NASA Releases Amazing Animation of Earth At Night
Posted on Dec 13, 2012 at 11:15 am IST
NASA unveiled its newest imaging project: a stunning, 360 degree, “cloud-free”, animated view of Earth at night. To develop the animation, NASA visualization experts had to stitch together nearly 2 months worth of imagery collected by its newest “eye in the sky” technology: the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), which is part of NASA’s National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite.
The image resolution capability of VIIRS is 6 times better than existing, light-sensing satellites - allowing it to resolve not only city lights but light from wild fires, gas well flares (and other industrial operations) and even boats at sea.
Both NOAA and NASA are collaboratively testing applications for VIIRS - such as improving weather forecasts (by mapping nighttime cloud dynamics; inability to track cloud dynamics at night impedes longer-term forecasts), tracking the spread of wildfires at night, and monitoring snow, ice and clouds across the Arctic during its dark winter months.
It could also be used to enhance current satellite-based efforts to track disease outbreaks from space via tracking migrant worker campfires at night.
The image resolution capability of VIIRS is 6 times better than existing, light-sensing satellites - allowing it to resolve not only city lights but light from wild fires, gas well flares (and other industrial operations) and even boats at sea.
Both NOAA and NASA are collaboratively testing applications for VIIRS - such as improving weather forecasts (by mapping nighttime cloud dynamics; inability to track cloud dynamics at night impedes longer-term forecasts), tracking the spread of wildfires at night, and monitoring snow, ice and clouds across the Arctic during its dark winter months.
It could also be used to enhance current satellite-based efforts to track disease outbreaks from space via tracking migrant worker campfires at night.
NASA unveiled its newest imaging project: a stunning, 360 degree, “cloud-free”, animated view of Earth at night.
