Climate

Photo Friday: Warm Great Lakes clash with frigid air to produce steam fog

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This color-enhanced picture from the NASA Earth Observatory shows how the cold air moving across warmer waters of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior during this week’s arctic storm transformed water vapor into steam fog. NASA says one of its satellites on  Jan. 6 captured the data used here to illustrate the difference between snow (bright orange), water clouds (white), and mixed clouds (peach). Here’s what steam fog looked like near Chicago and from the ground view.

Climate

Snowy mitten

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Take a look at the NASA Earth Observatory’s remarkable photo of the gigantic snowstorm this week that affected all of the Great Lakes region, plus many other states.

Air

A drone is still a drone by any other name

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We’re always on the look out for innovative stories and reporting techniques at Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. In a couple weeks we’ll launch a series on civilian applications of drones for gathering information about the environment. I teach a course encompassing remote sensing, including the use of drones, as newsgathering tools. So a story in the print edition of the New York Times, Drones Offer Journalists a Wider View, caught my eye at Monday’s breakfast table. It’s an interesting enough piece about a controversial technology.

Echo

Photo Friday: Minnesota lakes take their time “icing out”

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Some lakes in Minnesota are taking their time to thaw this spring, setting new “ice-out” records. Attributed to unusually cool spring temperatures, this satellite image shows lingering ice and white lake landscapes. The first photo was captured on May 12, 2013, when NASA’s Terra satellite passed over northern Minn. “Ice-out” is defined in this context as a lake being free of ice, but the definition often varies. Some define it based on ease of navigation, while others believe a lake has “iced-out” when it’s 90 percent free of ice, according to a report from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Echo

Photo Friday: Spring flow in the Great Lakes

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This photo was taken from the International Space Station by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, commander of Expedition 35. He posted several photos on May 5 to his Twitter account showing how the springtime water flows in the Great Lakes. Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario are featured in the photo above.

Water

Photo Friday: Flooding in Michigan

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The heavy flooding that struck Michigan this month is evident in these photos from NASA’s Earth Observatory. The photos, taken from NASA’s Terra satellite, show the Saginaw River on the east side of the state and the Grand River as it flows west from the center of the state toward Lake Michigan on April 5 and April 21. A comparison of the photos shows a much-widened Grand River and major flooding conditions on the Saginaw River near the city of Saginaw, according to the NASA report. The National Weather Service continues to place Saginaw under a flood warning, stating that the river is not expected to fall below flood levels until May 1. The photos combine infrared and visual light imagery to increase the contrast between the water and land, highlighting the expansion of the rivers, according to NASA.

Echo

Photo Friday: The Great Lakes from orbit

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The Great Lakes appear through the clouds in this photo taken from the International Space Station by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. He posted it recently on his Twitter account  as part of a social media campaign to promote his team’s mission. Hadfield is the commander of Expedition 35, marking the first time a Canadian astronaut has been in command of the station, according to the Canadian Space Agency.

Climate

Sea ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

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The Gulf of St. Lawrence, the outlet of the Great Lakes into the Atlantic Ocean, is building toward its annual peak accumulation of sea ice, according to a recent photograph captured from NASA’s Aqua satellite. According to NASA, each year, the amount of frozen seawater, known as sea ice, in the Arctic Ocean builds from September through February or March as surface air temperatures drop below freezing. As it reaches the peak of its expansion, it begins to form in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.