New images from NASA have revealed the clearest view yet of the Earth at night, according to the U.S. space agency鈥檚 researchers.
provide full-hemisphere views of civilization in the dark from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite. The clouds and the sun鈥檚 glint are added for aesthetic effect.
So-called 鈥渘ight lights鈥� images have been released every decade or so for nearly 25 years. Now, NASA says it鈥檚 on the verge of delivering daily high-definition views of the Earth at night on a daily basis.
A research team led by Earth scientist Miguel Román of NASA鈥檚 Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. has been analyzing night lights data, and developing new software and algorithms to make the imagery clearer, more accurate and readily available.
This year鈥檚 images eliminate light from the moon, which varies the amount of light shining on the Earth. The team wrote code that picked the clearest night views each month, ultimately combining moonlight-free and moonlight-corrected data.
More than just excellent desktop photos, these stunning maps expose how humans have shaped the planet by highlighting our patterns of settlement.
Once they start to be released in greater frequency, the space agency says they could give the scientific community the ability to fine-tune weather forecasts, improve natural disaster response, track sea ice, stop illegal fishing, and measure the impacts of war.
鈥淭hanks to VIIRS, we can now monitor short-term changes caused by disturbances in power delivery, such as conflict, storms, earthquakes and brownouts,鈥� said Román in a release.
鈥淲e can monitor cyclical changes driven by reoccurring human activities such as holiday lighting and seasonal migrations,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can also monitor gradual changes driven by urbanization, out-migration, economic changes, and electrification.鈥�
NASA says the Suomi NPP satellite could eventually become so adept at observing dim light that it would be able to pick out a fishing boat on the ocean or single highway lamp. Because it鈥檚 a civilian science satellite, the data would be freely available to scientists 鈥渨ithin minutes to hours of acquisition.鈥�
鈥淭he fact that we can track all these different aspects at the heart of what defines a city is simply mind-boggling,鈥� said Román.
