Earth from Space - Image Information


LOCATION Direction Photo #: ISS035-E-18807 Date: Apr. 2013
Geographic Region: SOUTH GEORGIA IS.
Feature: GLACIERS, SEDIMENT, ICEBERGS


IMAGE
 
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, South Atlantic Ocean

This astronaut photograph from the International Space Station (ISS) shows the eastern half of the island of South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean. At 54 degrees S latitude, snow and ice are permanent everywhere except at altitudes near sea level, where temperatures are higher. Glaciers sourced in mountain snow and ice (eleven peaks raise higher than 2000 meters above sea level) can be seen reaching the sea (such as at image lower right). Calving icebergs are visible floating away from the ice front at image lower right. Other glaciers can be seen along the coastline at image center and image left. The island's glaciers are one of the major sources of erosion, producing fine sediment from grinding of rock and soil during ice movement over the land surface - this sediment is termed glacial flour, and it imparts a milky color to the surrounding water. The sediment is apparent as a lighter-toned zone offshore entirely surrounding the island.

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, a British overseas territory, are a remote string of islands consisting of South Georgia and smaller islands known as the South Sandwich Islands. In 1882-1883, a German scientific expedition stationed at Royal Bay (center left) observed the transit of Venus and, amazingly, recorded waves produced by the eruption of Krakatoa, fully 12,330 km (7660 miles) distant. South Georgia is 170 kilometers long and is by far the largest island in the territory. The current population of South Georgia is less than 50. The main revenue of the island comes from fishing licenses which allow access to the rich fishing grounds--South Georgia has six separate whaling factories in various bays. Other revenue comes from tourism, customs and harbor dues, and the sale of postage stamps - most of which is spent on fishery protection and research.

While the ISS only orbits above locations between approximately 52 degrees North and South latitude, astronauts using handheld cameras can take images--such as this one--of regions at higher latitudes using long focal length lenses and high viewing angles. Such images tend to highlight topographic relief due to shadowing effects (image left), looking similar to the view one gets out of a commercial airliner window.


Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 202k
Mission: ISS035  
Roll - Frame: E - 18807
Geographical Name: SOUTH GEORGIA IS.  
Features: GLACIERS, SEDIMENT, ICEBERGS  
Center Lat x Lon: 54.6S x 36.2W
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera:: N5
 
Camera Tilt: HO   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 400  
 
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: 20130413   YYYYMMDD
Time: 112927   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 51.7S  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 30.2W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 41   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 227   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 21   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: EROSION, ISLAND, MOUNTAIN  
Water Views: BAY,ICE, OCEAN, SEDIMENT  
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