Earth from Space - Image Information


LOCATION Direction Photo #: ISS039-E-5258 Date: Mar. 2014
Geographic Region: USA-ARIZONA
Feature: GRAND CANYON, KAIBAB PLATEAU


IMAGE
 
Grand Canyon, Arizona

The Grand Canyon in northern Arizona is a favorite for crews on the International Space Station--as well as one of the best known tourist attractions in the world. The steep walls of the Colorado River canyon and its many side canyons make an intricate landscape that contrasts with the dark green forested plateau to the north and to the south. The Colorado River is visible as a darker line snaking along the bottom of the canyon. The river has done all the erosional work of carving away cubic kilometers of rock in a geologically short period of time. The river lies at an altitude of 715 m (2345 feet), thousands of meters below the North and South Rims. Temperatures are furnace-like on the river banks in the summer, but Grand Canyon Village, the classic outlook point for visitors, enjoys a milder climate at an altitude of 2100 m (6890 feet).

The Grand Canyon has become a geologic icon, known as a place where you can almost sense the invisible tectonic forces within the Earth, especially in the astronaut view from orbit. The North and South Rims of the canyon are part of the Kaibab Plateau, a gentle tectonic swell in the landscape outlined in the view by the dark green forested zone. The uplift of the plateau has two visible effects. One indication is the forest. In the drier parts of the world such as much of Arizona, forests usually indicate higher places (higher altitudes are cooler and wetter, conditions that allow trees to grow). The other indication is the canyon itself. Geologists now know that a river can cut a canyon only if the Earth surface rises vertically. If such uplift is not too rapid, a river can maintain its course by eroding huge quantities of rock and forming a canyon.


Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 341k
Mission: ISS039  
Roll - Frame: E - 5258
Geographical Name: USA-ARIZONA  
Features: GRAND CANYON, KAIBAB PLATEAU  
Center Lat x Lon: 36.3N x 112.1W
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: 180  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: NW   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: 20140325   YYYYMMDD
Time: 152249   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 31.1N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 108.4W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 105   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 222   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 27   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: FOREST, PLATEAU  
Water Views: RIVER  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  

Photo is not associated with any sequences


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