{ "id": 40462, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/cosmic-cycles3-earthas-art/", "page_type": "Gallery", "title": "Cosmic Cycles 3 Earth as Art", "description": "Starting in 1972, nine Landsat satellites have orbited Earth, taking images of the surface. This unprecedented coverage has been tremendously useful to the scientific community, but it has also produced thousands of beautiful high-resolution images of the complex patterns of our world. From the fractal patterns of mountain ranges and river deltas to the precise geometry of agriculture, Landsat has rendered Earth as a work of art.", "release_date": "2023-05-01T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-01T00:00:00-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 858889, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/COSMICCYCLES/Media_Label_320x180.jpg", "filename": "Media_Label_320x180.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Nomads of the solar system, small objects like asteroids and comets wander among the planets, bound only to the Sun. Messengers from the distant pasts, many of these small bodies are made of debris from the formation of the solar system and carry clues about the origins of life. NASA has just begun visiting them, reaching and then touching the asteroid Bennu to collect samples of rock unchanged for nearly 5 billion years.", "width": 180, "height": 320, "pixels": 57600 }, "media_groups": [ { "id": 371601, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/cosmic-cycles3-earthas-art/#media_group_371601", "widget": "Basic text (large)", "title": "Overview", "caption": "", "description": "Starting in 1972, nine Landsat satellites have orbited Earth, taking images of the surface. This unprecedented coverage has been tremendously useful to the scientific community, but it has also produced thousands of beautiful high-resolution images of the complex patterns of our world. From the fractal patterns of mountain ranges and river deltas to the precise geometry of agriculture, Landsat has rendered Earth as a work of art.", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 371602, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/cosmic-cycles3-earthas-art/#media_group_371602", "widget": "Tile gallery", "title": "Available Imagery Used", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 412459, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Scorpion Reef, Gulf of Mexico", "caption": "About 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Progresso, Mexico, five small islands stand amidst the largest coral structure in the southern Gulf of Mexico. These images of Arrecife Alacranes—Spanish for \"Scorpion Reef,\"—were acquired on November 5, 2014, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8. The top image shows the central part of the reef, while the bottom image shows the rest of the formation.", "instance": { "id": 857496, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/scorpionreef_oli_2014309_close.jpg", "filename": "scorpionreef_oli_2014309_close.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "About 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Progresso, Mexico, five small islands stand amidst the largest coral structure in the southern Gulf of Mexico. These images of Arrecife Alacranes—Spanish for \"Scorpion Reef,\"—were acquired on November 5, 2014, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8. The top image shows the central part of the reef, while the bottom image shows the rest of the formation.", "width": 480, "height": 720, "pixels": 345600 } }, { "id": 412460, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Baltic Sea Bloom", "caption": "Nearly every summer, colorful blooms of phytoplankton flourish in the Baltic Sea. And nearly every summer, satellite images detect art-like patterns as the phytoplankton trace the sea’s currents, eddies, and flows. But like the whorls of fingerprints, no two phytoplankton blooms are exactly alike.\n\nThese natural-color images, acquired on August 15, 2020, with the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, show a late-summer phytoplankton bloom swirling in the Baltic Sea. The images feature part of a bloom located between Öland and Gotland, two islands off the coast of southeast Sweden. Note the dark, straight lines crossing the detailed image: these are the wakes of ships cutting through the bloom.", "instance": { "id": 857497, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/baltic_oli_2020228_detail.jpg", "filename": "baltic_oli_2020228_detail.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Nearly every summer, colorful blooms of phytoplankton flourish in the Baltic Sea. And nearly every summer, satellite images detect art-like patterns as the phytoplankton trace the sea’s currents, eddies, and flows. But like the whorls of fingerprints, no two phytoplankton blooms are exactly alike.