Earth from Space - Image Information


LOCATION Direction Photo #: ISS006-E-23743 Date: Jan. 2003
Geographic Region: PANAMA
Feature: PANAMA CANAL, PANAMA CITY


IMAGE
 
The Panama Canal is a 50-mile long engineering wonder connecting the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Completed by the United States in 1914, it runs southeastward from Colon, through the man-made Gatun Lake, to Panama City on the Pacific side of the Isthmus of Panama. The canal, a major artery of international shipping, uses a series of massive locks, manmade lakes, and water supplied by the copious tropical rainfall of the region to lift and lower transiting ships a height of 85 feet over the continental divide.

Thick rainforests border the canal, and the protected Canal Zone is easily delineated by the dark green band of forest, which contrast the lighter green cultivated areas of Panama. The ecologically sensitive Canal Zone supports diverse lowland rainforest that is crucial for water balance and erosion/siltation control around the canal. Scientists monitor the edges of the Canal Zone rainforest for degradation from development.

The crew of the International Space Station acquired this image on the afternoon of January 30, 2003, using an electronic still camera with 85 mm lens. Fair-weather cumulus clouds from the Caribbean can be seen pouring southward through the natural gap in this mountain chain of Central America.


Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 76k
Mission: ISS006  
Roll - Frame: E - 23743
Geographical Name: PANAMA  
Features: PANAMA CANAL, PANAMA CITY  
Center Lat x Lon: 9.0N x 79.5W
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 25
 
Camera:: E4
 
Camera Tilt: 32   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 85  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: SE   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: 3958  
 
Date: 20030130   YYYYMMDD
Time: 203938   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 10.3N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 81.3W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 238   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 209   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 37   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: FOREST  
Water Views: CANAL  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views: PANAMA CITY  

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