Oil Spill From Space April 20 - May 24 2010 Deepwater Horizon

Courtesy: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Images courtesy of MODIS Rapid Response Project NASA/GSFC and University of Marylandhttp://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/

For more see http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/oilspill/

The MODIS instrument, on board NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, is capturing images of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill began on April 20, 2010 with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. This short video reveals a space-based view of the burning oil rig and, later, the ensuing oil spill through May 24, 2010. The oil slick appears grayish-beige in the images and changes due to changing weather, ocean currents, and the use of oil dispersing chemicals. Images in the video time series were selected that show the spill most clearly. The full image archive is available on the MODIS Rapid Response Web site .