On August 7, 2003, the NASA Aqua MODIS instrument acquired this image of Ireland on the first day this summer that most of the island hasn´t been completely obscured by cloud cover. Called the Emerald Isle for a good reason, Ireland is draped in vibrant shades of green amidst the blue Atlantic Ocean and Celtic (south) and Irish (east) Seas. Faint ribbons of blue-green phytoplankton drift in the waters of the Celtic Sea, just south of Dublin.
Dublin itself appears as a large grayish-brown spot on the Republic of Ireland´s northeastern coast. This large capital city (population 1.12 million) sits on the River Liffey, effectively splitting the city in half. Northern Ireland´s capital city, Belfast, also sits on a river: the River Lagan. This city, though its population is only a fifth of the size of Dublin´s, is also clearly visible in the image as a grayish-brown spot on the coast of the Irish Sea.
Sensor Aqua/MODIS
Credit Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
For more information go to:
visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=5744
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.
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i_gallagher, Kevin, sheeple herder, b_g_moore, and 228 other people added this photo to their favorites.
View 18 more comments
enire photography 26 months ago | reply
belfast my home :) sorta looks like it's tryin to fly
Celtic Tiger 20 months ago | reply
Taken on St Patrick's Day! Cool..
Giorgio140 19 months ago | reply
I like this photo
everydaydreamholiday.com 5 weeks ago | reply
The Emerald Isle in all its glory! We used this in a post about Ireland. Please let us know if you would like anything different with the attribution. And thanks for sharing with Creative Commons!