卫星图像那些“美丽的错误”，让本来就美丽无比的地球表面更为惊艳！
Earth as Art: Stunning New Images From Space
地球的艺术：从太空看地球的惊人发现
By Betsy Mason November 16, 2010
Betsy Mason 发表于2010年11月16日
Earth is truly beautiful when viewed from space. But add some false color produced by satellite sensors, and the result is stunning.
在太空里看到的地球本来就非常美丽，但是当卫星的传感器给图像加上一些并非原有的色彩时，效果更为惊艳。
The U.S. Geological Survey has released a new selection of particularly interesting images from the Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellites. These space craft have been prolific sources of data for earth scientist, but the new shots were chosen solely based on aesthetics.
美国地质调查局日前发布了一组由陆地卫星5号及7号拍摄的非常有趣的照片。这些宇宙飞船一直都为地球科学的研究提供丰富的数据资源，但这一组照片的选择仅仅是从美感的角度出发。
We've selected our favorites from the USGS' Earth as Art collection in this gallery, which will take you on a tour of the world from the glaciers of Antarctica to the deserts of Algeria.
在这一系列里，我们从美国地质调查局发布的照片中选出最心仪的一组，将使你体验一次从极地冰川到热带沙漠的环球之旅。
Images and captions courtesy USGS. High-resolution images.
高分辨率图像及其说明由美国地质调查局提供。
Great Salt Desert, Iran
伊朗 卡维尔盐漠
Like poster paints run wild, this image reveals an eclectic montage of landscapes in Iran's largest desert, the Dasht-e Kavir, or Great Salt Desert. The word kavir is Persian for salt marsh. The almost-uninhabited region covers an area of more than 77,000 square kilometers [29,730 square miles] and is a mix of dry streambeds, desert plateaus, mudflats and salt marshes. Extreme heat, dramatic daily temperature swings, and violent storms are the norm in this inhospitable place.
照片显示的是伊朗最大的沙漠，卡维尔盐漠（ the Dasht-e Kavir, or Great Salt Desert），就像被搅乱的广告彩那样，呈现出一幅蒙太奇式的油画。卡维尔（kavir）这个词在波斯语中意为“盐碱滩”。这片荒无人烟的地区面积达77000平方公里（约29730平方英里），主要由干涸的河床、荒漠高原、滩涂及盐碱滩组成。极高的热能，夸张的昼夜温差以及激烈的风暴是这片荒地中很常见的情况。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on Feb. 10, 2003
2003年2月10日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Belcher Islands, Canada
加拿大 贝尔彻群岛
Like sweeping brushstrokes of pink and green, the Belcher Islands meander across the deep blue of Canada's Hudson Bay. The islands' only inhabitants live in the small town of Sanikiluaq, near the upper end of the middle island. Despite the green hues in this image, these rocky islands are too cold to sustain more than a smattering of low-growing vegetation.
就像一幅由粉红色和绿色刷成的画那样，贝尔彻群岛在深蓝色的加拿大哈德逊湾中蜿蜒。群岛上唯一的一个居民区在中岛接近上端处一个叫Sanikiluaq的小镇。除了图中绿色的部分，这些气候严寒，主要为岩石构造的岛屿上，只有极少数低矮植物可以生存。
Image taken by Landsat 5 on Sep. 21, 2001
2001年9月21日由陆地卫星5号拍摄
Mississippi River
密西西比河
Small, blocky shapes of towns, fields, and pastures surround the graceful swirls and whorls of the Mississippi River. Countless oxbow lakes and cutoffs accompany the meandering river south of Memphis, Tennessee, on the border between Arkansas and Mississippi. The "mighty Mississippi" is the largest river system in North America.
呈小方块状分布的城镇、田地和农场点缀在密西西比河优美的漩涡和螺纹周围，数不清的牛轭湖和运河分布在大河两岸。图中显示的一段位于阿肯色州及密西西比州交界，在田纳西州孟菲斯的南面。这条“伟大的密西西比河”（"mighty Mississippi"）是北美洲最大的水系。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on May 28, 2003
2003年5月28日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Gotland, Sweden
瑞典 哥德兰岛
In the style of Van Gogh's painting Starry Night, massive congregations of greenish phytoplankton swirl in the dark water around Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea. Phytoplankton are microscopic marine plants that form the first link in nearly all ocean food chains. Population explosions, or blooms, of phytoplankton, like the one shown here, occur when deep currents bring nutrients up to sunlit surface waters, fueling the growth and reproduction of these tiny plants.
