograph. The Sea of Azov, rich with fish, lies between the Crimean Peninsula to the west, the eastern Ukrainian coast to the north, and the north Caucasus to the east. The sea, connected to the Black Sea by Kerch Strait, is 210 miles (340 kilometers) long, 85 miles (137 kilometers) wide, and covers 14 515 square miles (37 606 square kilometers). The narrow eastern part of the sea, which forms the Gulf of Taganrogskiy, receives the Don River. To the west, the Arabat Tongue, a 70-mile- (110-kilometer-) long peninsula, separates the Sea of Azov from the Putrid Sea, a 1000-square-mile (2590-square-kilometer) salty backwater along the northeast coast of the Crimea. The flat-bottomed Sea of Azov has a maximum depth of 46 feet (14 meters) and is considered the world’s shallowest sea; its water is constantly replenished by the Don and Kuban’ Rivers. The coastal waters are frozen (visible in the photograph) from the end of December through February. A counterclockwise current, impelled by prevailing westerly winds, parallels the coasts.

Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, Africa (April 1991)

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The coastal areas of two of west Africa’s smaller countries, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, are revealed in this low-oblique, northeast-looking photograph. The boundary between the two countries almost bisects the peninsula formed by the Casamance River to the north (in Senegal) and the Rio Cacheu to the south (in Guinea-Bissau). Both countries have low-lying coastal plains with many rivers and some broad, swampy estuaries. These areas are part of west Africa’s better watered coastal states. Mangrove forests (darker, uniform areas) lie along both major rivers. Historically, Senegal has had close political and economic ties with France, and Guinea-Bissau was a Portuguese colonial possession until 1974. The economies of both countries are almost entirely agricultural, ranging from peanut production in Senegal to a variety of crops in Guinea-Bissau; however, both countries’ imports in foodstuffs exceed their exports.

Sierra Madre, Guatemala (January 1985)

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This low-oblique photograph produces an almost 3-dimensional quality for viewing the Pacific coast of southern Mexico and western Guatemala. The narrow coastal plain lies in marked contrast to the rugged Sierra Madre and Sierra de los Cuchumatanes of western Guatemala. A pronounced chain of volcanoes parallels the Pacific coast along the western edge of the mountainous terrain. Two neighboring volcanoes, Agua and Fuego, are visible near the southeastern edge of the photograph. More easterly Agua Volcano exceeds 12 330 feet (3760 meters) and erupted in 1541, almost completely burying the village of Cuidad Vieja. During recent years, Fuego Volcano [summit of 12 310 feet (3752 meters)] has emitted smoke and steam but has not caused great destruction. The outline of the capital, Guatemala City, is barely discernible just east of these two volcanoes. Deep blue Lake Atitl�n, 35 miles (57 kilometers) west of Guatemala City, has a surface elevation of 5125 feet (1560 meters) above sea level, and further northwest, elongated Angostura Reservoir is visible in southern Mexico. A major unidentified east-west fault line extends across northwest Guatemala through a small part of southern Mexico.

Southern Andes Mountains, Argentina & Chile (April 1993)

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The Andes Mountains terminate at the southern end of Chile and Argentina in a jumble of islands and fjords. This low-oblique, south-looking photograph shows the fragmented landscape as the South American continent gradually ends in Tierra del Fuego. Part of the Strait of Magellan is barely visible near the horizon. Numerous glacier lakes can be seen on either side of the north-south axis of the ice- and snow-covered Andes Mountains. The mountains gradually decrease in elevation, from approximately 10 000 feet (3048 meters) in this photograph to 4000 feet (1220 meters) and less above sea level near the horizon. Lake Viedma (northernmost) and Lake Argentino—the two larger light blue lakes at the northern end of the photograph—constantly receive meltwater from the western glaciers. The brownish-tan terrain east of the Andes Mountains is a plateau where the constantly blowing west wind, coupled with very limited precipitation, produces a harsh, barren, almost nonvegetated landscape in this Argentine region of Patagonia.

