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  Image: Geographic Location Photo #: ISS015-E-22276 Date: Aug. 2007
Geographic Region: USA-MONTANA
Feature: IDAHO & MONTANA FOREST FIRES

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  ISS015-E-22276 (13 Aug. 2007) --- Smoke plumes from wide-spread fires across Idaho, Utah and Montana are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 15 crewmember on the International Space Station while Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-118) was docked with the station. Looking westward toward the horizon, this image covers an expanse from northern Utah to central Idaho with southwest Montana in the foreground.
Smoke Plumes over Idaho and Montana:

On August 13, 2007, while docked to the International Space Station (ISS), the crew members of Shuttle Mission STS-118 and ISS Expedition 15 reported seeing the smoke plumes from wide-spread fires across Idaho and Montana. The crew photographed and downlinked images of isolated plumes (ISS015-E-22274) and regional views of the smoke (this image) from different perspectives. Strong westerly winds were driving the smoke eastward.

The close-up view shows the WH Complex Fire in southern Montana, which was burning in Gallatin National Forest. As of Friday, August 17, the National Interagency Fire Center estimated its size as 25,400 acres, and it was only 5 percent contained. The rugged topography that makes firefighting in the area so difficult is highlighted by shadows created by the oblique (from the side) perspective from which the astronauts took the photo. The plume has topography of its own, some plumes towering above others, casting dark shadows.

The regional view was taken looking westward toward the horizon. It shows fires not only in Montana, but also fires to the south in Wyoming, and to the northwest in Idaho. South (to the left) of the WH Complex Fire are the Columbine 1 Fire in Yellowstone National Park (18,500 acres and 0 percent contained), and the Hardscrabble Fire in Bridger-Teton National Forest (3,074 acres and 40 percent contained).

An even broader regional view of the extent of the fires was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard NASA's Aqua satellite on August 12, 2007, the day before these images were taken by astronauts onboard the ISS.
 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 145k
Mission: ISS015  
Roll - Frame: E - 22276
Geographical Name: USA-MONTANA  
Features: IDAHO & MONTANA FOREST FIRES  
Center Lat x Lon: 45.0N x 112.5W
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 100
 
Camera: N1
 
Camera Tilt: HO   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 40  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: W   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: 1975  
 
Date: 20070813   YYYYMMDD
Time: 013520   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 50.6N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 101.1W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 288   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 183   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 4   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: FOREST  
Water Views:  
Atmosphere Views: PLUME, SMOKE  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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