这幅照片与凡高的名作《星夜》（Starry Night）有异曲同工之妙。这片深色的海域位于波罗的海，在瑞典的哥德兰岛附近。海面上泛绿的漩涡由微生浮游生物聚集而成。浮游植物是海洋中的微生物，它们构成了海洋中几乎所有食物链的第一环。当深海的洋流将养分带到阳光充足的水面时，这些浮游植物会迅速繁殖，数量激增，形成图中所示的景象。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on July 13, 2005
2005年7月13日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Eyjafjorour Fjord, Iceland
冰岛 伊亚福尔峡湾
This stretch of Iceland's northern coast resembles a tiger's head complete with stripes of orange, black and white. The tiger's mouth is the great Eyjafjorour, a deep fjord that juts into the mainland between steep mountains. The name means "island fjord," derived from the tiny, tear-shaped Hrisey Island near its mouth. The ice-free port city of Akureyri lies near the fjord's narrow tip, and is Iceland's second largest population center after the capital, Reykjavik.
这是冰岛北部海岸延伸的一部分，形似老虎的头，布满橙色和黑色和白色相间的条纹。老虎头的嘴部就是伊亚福尔（Eyjafjorour），一个从两面峭壁之间深入大陆的峡湾，它的名字“岛屿峡湾”来源于一个位于嘴部附近的叫希斯（Hrisey）的小岛。拥有不冻港的城市阿克雷里是冰岛第二大的居民聚居地，人口仅次于首都雷克雅未克，它就坐落在这个峡湾的细长的末端。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on Oct. 21, 1999
1999年10月21日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Erg Iguidi, Algeria
阿尔及利亚 伊圭迪沙漠
What look like pale yellow paint streaks slashing through a mosaic of mottled colors are ridges of wind-blown sand that make up Erg Iguidi, an area of ever-shifting sand dunes extending from Algeria into Mauritania in northwestern Africa. Erg Iguidi is one of several Saharan ergs, or sand seas, where individual dunes often surpass 500 meters — nearly one-third of a mile — in both width and height.
图中那些淡黄色的像颜色斑驳的马赛克一般排列的条带，其实是由强风刮来的沙形成的伊圭迪沙漠（Erg Iguidi）。在非洲的西北部，这个地区的沙丘时刻都在变换形态，从阿尔及利亚延伸到毛里塔尼亚。伊圭迪沙漠是撒哈拉沙漠的一部分，在这里，沙丘的宽度和高度单一个就能长达500米（相当于三分之一英里）。
Image taken by Landsat 5 on Apr. 8, 1985
1985年4月8日由陆地卫星5号拍摄
Byrd Glacier, Antarctica
南极洲 伯德冰川
Truly a river of ice, Antarctica's relatively fast-moving Byrd Glacier courses through the Trans-Antarctic Mountains at a rate of 0.8 kilometers [0.5 miles] per year. More than 180 kilometers [112 miles] long, the glacier flows down from the polar plateau (left) to the Ross Ice Shelf (right). Long, sweeping flow lines are crossed in places by much shorter lines, which are deep cracks in the ice called crevasses. The conspicuous red patches indicate areas of exposed rock.
这是一条真正的冰河，伯德冰川以每年0.8公里（约0.5英里）的速度流过横贯南极山脉，是流动相对较快的冰川。它超过180公里（112英里）长，从极地高原（图的左边）一直流到罗斯冰架（图的右边）。在绵长蜿蜒的线条里有一些短得多的线，它们是一些很深的冰块的裂缝，称为冰隙。而那些显眼的红色斑块显示的是岩石外露的地方。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on Jan. 11, 2000
2000年1月11日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Yukon Delta, Alaska
阿拉斯加 育空三角洲
After beginning in northern British Columbia and flowing through Yukon in Canada, the Yukon River crosses Alaska before emptying into the Bering Sea. Countless lakes, sloughs, and ponds are scattered throughout this scene of the Yukon Delta. The river's sinuous, branching waterways seem like blood vessels branching out to enclose an organ. It is one of the largest river deltas in the world, and currently protected as part of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.
