We tend to think of blogs that showcase large images as a phenomenon of the past few years. But NASA's Earth Observatory has been posting its
Image of the Day since April 1999 (when its first "large" image available for download was
a 214 KB jpeg of the North Pole). Now, Image of the Day has downloads of images in multiple formats, most of which measure in megabytes, not kilobytes, and these stunning images of the earth's surface give context to the human activity down below:
a toxic spill in Hungary,
wildfires in Mexico, the growth of
a coal mine in West Virginia,
agriculture in Brazil,
snowmelt flooding in Fargo, North Dakota,
last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico,
artificial islands in Dubai,
the aftermath of Japan's recent tsunami.
posted by ocherdraco
on Apr 16, 2011 -
4 comments
“Negative eco-tourism from orbit.” Sprol shows the visual macroscopic effects of the decisions and behavior of our society. Since previous generations have not had the advantage of this perspective, it is our obligation to use it wisely.
posted by crunchland
on Jun 29, 2005 -
20 comments
How on Earth was this image made? Here is an opportunity for you to play image detective. How on Earth was this image made? Is it a painting, or a map? Is it a photograph? If so, was it taken from a high-flying aircraft, or from outer space? Is it a satellite image, or possibly even something else? Click to read the
feature article when you’re ready to check your answer. (cheers,
lagado)
posted by Ufez Jones
on Mar 31, 2003 -
16 comments
If you want to try playing with little planets or images of them, try visiting these websites...
Webearth -- builds a LIVE vrml model of the Earth as it is right now. It draws from current composite satellite photos. Or you can play with a VRML Moon, Venus, Mars or Jupiter, if you'd prefer. (Note: this site does require a VRML 2.0 compatible plug-in, like Parallel Graphics Cortona VRML Viewer.)
Here's an oldie, but a goodie... Same concept, just not live. Earth and Moon Viewer uses various static composite satellite images from many different points of view, and it lets you zoom in and out ... (to a certain extent).
Webwide World lets you zoom in on an earth-like planet... not quite the same thrill, but the images the site produces are beautifully gem-like. And the planet it produces is huge. You'll be able explore islands off the coasts of islands off the coasts of islands.
And for more satellite image zooming pleasure, you can't beat Microsoft's Terra Server.
posted by crunchland
on Jan 24, 2001 -
2 comments
This is an amazing photograph of what the world looks like at night, from a low orbit. Although this is found in a subdirectory of NASA's
Astronomy Picture of the Day, I'm not sure how to get to this pic by surfing the site, nor do I have any information on what was used to do the photographing. The link was sent to me in an email.
Anybody know the details on this one?
posted by lizardboy
on Jan 2, 2001 -
13 comments
