Image: ISS-20 Thunderstorms on the Brazilian Horizon

Description: A picturesque line of thunderstorms and numerous circular cloud patterns filled the view as the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 20 crew members looked out at the limb (blue line on the horizon) of the Earth.

The region shown in the photograph includes an unstable, active atmosphere forming a large area of cumulonimbus clouds in various stages of development. The crew was looking west-south-west from the Amazon Basin, along the Rio Madeira toward Bolivia when the image was taken. The distinctive circular patterns of the clouds in the photograph are likely caused by the ageing of thunderstorms. Such ring structures often form during the final stages of storms development as their centres collapse. Sun-glint, the mirror-like reflection of sunlight off a water surface directly back to the camera on-board the ISS—is visible on the waters of the Rio Madeira and Lago Acara in the Amazon Basin. Widespread haze over the basin gives the reflected light an orange hue. The Rio Madeira flows northward and joins the Amazon River on its path to the Atlantic Ocean. A large smoke plume near the bottom centre of the image may be one source of the haze. The image was acquired with a Nikon D2Xs digital camera using an effective 48mm lens (28-70 mm zoom lens), and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Centre.
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