Houston, Texas
Photo ID: P-45758
June 8, 1995
This image of Houston, Texas, shows the amount of detail that is
possible to obtain using spaceborne radar imaging. Images such as
this -- obtained by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) flying aboard the space
shuttle Endeavor last fall -- can become an effective tool for
urban planners who map and monitor land use patterns in urban,
agricultural and wetland areas. Central Houston appears pink and
white in the upper portion of the image, outlined and crisscrossed
by freeways. The image was obtained on October 10, 1994, during
the space shuttle's 167th orbit. The area shown is 100 kilometers
by 60 kilometers (62 miles by 38 miles) and is centered at 29.38
degrees north latitude, 95.1 degrees west longitude. North is
toward the upper left. The pink areas designate urban development
while the green- and blue-patterned areas are agricultural fields.
Black areas are bodies of water, including Galveston Bay along the
right edge and the Gulf of Mexico at the bottom of the image.
Interstate 45 runs from top to bottom through the image. The
narrow island at the bottom of the image is Galveston Island, with
the city of Galveston at its northeast (right) end. The dark
cross in the upper center of the image is Hobby Airport.
Ellington Air Force Base is visible below Hobby on the other side
of Interstate 45. Clear Lake is the dark body of water in the
middle right of the image. The green square just north of Clear
Lake is Johnson Space Center, home of Mission Control and the
astronaut training facilities. The black rectangle with a white
center that appears to the left of the city center is the Houston
Astrodome. The colors in this image were obtained using the
follow radar channels: red represents the L-band (horizontally
transmitted, vertically received); green represents the C-band
(horizontally transmitted, vertically received); blue represents
the C-band (horizontally transmitted and received).
![[HOUSTON, TEXAS]](HOUSTON.GIF)