EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Princes' Islands, Turkey

January 20, 2021

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Photographer: Cindy Todd
Summary Author: Cindy Todd

On a recent trip to Istanbul I wanted to do some hiking. So, I headed
to the two largest islands in the nearby Princes' Islands chain.
The name Princes' Islands is from the Byzantine Period when royalty
was often exiled here.
Büyükada Island is the largest island of the group (top photo).
It's about 2 sq mi (5.18 sq km) and has two notable peaks. On top of
one peak is the Prinkipo Greek Orthodox Orphanage, the largest
wooden building in Europe. The other peak contains Hagia Yorgi
Greek Orthodox Church and Monastery which dates back to the sixth
century. The woods about the peaks are home to much interesting
flora and fauna including hooded crows ( Corvus cornix) and
are a nice place to roam.
Heybeliada Island, the second-largest island in the group (bottom
photo), has one significant peak with a Greek Orthodox monastery on it.
Much of the island consists of paths meandering through natural
terrain. With the trees and the views of the sea, it was a relaxing and
enjoyable hike. Photos taken October 19 and 21, 2020.
* Princes' Islands, Turkey Coordinates: 40.87513, 29.09646

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Geography Links

* Atlapedia Online
* CountryReports
* GPS Visualizer
* Holt Rinehart Winston World Atlas
* Mapping Our World
* Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
* Types of Land
* World Mapper

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 5 weeks, 21 hours, 27 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (21:1/186)

EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Blooming of Pico de Graja on La Palma

May 20, 2021


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Photographer: Ana García Suárez

Summary Author: Ana García Suárez
Featured above is the springtime explosion of Llano del Jable (La
Palma, Canary Islands of Spain), as observed at an altitude over 3,900
ft (1,188 m). The valley area here is dominated by pine trees, but
in early spring the flowering of a diminutive plant, known as Pico
de Graja (no more than 1 ½ inches or 4 cm in height), covers the entire
ground like a red carpet.

This nightscape is illuminated by the crescent Moon. Unfocused in
the nighttime sky is the constellation of Canis Major. Photo taken
on March 20, 2021.
Photo details: Canon 6D camera; Samyang 24mm lens; f2.0; 13 second
exposure.

Llano del Jable, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain Coordinates: 28.6173,
-17.8484


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Plant Links

* Discover Life
* Tree Encyclopedia
* What are Phytoplankton?
* Encyclopedia of Life - What is a Plant?
* USDA Plants Database
* University of Texas Native Plant Database
* Plants in Motion
* What Tree is It?

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 1 week, 6 days, 12 hours, 15 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (21:1/186)

EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Gray's Bur Sedge

July 20, 2021

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Photographer: Dale Hugo

Summary Author: Dale Hugo

This plant is called Gray's Bur Sedge, also known as Mace sedge or
Morning Star Sedge. People plant it in flower gardens for an accent of
shape and color. The Latin name is Carex grayi, and it is one of
about 2,000 species of sedge worldwide and 600 in North America. We
found it thriving in clumps while exploring the Thatcher Woods
Forest Preserve in Maywood, Illinois nearby the Des Plaines River.
This bur is not the same as the bane of my youth, the sandbur
(Cenchrus echinatus), which due to its spiky seed head often became
stuck in my shoelaces or in dog fur and were miserable to extract.

Image1 Unlike sandburs and other “hitchhiker” plants that rely on
seeds getting caught on animal fur or clothing for dispersal,
Gray’s Bur Sedge seeds are spread by river flooding. This is likely
why it thrives in the eastern half of the United States. The seeds
and foliage are also an essential source of food for native animals
including Ruffed Grouse, Wild Turkeys, Wood Ducks, Wood Cocks,
Muskrats, Deer and Black Bears. The unique mace or morning star
shaped spikes can be between 0.25 to 2.5 inches long (0.6 – 6.4 cm) and
are well-visible above the ground as the sedge plants can grow 2.5 feet
(0.76 m) tall. The range of Gray's Bur Sedge is extensive as it is
dispersed by flooding rivers and thrive in the moist, silty soils
and shade of a riparian environment.


* Maywood, Illinois Coordinates: 41.898, -87.830

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Plant Links

* Discover Life
* Tree Encyclopedia
* What are Phytoplankton?
* Encyclopedia of Life - What is a Plant?
* USDA Plants Database
* University of Texas Native Plant Database
* Plants in Motion
* What Tree is It?

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 10 weeks, 4 days, 12 hours, 15 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (21:1/186)

EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Auroral Dunes Observed Over Norway

August 20, 2021

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Photographer: Geir T. Birkeland Oye

Summary Author: Geir T. Birkeland Oye; Cadan Cummings

The astounding photos above show a unique and newly named atmospheric
phenomenon called auroral dunes. Named after their visual
similarity to sand dunes, these wavy, green sheets of aurora
occur between 65-80 degrees latitude and 50 - 75 miles (80-120 km)
in altitude in the auroral mesosphere-lower thermosphere-ionosphere
(MLTI). Mesospheric studies are difficult to conduct because the
altitude is too high for balloons and below the altitude satellites
orbit, thus causing this region of the atmosphere to be nicknamed the
ignorosphere. For years, viewers in the Arctic have observed these
colorful dune-like auroras without the ability to fully explain them.
In 2018, new insights into what causes this type of aurora were
unveiled when several teams of citizen scientists across Finland and
Sweden worked together to photograph and triangulate their
location. Their research findings suggested that auroral dunes are
likely a type of atmospheric gravity wave- called a mesospheric
bore- that gets trapped in the mesosphere at approximately 60 miles
(100 km) in altitude and illuminates when interacted with solar
wind particles. Although mesospheric bores would likely be extremely
difficult to observe in the Arctic due to interference from airglow
and nightglow events, the proposed mechanism for auroral dunes is
supported by their approximately 45 km wavelength and high incidence in
this very thin layer of the atmosphere. Photos taken January 22,
2012.

Photo Details: Sigma 15mm fisheye lens, Canon EOS 500D, ISO: 1600,
various exposure times.
* Ørsta, Norway Coordinates: 62.1981, 6.1276

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Atmospheric Effects Links

* Atmospheric Optics
* Color and Light in Nature
* The Colors of Twillight and Sunset
* Refraction Index
* Image Gallery: Atmospheric Effects
* What is a Rainbow?

-
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the Universities
Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu

--- up 15 weeks, 12 hours, 15 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (21:1/186)