This false-color image captured by the Thematic Mapper sensor on Landsat 5 on April 17 of 1996. I was drawn to this image not only from the striking color composite and aesthetic appeal, but also the curious event captured within it. Can you spot the billowing plume of an avalanche?
The area captured in the image is the Karakoram range in Northern Pakistan. The image combines infrared, red and green wavelengths. I'm interested to know which band on Landsat 5 TM was used for infrared. The post does not specify, and it is certainly a unique combination of colors and bands to produce this imagery. In this image snow appears red, exposed moraine and soil is cyan, and shadows appear black.
In the central region of the image there is a unique, billowy feature that is an avalanche that was captured by the Landsat 5 TM. The avalanche occurred on a SE flank of Kanjut Sar, the 26th highest mountain on earth at 7760meters.
Satellite imagery of an avalanche as it's occurring seems to be a fairly rare occurrence -- especially historically as temporal resolution was lower. Getting a synoptic view of large-scale avalanches as they're occurring sounds like it may pretty interesting to scientists hoping to understand avalanche behavior, or where they're likely to occur.
This image was happened upon by a research team investigating surging glaciers -- glaciers which do not have a constant or predictable flow, and are subjected to cyclical flow instabilities. In going down that rabbit-hole, I came across this gif the research team composed of the karakoram range's surging glaciers during a period of high advancement.
I also enjoyed reading about the 'medial moraine' bands that are produced from surging glaciers. These strips of rock and debris can be seen as the blue stripes down the center of the red glaciers, creating a beautiful pattern.
Link:
Research Team: http://mountainhydrology.org/
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