Earth Observations During Space Shuttle Flight: Sts‐26:Discovery'sMission to Earth

Abstract

During the late September‐early October, 1988 flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery, astronauts took 1505 photographs of Earth using handheld cameras. The resulting pictures provide an overview, not available from any other source, of dynamic environmental phenomena on five continents. The Discovery photographs show that (a) atmospheric clarity has improved in the Northern Hemisphere, (b) widespread burning of natural vegetation throughout the Southern Hemisphere continues to generate immense smoke palls and extensive sedimentation in rivers and estuaries, and (c) although the drought in Africa was partially relieved by heavy rains in autumn, 1988, Lakes Chad and Nasser are at the lowest levels ever seen from space.