Return to Earth From Space Home
Earth from Space logo Image Information Earth from Space logo

Display a Screen Layout for Printing

IMAGE: gray corner       IMAGE: gray corner
  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS043-E-101410 Date: Apr. 2015
Geographic Region: BRAZIL
Feature: PUBLIC INPUTS

Ordering information for space photography
 
IMAGE: gray corner     IMAGE: gray corner

Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner
  View Low-Resolution Image  
  Lagoa Mangueira, South Coast of Brazil

While in orbit over the Brazilian coast and looking down directly at coastal features, astronauts aboard the International Space Station took this detailed image of Brazil's famous coastal lagoons. This view showing a short 20-km stretch of a lagoon shoreline is focused on the pointed sand spits jutting into waters of Mangueira lagoon. The ends of the spits are under water, growing less visible with increasing water depth.

The crew had flown a similar orbit track a week earlier taking panoramic shots (with small Lagoa Mangueira cut by the lower right margin), perhaps in "discovery mode," looking for features that might be worth tighter shots, like the one shown here, later in the Expedition.

The spits and bays between have a somewhat regular spacing, at least in geological terms. They are created as lagoon water slowly circulates, driven by persistent sea breezes (from the east, or top of the image). The water washes into the bays then curves back out into the lagoon carrying sand eroded from the bay shorelines. This sand is deposited as the tight, tan-colored lines we see today as spits. The "cells" of circulating water tend to be the same size, depending on water depth, dominant wind strength and the amount of sand available--and the cells translate into spits at roughly regular intervals.

A single spit, whose origin is less clear, is visible beneath the water surface near the opposite side of this shallow lagoon (image top right). Detail in the image shows that strong winds from the north (left to right) have swept sand into many thin tendrils on the south side of all the spits.

Regularly spaced spits form in many parts of the world. An example of larger spits is depicted in this image of the coast of the Sea of Azov in southern Ukraine (ISS039-E-20173).

 
Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner

Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 87k
Mission: ISS043  
Roll - Frame: E - 101410
Geographical Name: BRAZIL  
Features: PUBLIC INPUTS  
Center Lat x Lon: 33S x 52.8W
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N6
 
Camera Tilt: 10   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 800  
 
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:  
 
Date: 20150410   YYYYMMDD
Time: 161726   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 32.8S  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 52.2W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 342   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 219   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 48   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: COAST  
Water Views: BAY, LAGOON  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


NASA
Home Page
JSC
Home Page
JSC Digital
Image Collection
Earth Science &
Remote Sensing

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