\n\nThese natural-color images, acquired on August 15, 2020, with the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, show a late-summer phytoplankton bloom swirling in the Baltic Sea. The images feature part of a bloom located between Öland and Gotland, two islands off the coast of southeast Sweden. Note the dark, straight lines crossing the detailed image: these are the wakes of ships cutting through the bloom.", "width": 480, "height": 720, "pixels": 345600 } }, { "id": 412461, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Florida Keys", "caption": "The chain of hundreds of low-lying islands, also called cays or keys, that extend from southern Florida are relics of a time when global sea levels were higher than today. About 125,000 years ago, during a warm interglacial period, water covered the area.", "instance": { "id": 857498, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/floridakeyspt2_oli_202289.jpg", "filename": "floridakeyspt2_oli_202289.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The chain of hundreds of low-lying islands, also called cays or keys, that extend from southern Florida are relics of a time when global sea levels were higher than today. About 125,000 years ago, during a warm interglacial period, water covered the area.", "width": 480, "height": 720, "pixels": 345600 } }, { "id": 412462, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Cape Cod", "caption": "On the southeastern elbow of Cape Cod, where the New England coast reaches out into the cold and choppy North Atlantic, this natural progression has been taking place in full view of satellites for more than 30 years. The images above were acquired by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 (top) and the Thematic Mapper on Landsat 5 (bottom). They show the shape of the coast off of Chatham, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1984, and July 30, 2013. Turn on the image comparison tool for an easier view of the changes. Visit our longer World of Change time series to see the years in between.", "instance": { "id": 857499, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/provincetown_oli_2016236.jpg", "filename": "provincetown_oli_2016236.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "On the southeastern elbow of Cape Cod, where the New England coast reaches out into the cold and choppy North Atlantic, this natural progression has been taking place in full view of satellites for more than 30 years. The images above were acquired by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 (top) and the Thematic Mapper on Landsat 5 (bottom). They show the shape of the coast off of Chatham, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1984, and July 30, 2013. Turn on the image comparison tool for an easier view of the changes. Visit our longer World of Change time series to see the years in between.", "width": 540, "height": 720, "pixels": 388800 } }, { "id": 412463, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Mississippi River Delta", "caption": "The false-color image above shows the area of study along the Atchafalaya Delta. It was captured on December 1, 2016, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8. The colors emphasize the difference between land and water while allowing viewers to observe waterborne sediment, which is typically absent from false-color imagery.", "instance": { "id": 857500, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/mississippi_oli_2016336.jpg", "filename": "mississippi_oli_2016336.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The false-color image above shows the area of study along the Atchafalaya Delta. It was captured on December 1, 2016, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8. The colors emphasize the difference between land and water while allowing viewers to observe waterborne sediment, which is typically absent from false-color imagery.", "width": 480, "height": 720, "pixels": 345600 } }, { "id": 412464, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta", "caption": "The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is one of the world’s largest deltas, and it stands as a remarkable example of how water and ice can shape the land. These images show the delta’s northern lobe, where the Yukon River spills into the Bering Sea along the west coast of Alaska.", "instance": { "id": 857501, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/yukon-kuskokwim_oli_2021149_detail.jpg", "filename": "yukon-kuskokwim_oli_2021149_detail.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is one of the world’s largest deltas, and it stands as a remarkable example of how water and ice can shape the land. These images show the delta’s northern lobe, where the Yukon River spills into the Bering Sea along the west coast of Alaska.", "width": 480, "height": 720, "pixels": 345600 } }, { "id": 412465, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Lena River Delta", "caption": "The Lena River, some 2,800 miles (4,400 km) long, is one of the largest rivers in the world. The Lena Delta Reserve is the most extensive protected wilderness area in Russia. It is an important refuge and breeding ground for many species of Siberian wildlife.", "instance": { "id": 857502, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/landsat_art_lena.jpg", "filename": "landsat_art_lena.