育空河发源于加拿大北部的卑斯省，它流经阿拉斯加，最终注入白令海。数不清的湖泊、泥沼和池塘遍布在图中的育空三角洲，那些蜿蜒曲折的分支像无数血管包围着一个器官那样。育空三角洲是全世界最大的三角洲之一，目前作为“育空三角洲国家生态保护区”而受到保护。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on Sep. 22, 2002
2002年9月22日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Rocky Mountains, Canada
加拿大 落基山脉
What appears to be a stroke of thick red paint is actually a remarkable interplay of light and cloud in the Canadian Rockies. Angling through them is part of the Rocky Mountain Trench, a valley that extends from Montana to just south of the Yukon. Low clouds filled a part of the trench near the border between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. The light-reflecting nature of the clouds coupled with low sun elevation resulted in this startling effect.
该图展示的是加拿大境内的落基山脉，那深深的一道红其实是光和云相互作用下的产物。在这些云彩之间错落有致的线条是落基山沟，一条从美国蒙大拿州延伸到育空河南面的峡谷。在加拿大艾伯塔省和卑斯省交界的这一段山沟附近，到处都是在低空漂浮的云朵，云朵对光的折射加上该地区的低太阳高度角，形成这一扣人心弦的美景。
Image taken by Landsat 5 on Feb. 1, 2007
2007年2月1日由陆地卫星5号拍摄
Great Barrier Reef, Australia
澳大利亚 大堡礁
What might be mistaken for dinosaur bones being unearthed at a paleontological dig are some of the individual reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest tropical coral-reef system. The reef stretches more than 2,000 kilometers [1,240 miles] along the coast of Queensland, Australia. It supports astoundingly complex and diverse communities of marine life and is the largest structure on the planet built by living organisms.
这幅图可能会被误认为是刚出土还没被清理干净的恐龙化石，其实那些是构成大堡礁的其中一些礁石。大堡礁长约2000公里（1240英里），位于澳大利亚昆士兰沿岸，是世界上最大的热带珊瑚礁系统。那里有着种类及数量惊人的海洋生物，是世界上最大的由生物体组成的单体结构。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on Aug. 8, 1999
1999年8月8日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Empty Quarter, Saudi Arabia–Yemen Border
沙特阿拉伯及也门边境 鲁卜哈利沙漠
White pinpricks of cloud cast ebony shadows on the Rub' al Khali, or Empty Quarter, near the border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The lines of wind-sculpted sand are characteristic of immense sand deserts, or sand seas, and the Rub' al Khali is the largest desert of this type in the world. A highland ridge is just high enough to disturb the flow of the lines. In the center of that interruption lies the Saudi Arabian town of Sharurah.
白色针状的云笼罩着在沙特阿拉伯及也门边境的鲁卜哈利沙漠（又称“空旷的四分之一”）。在一些广袤的沙漠或沙海里常常有这种被风雕刻的痕迹，而鲁卜哈利沙漠是这类沙漠中面积最大的。图中有一片高地截断了其中一些风痕，那片高地的中心就是沙特阿拉伯的沙儒拉城。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on Feb. 1, 2003
2003年2月1日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Liverpool Bay, Canada
加拿大 利物浦湾
Skeletal extensions of land reach like bony fingers across a section of Liverpool Bay along the northern edge of Canada's Northwest Territories. Only small villages are thinly scattered in this remote and inhospitable region of Arctic tundra bordering the Beaufort Sea. The relatively flat landscape is dotted with shallow lakes during the extremely brief summer season.
图中有一些从大陆延伸出去，看起来像指骨那样的土地，这是位于加拿大西北边境的利物浦湾的一部分。在北极苔原及博福特海相接的这片偏僻荒芜的地区里，只有零星几个小村落。在极短的夏季当中，一些相对平缓的低地上会出现若干个很浅的小湖。
Image taken by Landsat 5 on Jul. 26, 2007
2007年6月26日由陆地卫星5号拍摄
Aland Islands, Baltic Sea
波罗的海 厄兰岛
Ethereal swirls of grease ice appear turquoise against the midnight blue of the northern Baltic Sea near the Aland Islands (red) between Finland and Sweden. An early stage of sea-ice formation, grease ice consists of a viscous mix of tiny ice crystals and resembles an oil slick on the ocean's surface. Wind and currents constantly shape and reshape grease ice into surreal, ghostly patterns.
