NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Both images are from the MODIS Rapid Response System, which provides twice-daily images of Japan.Įditor’s note: The MODIS image taken on March 13, after this image was published, provides a cloud-free view of the tsunami flooding in northeastern Japan. The photo-like true-color image acquired a few hours later shows plumes of sediment washed into the ocean along the coast and a dark plume of smoke near Sendai. MODIS detected a fire burning near the shore north of Sendai. The paved surfaces in the city of Sendai colors it brown. Plant-covered land is green, while snow-covered land is pale blue. These disturbances were monitored by tracking GPS signals between satellites and ground receivers. The flood indicator on the lower image illustrates how far inland the flood extends.īoth images were made with infrared and visible light, a combination that increases the contrast between muddy water and land. This animation shows how waves of energy from the Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, pierced through into Earth's upper atmosphere in the vicinity of Japan, disturbing the density of electrons in the ionosphere. This green line is higher-elevation land that is above water, presumably preventing the flood of water from returning to the sea. It is difficult to see the coastline in the March 12 image, but a thin green line outlines the shore. Water is black or dark blue in these images. The lower image, taken by Terra MODIS on February 26, 2011, is provided as a point of reference. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) acquired the top image of the Sendai region on March 12, 2011, at 10:30 a.m. NASA’s Terra satellite’s first view of northeastern Japan in the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami reveal extensive flooding along the coast.
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