Southern Rocky Mountains, New Mexico (June 1991)

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This panoramic, south-looking photograph captures the physiographic relationship between the southern extent of the Rocky Mountains and the desert environment of south-central Colorado and most of New Mexico. In this photograph, the Rio Grande Rift Valley can be traced from its source in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, through the San Luis Valley, and then southward until it starts to bend southeast and runs through the same mountain pass in which El Paso, Texas, is located. In the bottom center of the photograph, hundreds of center-pivot irrigation field patterns are visible in the vicinity of Alamosa, Colorado. The wide Rio Grande Rift Valley is flanked by the Sangre de Cristo Range to the east and the San Juan Mountains to the west. Farther to the west, several tributaries of the San Juan River are visible near Farmington, New Mexico. As the Rio Grande flows south, it passes the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and White Sands National Monument (near the top center of the photograph). The large uniform-looking region to the east of the Sangre de Cristo Range is a plateau where water erosion is slowly creating several large canyons.

Southwest Libya (March 1990)

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The desert scene in this photograph is located just west of one of the few strategic north-south trade routes through southwest Libya. The extensive oasis of Ubari (northeast part of the photograph) is located just north of the darker, eroded, rocky desert. The desert extends in a general northeast-southwest direction for approximately 45 miles (75 kilometers), from the discernible northern escarpment to the northern edge of the sandy Marzuq Desert. A well-entrenched drainage pattern indicates flows toward the south and southeast. The darker rock outcrops are slightly tilted sedimentary rocks sandwiched between the sandy Ubari and Marzuq deserts. The vivid, dark green, circular features are center-pivot irrigated fields—usually 0.5 mile (0.8 kilometer) in diameter—where sufficient well water is available to practice farming.

Squall Line, Atlantic Ocean (June 1985)

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A string of thunderstorms, or squall line, is visible in this low-oblique, south-looking photograph taken over the Atlantic Ocean just southeast of Bermuda. A squall line can be severe, causing high winds, torrential rainfall, and possible tornadoes. The passing squall line marks the replacement of warm moist air with cooler, drier air. When a cold front progresses eastward off the east coast of the United States, a narrow band of convective thunderstorms often continues eastward across the Atlantic Ocean. These thunderstorms can be intense, rising to heights in excess of 40 000 feet (12 200 meters) as seen in this photograph. While these storms pose no threat to land, they are of great concern to marine interests because of the potential development of strong gusty winds, heavy rainfall, and waterspouts.

Strait of Gibraltar, Spain and Morocco (April 1994)

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The Strait of Gibraltar provides a natural physical barrier between the countries of Spain (north) and Morocco (south). In geologic terms, the 10-mile (16-kilometer) strait that separates the two countries, as well as Europe and Africa, is located where the two major tectonic plates—the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate—collide. This high-oblique, northeast-looking photograph shows the mountainous northern coast of Morocco and the coastal mountains of southern Spain, including the dagger-shaped, snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountains of southeastern Spain. The Guadalquivir River flows from east to west along the base of the Sierra Morena Mountains in southern Spain. The famous British city of Gibraltar is located on the wedge-shaped peninsula on the east side of the bay in the southernmost protrusion of Spain. The city of Ceuta is a Spanish enclave on the extreme northeastern coast of Morocco. Ceuta, a free port with a large harbor, has remained under Spanish control since 1580.

Suez Canal, Egypt (October 1992)

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The entire length of Egypt’s Suez Canal (dark north-south line) is visible in this low-oblique, northeast-looking photograph. Extending from the port city of Suez in the south to Port Said in the north, a distance of approximately 100 miles (160 kilometers), the canal connects the Red Sea with the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The minimum width of the canal is 179 feet (55 meters), and the minimum depth of the channel is 40 feet (12 meters). Ships entering the canal from the south pass through the Gulf of Suez, Little Bitter Lake, Great Bitter Lake, and into the main body of the canal. The sandy desert of the northwest Sinai Peninsula occupies the territory east of the canal, and the large dark area west of the canal is the eastern extent of the Nile River Delta. The dendrite drainage feature along the northwest side of the Gulf of Suez is Khafuri Wadi. The narrow swath of green extending east-west on the west side of the canal is a strip of irrigated farmland that borders the Ismailia Canal, which connects Cairo with the Suez Canal at the city of Ismailia. Many center-pivot irrigation field patterns are visible in a roughly rectangular area south of the Ismailia Canal.

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