http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. For decades, Landsat satellites have documented the desiccation of the Aral Sea in Central Asia. Once one of the largest seas in the world, it shrunk to a tenth of its original volume after Russia diverted its feeder rivers in the 1960s. Scientists studying the Aral Sea's changing ecology and retreating shoreline have looked to Landsat—and a new feature of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission will help ensure they get a clear, cloud-free view. http://phys.org/news288461291.html Space & Earth Wed, 22 May 2013 17:10:03 EST news288461291 At any given time, cirrus clouds—the thin wisps of vapor that trail across the sky—cover nearly one-third of the globe. These clouds coalesce in the upper layers of the troposphere, often more than 10 miles above the Earth's surface. http://phys.org/news287315125.html Space & Earth Thu, 09 May 2013 14:00:10 EST news287315125 A new satellite hovering nearly 450 miles (725 kilometers) above the Earth appears to working flawlessly as it embarks on a 10-year mission to document the planet's surface, scientists and engineers at the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation and Science Center said Monday. http://phys.org/news287121237.html Space & Earth Tue, 07 May 2013 04:54:04 EST news287121237 (Phys.org)—High in the atmosphere, cold and wispy cirrus clouds are the setting for a climate competition. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that dust particles in the atmosphere can grab enough water vapor available to reduce the overall number of ice crystals formed in those clouds by other particles. Though somewhat scarce, the cloud-drying dust has an impact on Earth's incoming and outgoing energy that results in a net effect to cool the planet. http://phys.org/news281087625.html Space & Earth Tue, 26 Feb 2013 08:20:05 EST news281087625 All hatches should be battened down at Kadena Air Base, Japan as NASA satellite imagery today, June 18, revealed the northern quadrant of Typhoon Guchol as already affecting the island. http://phys.org/news259255524.html Space & Earth Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:25:30 EST news259255524 On May 11, 1944, a warm and cloudless spring day, U.S. Army Air Force B-24 Liberators, B-17 Flying fortresses and their fighter escorts lifted off from airfields across southeast England. They climbed, circled, and then formed into one huge formation before heading out to bomb targets in Nazi-occupied Europe. http://phys.org/news229312726.html Space & Earth Fri, 08 Jul 2011 06:11:23 EST news229312726 Every day is a bad-air day on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Blanketed by haze far worse than any smog belched out in Los Angeles, Beijing or even Sherlock Holmes's London, the moon looks like a dirty orange ball. Described once as crude oil without the sulfur, the haze is made of tiny droplets of hydrocarbons with other, more noxious chemicals mixed in. Gunk. http://phys.org/news215973101.html Space & Earth Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:33:38 EST news215973101 (PhysOrg.com) -- Beginning in mid-December, scientists will undertake a special mission to squeeze the secrets out of ice crystals in cirrus clouds. The SPARTICUS, or Small Particles in Cirrus, campaign will weave together data from an instrumented airplane and ground-based instruments to gather the most comprehensive set of ice crystal measurements yet. Scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are part of the team that will define the scientific mission and they are leading the project's daily operations. http://phys.org/news180032371.html Space & Earth Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:20:05 EST news180032371 (PhysOrg.com) -- Aircraft emissions can affect the properties of cirrus clouds, contributing to climate change. This was a key finding from PNNL scientist Dr. Xiaohong Liu and his colleagues from a recent study. The team concluded that black carbon and/or metallic material from airplane exhaust could affect radiant heat and climate by acting as efficient sources for making ice crystals, thus affecting the creation of cirrus clouds. http://phys.org/news173364041.html Space & Earth Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:41:09 EST news173364041