ETNA volcano`s plume of smoke and ash viewed from Proba (Project for On-Board Autonomy) image, acquired 30 October 2002. CHRIS instrument push-broom spectrometer is capable of imaging up to 200 spectral bands in the visible range. Credit: SIRA through ESA 2005. (1020x729, 122Kb)

This IKONOS satellite image of Ayers Rock was collected Jan. 17, 2004. Ayers Rock is located in Kata Tjuta National Park, 280 miles (450km) southwest of Alice Springs, Australia. It is the world`s largest monolith, an Aboriginal sacred site and Australia`s most famous natural landmark. Photo credit \"Space Imaging\"

This one-meter resolution image of the Island Stromboli, Italy near the sicilian coast was taken by Space Imaging`s IKONOS satellite on Apr. 29, 2003. The image shows impressively the Stromboli surrounded by the Tyrrhenian Sea. In the south west the port of Ginostra and on the other side of the volcano the village Stromboli is visible. Credit: GEOEYE (1280x960 179 kb)

Sicily`s Mount Etna released a thick plume of volcanic ash on November 24, 2006. The volcanic activity forced an overnight closure of the Fontanarossa Airport, the main airport in eastern Sicily. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying onboard NASA`s Aqua satellite took this picture. Credits: NASA

Envisat captures vibrant aquamarine-coloured swirls of a plankton bloom decorating the waters of the South Atlantic Ocean just off the shores of the Republic of Namibia.
Plankton play a similar role to terrestrial `green` plants in the photosynthetic process and are credited with removing as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as their earthbound counterparts, making it important to monitor and model plankton into calculations of future climate change. Image acquired 6 November July 2007 b

McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
McMurdo Station, the largest community in Antarctica, sits on the shore of McMurdo Sound at the southern
tip of Ross Island. The U.S. run station serves as both research facility and logistics base. Located at
77°51`S, 166°40`E is about 2,200 miles (3,500 km) south of New Zealand.

Credit: GeoEye