NASA has released the first images from an array of instruments aboard its Earth Observing Systems flagship, Terra, which has reached its final 705km (440 miles) polar orbit following its launch on 18 December. They include the Mississippi Delta (shown above). The image was obtained by the polar-orbiting satellite's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), covering a 100km² (40 miles²) area over New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Gulf of Mexico. The image, made by combining three of the visible bands of the MODIS land surface reflectance imager, shows the river's channels in the delta, sediment plumes and differences in ocean colour between the shallow bays behind barrier islands and the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Source: Flight International
