NASA image acquired July 4, 2010 Oil from the damaged Deepwater Horizon oil well lingered off the Mississippi Delta on July 4, 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra captured this natural-color image the same day. The oil appears as an uneven light gray shape east-southeast of the delta. The oil was visible to MODIS on July 4 thanks to sunglint. Oil smoothes the surface of the water, making it a better mirror of sunlight. As a result, close to the Sun’s reflection, the oil is brighter than surrounding water. This is especially true between the Mississ
NASA image acquired July 4, 2010 Oil from the damaged Deepwater Horizon oil well lingered off the Mississippi Delta on July 4, 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra captured this natural-color image the same day. The oil appears as an uneven light gray shape east-southeast of the delta. The oil was visible to MODIS on July 4 thanks to sunglint. Oil smoothes the surface of the water, making it a better mirror of sunlight. As a result, close to the Sun’s reflection, the oil is brighter than surrounding water. This is especially true between the Mississippi Delta and the Deepwater Horizon location. East of the rig, however, sunglint lightens most of the water, making it more difficult to distinguish oil from oil-free water. Please see the links below for more information. To view more images from the oil spill go to: NASA image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Michon Scott. Instrument: Terra - MODIS NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe. Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico July 4, 2010 (4775163540)
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