轻盈的薄冰形成青绿色漩涡，加上波罗的海的深蓝，共同点缀着位于芬兰和瑞典交界的厄兰岛（图中红色处）。在海冰形成的初期，薄冰夹杂着细小的冰粒，像油层一样漂浮在海面上，风和洋流不断的改变冰层的形状，使得画面如梦一般虚无缥缈。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on Apr. 19, 2003
2003年4月19日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Okavango River, Botswana
博茨瓦纳 奥卡万戈河
Like a watercolor in which a brushstroke of dark green has bled into a damp spot on the paper, southern Africa's Okavango River spreads across the pale, parched landscape of northern Botswana to become the lush Okavango Delta. The delta forms where the river empties into a basin in the Kalahari Desert, creating a maze of lagoons, channels and islands where vegetation flourishes, even in the dry season, and wildlife abounds.
图中的奥卡万戈河像一抹浓重的绿画在潮湿的画布上。奥卡万戈河位于非洲南部的博茨瓦纳北部，养育了草木丛生的奥卡万戈三角洲。河流从这个三角洲流入卡拉哈里沙漠的一个盆地，形成纵横交错的咸水湖、河道及岛屿，在那里，野生动植物比比皆是，即使在极为干燥的季节，草木依然丰茂。
Image taken by Landsat 5 on Apr. 27, 2009
2009年4月27日由陆地卫星5号拍摄
Greenland Coast
格陵兰岛海岸
Along the southeastern coast of Greenland, an intricate network of fjords funnels glacial ice to the Atlantic Ocean. During the summer melting season, newly calved icebergs join slabs of sea ice and older, weathered bergs in an offshore slurry that the southward-flowing East Greenland Current sometimes swirls into stunning shapes. Exposed rock of mountain peaks, tinted red in this image, hints at a hidden landscape.
在格陵兰岛东南部的海岸，由山沟组成的一个复杂的网络构成一个漏斗型的入海口，冰河中的冰从这里流入大西洋。在夏季融冰的时候，一些刚从冰川崩解出的冰山会与已有的冰山以及海冰的结块汇合，形成一股离岸的冰流。当它们向南流入东格陵兰寒流时，会形成极美的漩涡。图中红色的部分是山峰上外露的岩石，在那里同样会有绝佳的风景。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on May 21, 2001
2001年5月21日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Erg Chech, Algeria
阿尔及利亚 舍什沙漠
Seen through the "eyes" of a satellite sensor, ribbons of Saharan sand dunes seem to glow in sunset colors. These patterned stripes are part of Erg Chech, a desolate sand sea in southwestern Algeria, where the prevailing winds create an endlessly shifting collage of large, linear sand dunes. The term erg is derived from an Arabic word for a field of sand dunes.
通过卫星传感器的“眼睛”，我们可以看到撒哈拉沙漠上带状的沙丘正在阳光下泛着红晕。这些错落有致的沙丘带分布在阿尔及利亚西南部的舍什沙漠，一个荒无人烟的沙海。在那里，盛行风持续不断地改变这些巨大的线状沙丘的形态。舍什沙漠（Erg Chech）的“Erg”一词在阿拉伯语中意为“沙丘田”。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on Apr. 13, 2003
2003年4月13日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Mount Elgon, Uganda-Kenya Border
乌干达与肯尼亚边界 埃尔冈山
Clouds encircle the lofty rim of Africa's Mount Elgon, a huge, long-extinct volcano on the border between Uganda and Kenya. The solitary volcano has one of the world's largest intact calderas, a cauldron-like central depression. The caldera is about 6.5 kilometers [4 miles] across. It formed following an eruption, when the emptied magma chamber collapsed under the weight of volcanic rock above it.
图中巍峨的山峰被云朵环绕着，那是在非洲位于乌干达与肯尼亚边界的埃尔冈山，是一座巨大的死火山。这座单体火山拥有几乎是世界上最大的完整火山喷口，这个直径约为6.5公里（4英里）的锅型火山口，是当熔岩从火山内腔流过时，上部的岩浆岩坍塌而形成的。
Image taken by Landsat 5 on Aug. 9, 1984
1984年8月9日由陆地卫星5号拍摄
Dhofar Region, Oman
阿曼 佐法尔地区
Much of Oman is desert, but the Arabian Sea coast in the Dhofar region represents a startling difference in climate. This coastal region catches the monsoon rains, or khareef, during the summer months. Drenching rains fall primarily on the mountainous ridge that separates the lush, fertile areas along the coast from the arid interior, recharging streams, waterfalls and springs that provide plentiful water supplies in the fertile lowlands for the remainder of the year.
