- NASA’s Terra satellite keeps an eye on huge oil spill
The huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is being observed by numbers of satellites, such as NASA’s Aqua and Terra spacecraft.
Those satellites make use of a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument to capture images of the thickest part of the oil slick.
MODIS flies onboard NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites as part of the NASA-centered international Earth Observing System. A MODIS Rapid Response System generates daily near-real-time imagery of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
A new federal website is now live and it provides real time information about the Deepwater Horizon BP Oil spill into one customizable, interactive map. The site integrates the latest data on the oil spill’s trajectory, fishery closed areas, wildlife data and place-based Gulf Coast resources, such as pinpointed locations of oiled shoreline and daily position of research ships.
The interactive map also includes data from NASA, Homeland Security, the Coast Guard, the Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Gulf states.
This interactive website is available at:
http://www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/
To view daily MODIS images provided by NASA, go to:
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?project=gulfofmexico
By Leonard David