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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS005-E-21295 Date: Nov. 2002
Geographic Region: AUSTRALIA
Feature: LINEAR DUNES, FIRE SCARS

Ordering information for space photography
 
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  Fire Scars in Australia's Simpson Desert

Bright orange fire scars show up the underlying dune sand in the Simpson Desert, 300 kilometers east of Alice Springs. The background is an intricate pattern of sand cordons that angle across the view from lower left to upper right. These cordons are now mostly green, showing that, although they were once shifting, they have become more or less static--"tied down" by a vegetation mat of desert scrub.

The fire scars were produced in a recent fire, probably within the last year. The image suggests a time sequence of events. Fires first advanced into the view from the lower left--parallel with the major dune trend and dominant wind direction. Then the wind shifted direction by about 90 degrees so that fires advanced across the dunes in a series of frond-like tendrils. Each frond starts at some point on the earlier fire scar, and sharp tips of the fronds show where the fires burned out naturally at the end of the episode. The sharp edges of the fire scars are due to steady but probably weak southwesterly winds--weaker winds reduced sparking of additional fires in adjacent scrub on either side of the main fire pathways. Over time, the scars will become less distinct as vegetation grows back.

 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 295k
Mission: ISS005  
Roll - Frame: E - 21295
Geographical Name: AUSTRALIA  
Features: LINEAR DUNES, FIRE SCARS  
Center Lat x Lon: N x E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: E4
 
Camera Tilt: LO   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 800  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction:   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number: 2898  
 
Date: 20021123   YYYYMMDD
Time: 221119   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 24.6S  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 136.5E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 101   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 208   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 28   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: DESERT, DUNE  
Water Views:  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views: ALICE SPRINGS  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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