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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS057-E-58903 Date: Nov. 2018
Geographic Region: CONGO
Feature: PAN- CONGO R., L. MAI-NDOMBE, L. TUMBA, UBANGI R.

Ordering information for space photography
 
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Cloudy Congo River Basin

An astronaut onboard the International Space Station captured this oblique photograph while looking southwest across the Congo River Basin. Located along the equator, the area is one of the cloudiest places on Earth. Low-altitude cumulus clouds, sometimes called popcorn clouds, trace the landscape over dense rainforests in this shot.

Note, however, that the skies above the Congo River and its many tributaries are noticeably free of clouds. The river can be up to 5 kilometers (3 miles) wide in many places - enough to deter cloud formation. Warm, humid air rises from the forest and cools as it rises, resulting in the development of clouds. But the river waters - and the air above them - are cooler, so there is less moisture rising into the air. Similar cloud patterns are common in the Amazon Rainforest.

Toward the horizon, larger storm clouds are forming along the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. The ITCZ is a broad region of low atmospheric pressure that encircles the Earth near the equator. The ITCZ and its thunderstorms follow the seasonal position of the Sun, such that large storms appear south of the equator during Southern Hemisphere summer (when this image was taken).

 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 434k
Mission: ISS057  
Roll - Frame: E - 58903
Geographical Name: CONGO  
Features: PAN- CONGO R., L. MAI-NDOMBE, L. TUMBA, UBANGI R.  
Center Lat x Lon: 0.8S x 17.1E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 100
 
Camera: N8
 
Camera Tilt: HO   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 116  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: S   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: 20181105   YYYYMMDD
Time: 092931   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 8.9N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 21.0E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 153   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 220   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 62   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:  
Water Views:  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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