Earth from Space - Image Description

Florianopolis, southern Brazilian

This image was taken as astronauts aboard the International Space Station flew over the headlands of the southern Brazilian port city of Florianopolis. The east side (image top right) and west side (image lower left) of the city are joined by bridges that span the 400 m-wide narrows. The International Airport of Florianopolis appears lower right. This city has one of the highest quality-of-life indices in Brazil. The image is illuminated by partial reflection of the sun---revealing all kinds of detail in the water surface, especially wind streaks (image top left) and boat wakes (image center, image top left). The water surface south of the city is far brighter than the surface to the north, probably because the hills where the city is built protect water surfaces from the wind (wind was from the north on this day), producing calmer water and therefore a brighter reflection.

Crews have the sense of the glint point moving across the Earth's surface as fast as they are orbiting the planet. This is an example of the training crews receive in the special effects inherent in near-glint-point images of water bodies.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.