http://www.universetoday.com/96673/a-brand-new-blue-marble-view-of-earth/#more-96673 wrote: A Brand New “Blue Marble” View of Earth
by Nancy Atkinson on August 7, 2012
<<Europe’s latest geostationary weather satellite has captured its first image of Earth, and it’s a beauty! The Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) instrument on the Meteosat Second Generation-3 (MSG-3) satellite was launched on July 5, 2012, and has since been in the commission stage. ESA says it will still be a couple of months before it is ready for operations.
SEVIRI provides enhanced weather coverage for Europe and Africa in order to improve very short range forecasts, in particular for rapidly developing thunder storms or fog. It scans Earth’s surface and atmosphere every 15 minutes in 12 different wavelengths, to track cloud development. SEVIRI can pick out features as small as a kilometer across in the visible bands, and three kilometers in the infrared.
MSG-3 is the third in a series of four satellites. In addition to its weather-watching mission and collection of climate records, MSG-3 has two secondary payloads.
The Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget sensor measures both the amount of solar energy that is reflected back into space and the infrared energy radiated by the Earth system, to better understand climate processes.
A Search & Rescue transponder will turn the satellite into a relay for distress signals from emergency beacons.>>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/people-pour-outside-to-watch-others-sled-as-rare-snow-falls-in-south-africas-johannesburg/2012/08/07/c258343c-e092-11e1-8d48-2b1243f34c85_story.html wrote:
Sudden South Africa snow, a rarity sometimes seen once in several decades, stuns and surprises
By Associated Press,JOHANNESBURG — <<People slowly came outside despite the cold wind Tuesday across South Africa, pointed their mobile phone cameras to the sky and opened their mouths to taste a rare snowfall that fell on much of the country.
- Antarctic "NIMKITA" trough whips out towards South Africa
The snow began Tuesday morning, part of an extreme cold snap now biting into a nation still in its winter months. By mid-afternoon, officials recorded snowfall across most of South Africa. However, forecasters acknowledged snow remains so unusual that they typically aren’t prepared to provide details about snowfall in the nation.
The snow closed some roads and at least one high-altitude pass. The snowfall also closed several border posts in the country.
As the snow fell, workers at offices in Johannesburg rushed outside. Some twirled and danced as the flakes fell. One man rushed to the top of a snow-covered hill and slid down, using a cardboard box as an improvised toboggan. Despite the cold and the snow, beggars who line traffic lights in the city continued to ask passing motorists for cash.
The snow grew heavier in the afternoon in Johannesburg, covering rooftops and slicking roads. Snowflakes are a rare commodity in Johannesburg, even during winter. South African Weather Service records show it has snowed in Johannesburg on only 22 other days in the last 103 years. The last snow fell there in June 2007.
In Pretoria, the country’s capital, flurries filled the sky during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. It was the first snowfall there since 1968, the weather service said. The cold weather is expected to last a few days. Clinton has been named Nimkita - “the one who brought the snow” - by her hosts in South Africa. This comes as snow fell in all nine provinces on the same day for the first time ever. "Nimkita will be a name that I will proudly bear," Clinton laughed.>>
