Earth from Space - Image Information


LOCATION Direction Photo #: ISS014-E-10499 Date: Dec. 2006
Geographic Region: BRAZIL
Feature: STRANDPLAIN,AIRPORT,CARAVELAS


IMAGE
 
Caravelas Strandplain, Bahia Province, Brazil

This astronaut photograph highlights an ancient shoreline, or strandplain, on the coast of Brazil. The image is dominated by numerous fine, parallel lines (trending diagonally from upper left to lower right), each of which is an ancient shoreline made up of sand transported from rivers to the north. The strandplain grew as the narrow shorelines accumulated line by line, in their dozens or even hundreds, over thousands of years. The shorelines group into "packets" with different orientations (outlined in white) that indicate their relative ages. Younger packets cut into or overlie older packets. Based on those relationships, the packet nearest the coast (farthest right) is the youngest, while the packet north of the city of Caravelas is the oldest (image bottom).

The Caravelas River flows into the Atlantic Ocean at the bottom of the view. Sediment from this river and the current shoreline produces the light browns and dun colors visible offshore. On the day the astronaut took this image, the river water was relatively clear; clear water (gray) flows out of the main river mouth and also off to one side to the south, over a levee. The Caravelas airport appears near the middle of the view, and is built on one of the ancient shoreline packets. Caravelas itself, a fishing town of about 20,000 residents, lies on an estuary and was once a flourishing whaling center--the prominent cape at image top right is known as Ponta da Baleia (Whale Point).


Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 234k
Mission: ISS014  
Roll - Frame: E - 10499
Geographical Name: BRAZIL  
Features: STRANDPLAIN,AIRPORT,CARAVELAS  
Center Lat x Lon: 17.7S x 39.2W
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: 22   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 400  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: E   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: 2304  
 
Date: 20061223   YYYYMMDD
Time: 145725   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 18.1S  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 40.3W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 215   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 178   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 83   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: CAPE, COAST  
Water Views: ESTUARY, OCEAN, RIVER, SEDIMENT  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views: AIRPORT  
City Views:  

Photo is not associated with any sequences


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