Earth from Space - Image Information


LOCATION Direction Photo #: ISS048-E-10018 Date: Jun. 2016
Geographic Region: PHILIPPINE SEA
Feature: PAN-CLOUDS, THUNDERHEADS, GLINT


IMAGE
 
Cloudscape with thunderhead anvils, Philippine Sea

Flying over the Philippine Sea, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this image of a cloudscape from space looking toward the horizon, the thin bluish envelope of the atmosphere and the blackness of space beyond. The late afternoon sun brightens a broad swath of the sea surface on the right side of the image. In the distance towards the horizon, a region-wide layer of clouds mostly obscures islands in the northern Philippines (at image top right).

Looking toward the sun to capture an image is a special technique used by astronauts to accentuate the three dimensions of landscapes and cloudscapes due to shadows cast by these features. Two large thunderclouds rise next to one another (at image lower right). These have long tails, also known as anvils from their shape, that stretch nearly 100 km to the south. Anvils form when thunderstorm clouds rise high into the atmosphere and reach a "capping layer," often thousands of meters (tens of thousands of feet) above sea level. Capping layers stop the upward growth of a cloud, deflecting air currents horizontally to form anvils.



Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 99k
Mission: ISS048  
Roll - Frame: E - 10018
Geographical Name: PHILIPPINE SEA  
Features: PAN-CLOUDS, THUNDERHEADS, GLINT  
Center Lat x Lon: 17.8N x 126.5E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 25
 
Camera:: N6
 
Camera Tilt: HO   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 116  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: N   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: 20160625   YYYYMMDD
Time: 093050   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 16.5N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 127.0E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 292   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 217   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 7   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:  
Water Views: SEA  
Atmosphere Views: THUNDERSTORM  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  

Photo is not associated with any sequences


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