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The Lena River, some 2,800 miles (4,400 km) long, is one of the largest rivers in the world. The Lena Delta Reserve is the most extensive protected wilderness area in Russia. It is an important refuge and breeding ground for many species of Siberian wildlife.", "width": 540, "height": 540, "pixels": 291600 } }, { "id": 412466, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Pennsylvania Hills", "caption": "The folded mountains of central Pennsylvania were past peak leaf-peeping but still colorful when the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite passed over on November 9, 2020. The natural-color images above show the hilly region around State College, Pennsylvania; the one below shows the same scene overlaid on a digital elevation model to highlight the topography of the area.", "instance": { "id": 857503, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/pennsylvania_oli_2020314.jpg", "filename": "pennsylvania_oli_2020314.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The folded mountains of central Pennsylvania were past peak leaf-peeping but still colorful when the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite passed over on November 9, 2020. The natural-color images above show the hilly region around State College, Pennsylvania; the one below shows the same scene overlaid on a digital elevation model to highlight the topography of the area.", "width": 480, "height": 720, "pixels": 345600 } }, { "id": 412467, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Pacific Northwest Snow", "caption": "The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-20 satellite acquired this image during the widespread “unusually pleasant” weather on October 31, 2021. Snowcapped peaks are visible across numerous ranges and subranges, from the Coast Mountains in British Columbia to the Rockies in western Alberta.", "instance": { "id": 857504, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/pnwsnow_oli_2021304.jpg", "filename": "pnwsnow_oli_2021304.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-20 satellite acquired this image during the widespread “unusually pleasant” weather on October 31, 2021. Snowcapped peaks are visible across numerous ranges and subranges, from the Coast Mountains in British Columbia to the Rockies in western Alberta.", "width": 480, "height": 720, "pixels": 345600 } }, { "id": 412468, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "California Poppies", "caption": "Near the western tip of the Mojave Desert and a few miles west of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, fields of poppies colored the landscape a bright orange this spring. On April 14, 2020, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite acquired these images of vast blooms in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. These images were acquired when poppy flowers in the valley were thought to be at or near their peak.", "instance": { "id": 857505, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/capoppieswide_oli_2020105.jpg", "filename": "capoppieswide_oli_2020105.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Near the western tip of the Mojave Desert and a few miles west of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, fields of poppies colored the landscape a bright orange this spring. On April 14, 2020, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite acquired these images of vast blooms in the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. These images were acquired when poppy flowers in the valley were thought to be at or near their peak.", "width": 480, "height": 720, "pixels": 345600 } }, { "id": 412469, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Salty Botswana", "caption": "The images above show the artificial salt ponds at different times of the year, with varying colors and brightness. The images were acquired on January 9, 2018 (left) and April 15, 2018 (right), by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.\n\nThe varying colors are caused by microorganisms living in the evaporation ponds. The level of salinity determines the type of organism. Red algae indicate that the salinity of the evaporating water is medium to high. Green algae tend to grow in low salinity water. The wet season usually starts in November, and the ponds usually hold water and algae until April or May.", "instance": { "id": 857506, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/botswanasaltpan_oli_201809.jpg", "filename": "botswanasaltpan_oli_201809.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The images above show the artificial salt ponds at different times of the year, with varying colors and brightness. The images were acquired on January 9, 2018 (left) and April 15, 2018 (right), by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.\n\nThe varying colors are caused by microorganisms living in the evaporation ponds. The level of salinity determines the type of organism. Red algae indicate that the salinity of the evaporating water is medium to high. Green algae tend to grow in low salinity water. The wet season usually starts in November, and the ponds usually hold water and algae until April or May.", "width": 600, "height": 720, "pixels": 432000 } }, { "id": 412470, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Oude-Tonge, Netherlands", "caption": "On April 9, 2017, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured these images of the countryside roughly 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of the Dutch capital. Entire fields of bright reds and yellows stand out against the surrounding brown and green terrain. (The blue square in the image below is the roof of a nearby factory building.) The flowers bloom for several weeks, peaking in late April.", "instance": { "id": 857507, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/lisse_oli_2017099_lrg.jpg", "filename": "lisse_oli_2017099_lrg.