Susitna Glacier, Alaska

Originally released on September 7, 2010.

Folds in the lower reaches of valley glaciers can be caused by powerful surges of tributary ice streams. This phenomenon is spectacularly displayed by the Susitna Glacier in the Alaska Range. In this ASTER image, vegetation appears in shades of red, snow is white, and glacial ice is blue. Where the ice is covered by debris, the glacier appears brown. The image covers an area of 26 x 26 km, was acquired August 27, 2009, and is centered near 63.5 degrees north latitude, 147 degrees west longitude.

With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on Terra. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products.

The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.

The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C.

More information about ASTER is available at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/.