阿曼境内的大部分地区都是沙漠，但是阿拉伯海沿岸的佐法尔地区就有截然不同的美丽风景。这一沿海地区在夏季会受到季风雨的滋润，雨水落在丰饶和贫瘠地区分水岭上，给溪流、瀑布及泉水提供补给，使得肥沃的低地在年中的其他时期也能有充足的水源。
Image taken by Landsat 5 on Apr. 2, 2005
2005年4月2日由陆地卫星5号拍摄
Chaunskaya Bay, Russia
俄罗斯 查恩斯卡娅湾
Vivid colors and bizarre shapes come together in an image that could be an imaginative illustration for a fantasy story. This labyrinth of exotic features is present along the edge of Russia's Chaunskaya Bay (vivid blue half circle) in northeastern Siberia. Two major rivers, the Chaun and Palyavaam, flow into the bay, which in turn opens into the Arctic Ocean. Ribbon lakes and bogs are present throughout the area, created by depressions left by receding glaciers.
丰富的颜色加上古怪的形状，让这幅照片变得像童话中的幻境那样。这个形似迷宫具有异国风情的画面，是俄罗斯西伯利亚东北部的查恩斯卡娅湾（图中的蓝色半圆）附近的地区。两条主要河流，查恩河和帕里亚瓦姆河汇入该海湾，然后流入北冰洋。冰川退化后形成的丝带状的湖泊和沼泽遍布这一地区。
Image taken by Landsat 5 on June 15, 2005
2005年6月15日由陆地卫星5号拍摄
Meighen Island, Canada
加拿大 梅根岛
A veil of blowing snow nearly obscures Meighen Island (left) off the northern coast of Canada. Across the Sverdrup Channel lies the much larger Axel Heiberg Island, where glaciers (blue) huddle among mountain peaks (yellow) and flow into deep fjords. No evidence of human occupation has ever been found on Meighen Island.
梅根岛（Meighen Island）位于加拿大北部海岸，图中左侧的它几乎被漫天飞雪淹没。在斯伐洛普海峡对面的是比梅根岛大得多的阿塞尔黑伯格岛，在那里，蓝色的冰川挤在黄色的山峰周围，山沟纵横交错。梅根岛上并没有任何人类生活过的痕迹。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on June 14, 2000
2000年7月14日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Waziristan Hills, Pakistan
巴基斯坦 瓦齐里斯坦山
Deep purple and green hues enhance the Waziristan Hills, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan near the Afghanistan border. A formidable landscape, the Waziristan Hills are a hodgepodge of steep, rugged hills split by narrow passes and deep gorges. Rivers coursing down from the mountains provide water for agriculture in a region of scanty rainfall.
深紫和深绿两种颜色加深了瓦齐里斯坦山的轮廓，这一山区位于巴基斯坦西北部，接近阿富汗边境。这里布满了以狭窄的缝隙隔开的陡峭崎岖的山峰，使人望而生畏。从这座山上流下来的河流为这降水量极少的地区提供了农业用的水源。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on Apr. 28, 2001
2001年4月28日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Dardzha Peninsula, Turkmenistan
土库曼斯坦 达尔德扎半岛
Looking like a monstrous ogre with something gooey in its mouth, the Dardzha Peninsula in western Turkmenistan lies among the shallow coastal terraces of the Caspian Sea. Strong winds create huge sand dunes near the water, some of which are partly submerged. Farther inland, the dunes transition to low sand plains.
这张图里的达尔德扎半岛看起来像一个怪物含着一些黏糊的液体，该半岛位于西土库曼斯坦，里海的浅海沿岸地区。强风使得水面上逐渐形成巨大的沙丘，其中一部分沙丘被淹没在水里。而在较为内陆的地区，这些沙丘会转化成低矮的沙质平原。
Image taken by Landsat 7 on Feb. 11, 2001
2001年2月11日由陆地卫星7号拍摄
Images: USGS/NASA
图片由美国地质调查局及美国国家航空太空总署（NASA）提供
