Earth  ID: 556

Earth at Night

Visualizations by Alex Kekesi Released on January 21, 1999
The influence humans have had on their planet can be seen from space. Viewing Earth at night, we see the lights of countless villages, towns, and cities. Fires from slash-and-burn farming and the burn-off of natural gas in oil fields appear in red and yellow. This perspective unveils the breadth of human activity on Earth. It spans the globe.
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An image showing Earths light sources on a rotating globe, where white represents stable urban lights and fire data is shown in red and yellow.
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Video slate image reads, "Earth at Night
The data sets were collected by the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Linescan system. NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center processed and supplied the data. Additional data processing was carried out by GSFC's Biospheric Sciences Branch".

Visualization Credits

Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Christopher Elvidge (NOAA/NGDC): Scientist
Kimberly Baugh (NOAA/NGDC): Scientist
Marc Imhoff (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/556

Data Used:
DMSP/OLS
1994/10 - 1995/03
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Linescan System
view all stories where this data set is used
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
Images of Earth and Space

Goddard TV Tape:
G2003-046

Keywords:
DLESE >> Human geography
DLESE >> Natural hazards
SVS >> Night lights
NASA Science >> Earth