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "On April 9, 2017, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured these images of the countryside roughly 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of the Dutch capital. Entire fields of bright reds and yellows stand out against the surrounding brown and green terrain. (The blue square in the image below is the roof of a nearby factory building.) The flowers bloom for several weeks, peaking in late April.", "width": 2667, "height": 4000, "pixels": 10668000 } }, { "id": 412471, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Northwest Territories, Canada", "caption": "The copper color in this infrared combination is the presence of lake ice in the Northwest Territories in northern Canada. The lake on the right side is Whitefish Lake, in a region with numerous glacial landforms. Bright wrinkle-like lines are eskers, ridges made of sand and gravel formed by glacial sediments deposited by meltwater rivers flowing on the ice. The blue color is land dominated by shrub tundra with some spruce stands.", "instance": { "id": 857508, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/copper-and-blue.jpg", "filename": "copper-and-blue.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The copper color in this infrared combination is the presence of lake ice in the Northwest Territories in northern Canada. The lake on the right side is Whitefish Lake, in a region with numerous glacial landforms. Bright wrinkle-like lines are eskers, ridges made of sand and gravel formed by glacial sediments deposited by meltwater rivers flowing on the ice. The blue color is land dominated by shrub tundra with some spruce stands.", "width": 220, "height": 204, "pixels": 44880 } }, { "id": 412472, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "Sea of Okhotsk, Russia", "caption": "The transition from smooth, laminar flow to mixed, turbulent flow is visible in this natural-color image of tidal currents in the western Sea of Okhotsk. The image of the Shantar Islands and Uda Bay was acquired on September 24, 2021, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.\n\nThe currents around the Shantar Islands are heavily influenced by the strong tides and by freshwater discharge from rivers draining into Uda Bay. The waters here are frozen for much of the year. When the sea ice melts and freshwater snowmelt swells the Uda River, plumes of low-salinity water can reach far offshore.", "instance": { "id": 857509, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/laminarflow_oli_2021267.jpg", "filename": "laminarflow_oli_2021267.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The transition from smooth, laminar flow to mixed, turbulent flow is visible in this natural-color image of tidal currents in the western Sea of Okhotsk. The image of the Shantar Islands and Uda Bay was acquired on September 24, 2021, by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.\n\nThe currents around the Shantar Islands are heavily influenced by the strong tides and by freshwater discharge from rivers draining into Uda Bay. The waters here are frozen for much of the year. When the sea ice melts and freshwater snowmelt swells the Uda River, plumes of low-salinity water can reach far offshore.", "width": 480, "height": 720, "pixels": 345600 } }, { "id": 412473, "type": "link", "extra_data": null, "title": "North Sea Phytoplankton", "caption": "On May 5, 2018, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired a natural-color image (top) of a phytoplankton bloom in the North Sea. The next day, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite observed the same bloom in a wider context. Five days earlier, MODIS detected visible plumes of sediment moving through the area to the west.\n\nThe milkier, lighter-colored waters are probably filled with coccolithophores, while greener areas may be diatoms. (It is impossible to know for sure without direct water samples.) The brightness of the color may reflect the density of the phytoplankton, while the various swirls and shapes trace the intricate movements of currents, eddies, and tides.", "instance": { "id": 857510, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/gallery/CosmicCycles3EarthasArt/northsea_oli_2018125.jpg", "filename": "northsea_oli_2018125.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "On May 5, 2018, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 acquired a natural-color image (top) of a phytoplankton bloom in the North Sea. The next day, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite observed the same bloom in a wider context. Five days earlier, MODIS detected visible plumes of sediment moving through the area to the west.\n\nThe milkier, lighter-colored waters are probably filled with coccolithophores, while greener areas may be diatoms. (It is impossible to know for sure without direct water samples.) The brightness of the color may reflect the density of the phytoplankton, while the various swirls and shapes trace the intricate movements of currents, eddies, and tides.", "width": 480, "height": 720, "pixels": 345600 } } ], "extra_data": {} } ] }