Earth  ID: 11171

Nature's Night Lights

Story by Mike Carlowicz | Visualizations by Robert Simmon Released on January 15, 2013
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Scientists have a new tool to observe a planet that never sleeps.
"The night is nowhere near as dark as most of us think. In fact, the Earth is never really dark," says scientist Steven Miller of Colorado State University. Auroras dance across the skies. Wildfires and volcanoes rage. Moonlight and starlight reflect off water, snow, clouds and deserts. The night-imaging capability of the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite is capturing all of this, giving scientists like Miller a new way to see storms and weather patterns, atmospheric waves and other dynamic events that don't stop at sundown. "For all the reasons that we need to see the Earth during the day, we also need to see the Earth at night," says Miller. "The Earth never sleeps; it's constantly moving, evolving, building up here and tearing down there." Watch the video to see different views of the Persian Gulf region in the changing light of the moon.
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Different features of nature (dunes, seas) and civilization (cities, oil drilling sites) become more or less visible with changing moonlight.
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High cirrus clouds lit by moonlight cast shadows on marine-layer clouds off California.
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Atmospheric waves ripple across the top of a thunderstorm lit only by airglow, faint light produced by chemical reactions in the air.
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In the sunless days of polar winter, moonlight is key for observing weather, snow and sea ice.
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Auroras over Antarctica shine enough light on the landscape to illuminate the glaciers and ice shelves below.
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Flames on the ground and moonlight from above allow scientists and fire managers to observe the smoke plumes from wildfires even at night.

For More Information

NASA Earth Observatory

Story Credits

Lead Visualizer/Animator:
Robert Simmon (Sigma Space Corporation)

Visualizer/Animator:
Jesse Allen (Sigma Space Corporation)

Lead Writer:
Mike Carlowicz (Sigma Space Corporation)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA Earth Observatory

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11171

Keywords:
SVS >> App
NASA Science >> Earth