Skip all navigation and jump to content Jump to site navigation Jump to section navigation.
NASA Logo - Goddard Space Flight Center + Visit NASA.gov
HOME PROJECTS RESOURCES SEARCH MAP

+ Advanced Search
Home
Home
View Most Recently Released Imagery
View Gallery of Imagery: A topical collection of SVS Imagery
Search Imagery by the keywords assigned to it
Search Imagery by the instruments that supplied data for a visualization product
Search Imagery by the series of visualizations that have been produced
Search Imagery by the scientist providing the data used in a visualization product
Search Imagery by the animator that created the product
Search Imagery by the identification number assigned to the visualization product
See other search options
Learn about the SVS Image Server
  + About the Server
  + Animation List
  + How to Use the Server
blank image
Previous Animation
Next Animation
Blue Marble - A Seamless Image Mosaic of the Earth (WMS)

This spectacular 'Blue Marble' image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile) of our planet. Much of the information contained in this image came from a single remote-sensing device-NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS. Flying over 700 km above the Earth onboard the Terra satellite, MODIS provides an integrated tool for observing a variety of terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric features of the Earth. The land and coastal ocean portions of these images are based on surface observations collected from June through September 2001 and combined, or composited, every eight days to compensate for clouds that might block the sensor's view of the surface on any single day. Two different types of ocean data were used in these images: shallow water true color data, and global ocean color (or chlorophyll) data. Topographic shading is based on the GTOPO 30 elevation dataset compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center.

Blue Marble image of the whole earth.    Blue Marble image of the whole earth.

Available formats:
  320 x 160         JPEG 10 KB
  160 x 80           PNG 14 KB
  80 x 40             PNG   4 KB
  1024 x 512       PNG 434 KB
  2048 x 1024     PNG 1 MB
  512 x 512         PNG 235 KB

This product is available through our Web Map Service.   Click here to learn more.

Blue Marble image of the Eastern Hemisphere.    Blue Marble image of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Available formats:
  320 x 320         JPEG 18 KB
  80 x 40             PNG   5 KB
  4096 x 4096     PNG 12 MB

This product is available through our Web Map Service.   Click here to learn more.

Blue Marble image of the Western Hemisphere.    Blue Marble image of the Western Hemisphere.

Available formats:
  320 x 320         JPEG 12 KB
  80 x 40             PNG   4 KB
  4096 x 4096     PNG 8 MB

This product is available through our Web Map Service.   Click here to learn more.
Animation Number:2915
Animator:Eric Sokolowsky (Lead)
Studio:SVS
Completed:2004-02-16
Scientist:Michael King (NASA/GSFC)
Instrument:Terra/MODIS
Data set:Blue Marble
Series:WMS
Keywords:
SVS >> Blue Marble
DLESE >> Physical geography
GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Land Surface >> Topography >> Landforms
GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Spectral/Engineering >> Visible Wavelengths >> Visible Imagery
More Information on this topic available at:
stories/isabel_20030917/index.html
View Animation in Google Earth Google Earth KML file is available here.
DEPC Metadata is available here.
 
 
Please give credit for this visualization to
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio


Back to Top

USA.gov logo - the U.S. Government's official Web portal. + Privacy Policy and Important Notices
+ Reproduction Guidelines
NASA NASA Official:
SVS Contact:
Curator: