The Blue Marble Next Generation (BMNG) data set provides a monthly global cloud-free true-color picture of the Earth's land cover at a 500-meter spatial resolution. This series of images fades from month to month showing seasonal variations such as snowfall, spring greening and droughts in a seamless fashion. The data set,derived from monthly data collected in 2004, is shown on a flat cartesian grid. The ocean color is derived from applying a depth shading to the bathymetry data. Where available, the Antarctica coverage shown is the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA). ||

Satellite data can be used to monitor the health of plant life from space. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) provides a simple numerical indicator of the health of vegetation which can be used to monitoring changes in vegetation over time. This animation shows the seasonal changes in vegetation by fading between average monthly NDVI data from 2004. The loop begins on September 24 and repeats six times during one full rotation of the globe at a rate of one frame per day. The fade for each month is complete on the 15th of each month. ||

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) comprise the communication satellite component of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). TDRSS is a communication signal relay system which provides tracking and data aquisition services between low earth orbiting spacecraft and control and/or data processing facilities. TDRS supports many of NASA's missions including the space shuttles, Hubble and COBE. This image was created as a background for a 6 foot by 4 foot mural for display in Building 12 at Goddard Space Flight Center. The final poster will include a indication of the TDRSS ground segment located newr LasCruces, New Mexico as well as insets of several of the spacecraft that TDRSS supports. ||

Satellite data can be used to monitor the health of plant life from space. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) provides a simple numerical indicator of the health of vegetation which can be used to monitoring changes in vegetation over time. This animation shows the seasonal changes in vegetation by fading between average monthly NDVI data from 2004. This animation of land changes is match framed to animation id a003708, a003709, a003710, and a003711. ||

Satellite data can be used to monitor the health of the atmosphere from space. This animation of atmospheric changes is match framed to animation entries 3707, 3709, 3710, and 3711. This dataset shows tropospheric ozone, which is close to the ground and a component of pollution. This should be distinguished from high altitude (stratospheric) ozone which shields the Earth's surface from ultraviolet radiation.For more information about tropospheric ozone see the links below:http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/ozone_resource_page.htmlhttp://www.ozonelayer.noaa.gov/science/basics.htm ||

Sea ice is frozen seawater floating on the surface of the ocean. Some sea ice is semi-permanent, persisting from year to year, and some is seasonal, melting and refreezing from season to season. The sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent at the end of each summer and the remaining ice is called the perennial ice cover. The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) instrument on the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua satellite, provides data mapped to a polar stereographic grid at 12.5 km spatial resolution. This satellite data can be used to monitor the health of the cryosphere from space. This animation of sea ice changes in the Arctic is match framed to animation entries 3707, 3708, 3709, and 3711. Over the water, Arctic sea ice changes from day to day showing a running 3-day maximum sea ice concentration in the region where the concentration is greater than 15%. The blueish white color of the sea ice is derived from a 3-day running maximum of the AMSR-E 89 GHz brightness temperature. Over the terrain, monthly data from the seasonal Blue Marble Next Generation fades slowly from month to month.For more information about sea ice see http://nsidc.org/data/amsre or http://modis-snow-ice.gsfc.nasa.gov. ||

Satellite data can be used to observe the dramatic ebb and flow of the our planet's water system from space. This animation of QuikSCAT's sea surface winds is match framed to animation entries 3707, 3708, 3709, and 3710. The SeaWinds Scatterometer instrument on the QuikSCAT satellite captures the always moving and complex sea surface. The mission has also provided critical information for monitoring, modeling, forecasting and researching our atmosphere, ocean and climate.By any measure of success, the 10-year-old QuikSCAT mission is a unique national resource that has achieved and far surpassed its science objectives. Designed for a two-year lifetime, QuikSCAT has been used around the globe by the world's operational meteorological agencies to improve weather forecasts and identify the location, size and strength of hurricanes and other storms in the open ocean. More information on QuikSCAT is online at: http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/quikscat/index.cfm. ||

This visualization shows a sequence of Landsat-based data in the Pacific Northwest. There is one data set for each year representing an aggregate of the approximate peak of the growing season (around August). The data was created using a sophisticated algorithm called LandTrendr. LandTrendr analyzes 'stacks' of Landsat scenes, looking for statistical trends in the data and filtering out noise. The algorithm evaluated data from more than 1,800 Landsat Thematic Mapper images, nearly 1 Terabyte of raw imagery, to define the life histories of each of more than 336 million pixels on the landscape. The resulting trends identify periods of stability and change that are displayed as colors.In these false color images, the colors represent types of land; for example, blue areas are forests; orange/yellow areas are agriculture; and, purple areas are urban. Each 'stack' is representative of a Landsat scene. There are 22 stacks stitched together to cover most of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. This processed data is used for science, natural resource management, and education.We move in to the southwest corner of the data set near Redwood National Park and proceed on a slow tour through a portion of the data set. Time loops from 1984 through 2011 as we move. We move over to Mount Shasta, then up the Cascade Range, passing Crater Lake National Park, the Three Sisters, Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, Mount Saint Helens, Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, and the North Cascades National Park. Next we move west over Seattle and pass over Olympic National Park, then we head back south down the Willamette Valley back to Redwood National Park.Don't miss this related narrated visualization ||

The Blue Marble Next Generation data set provides a monthly global cloud-free true-color picture of the Earth's land cover at a 500-meter spatial resolution. This visualization of the data set shows seasonal variations such as snowfall, spring greening and droughts in a seamless fashion, thereby heightening awareness of changes in the Earth's climate. Here we focus on the seasonal land cover changes over the Westerm Asia. This data set is derived from imagery taken in 2004 by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. ||

The Blue Marble Next Generation data set provides a monthly global cloud-free true-color picture of the Earth's land cover at a 500-meter spatial resolution. This visualization of the data set shows seasonal variations such as snowfall, spring greening and droughts in a seamless fashion, thereby heightening awareness of changes in the Earth's climate. Here we focus on the seasonal land cover changes over the European Alps. This data set is derived from imagery taken in 2004 by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. ||