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Results tagged “Earth from Space” from NatGeo News Watch

Farmers manage crops from space

Posted on September 21, 2009 | 0 Comments

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Satellite images of farms in northwest Minnesota show neat patches of different crops among recently harvested fields. It's an enchanting view of nurtured farmland from hundreds of miles above the countryside.

But when looking at the same view through a different filter, the farmers of the land may see another story. Satellite images can help them spot infestation, over-watering, and pesticides encroaching on organic crops.

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A growing group of Midwest farmers rely on satellite imagery from Landsat to maximize their harvest and minimize damage to their fields, accortding to NASA. "It's become another crucial tool like their tractors and sprinklers."

From space, Noreen Thomas' farm in northwest Minnesota looks like a patchwork quilt, NASA said in a caption published with these images on its Earth Observatory Web site last week. "Fields change hue with the season and with the alternating plots of organic wheat, soybeans, corn, alfalfa, flax, or hay."

The top true-color image, taken by the Landsat satellite on September 10, 2009, shows Thomas's organic farm along the banks of the Buffalo River near the center of the image. "Lush green fields dominate the image, though some crops have already been harvested leaving squares of tan and brown," NASA says.

The lower image shows the same scene in false color. Made with infrared light, the false-color image provides a wealth of information about crop conditions.

"To the untrained eye, the false-color images appear a hodge-podge of colors without any apparent purpose. But Thomas is now trained to see yellows where crops are infested, shades of red indicating crop health, black where flooding occurs, and brown where unwanted pesticides land on her chemical-free crops."

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The images help the Thomases root out problems caused by Canadian thistle and other weeds, NASA adds. "They help confirm that their crops are growing at least 10 feet from the borders of a neighboring farm--required to maintain organic certification. They can also spot the telltale signs of bottlenecking in the fields---where flooding is over-saturating crops--and monitor the impact of hail storms."

Said Thomas, "We'd have to walk our entire 1,200 hundred-plus acres on a regular basis to see the same things we can see by just downloading satellite images."

Thomas recently began providing her farm's coordinates to her buyers in Japan. "There's no more ideal way I know to show how healthy our crops are to someone thousands of miles away," she said.

NASA images created by Jesse Allen, using Landsat data provided by the United States Geological Survey. Original NASA caption by Gretchen Cook-Anderson.

Related Links:

Landsat at NASA

Landsat at USGS

UMAC's Agriculture Public Access Resource Center

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Space Junk Pictures Show Swarm of Objects Around Earth

Posted on September 12, 2009 | 0 Comments

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These NASA images represent all man-made objects, both functioning and useful objects and debris, currently being tracked by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network.

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NASA illustrations courtesy Orbital Debris Program Office. Caption by Holli Riebeek

The images were made from models used to track debris in Earth orbit, NASA said in a caption accompanying the release of these images. "Of the approximately 19,000 manmade objects larger than 10 centimeters [4 inches] in Earth orbit as of July 2009, most orbit close to the Earth, top image. The lower image shows all items in orbit, both close to and far from the Earth," NASA said.

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The images were posted on NASA's Earth Observatory Web site.

Orbital debris, or "space junk," is any man-made object in orbit around the Earth that no longer serves a useful purpose, the space agency explained.

"Space junk can be bad news for an orbiting satellite. On February 11, 2009, a U.S. communications satellite owned by a private company called Iridium collided with a non-functioning Russian satellite. The collision destroyed both satellites and created a field of debris that endangers other orbiting satellites."

the U.S. Space Surveillance Network tracks all debris larger than 10 centimeters to minimize the risk of collision between spacecraft and space junk.

A distinctive ring (seen in the lower image) marks the geostationary orbit, a unique place where satellites orbit at the same rate that the Earth turns, allowing them to essentially remain over a single spot on Earth at all times, NASA said.

"This orbit is invaluable for weather and communications satellites.

"When satellites in geostationary orbit are taken out of operation, they are moved to another orbit to keep the geostationary orbit clear.

"The dots between the geostationary orbit and the low-Earth orbit are in an orbit used by GPS satellites or a highly elliptical orbit, called Molniya, used to monitor the far north or south. To read more about common satellite orbits, see Catalog of Earth Satellite Orbits on the Earth Observatory."

Space junk not as dire as it appears

Though the black dots that represent objects in space swarm around the Earth, obscuring the surface in the lower image, the space junk situation is not as dire as it may appear, NASA said.

"The dots are not to scale, and space is a very big place. Collisions between large objects are fairly rare. The orbit of each piece is well known. If any debris comes into the path of an operating NASA satellite, flight controllers will maneuver the satellite out of harm's way.

"As of May 2009, satellites in NASA's Earth Observing System had been maneuvered three times to avoid orbital debris. NASA flight engineers are carefully tracking the debris from the Iridium collision, since much of it is near the altitude at which EOS satellites orbit."

To read more about what it takes to maintain a satellite's orbit, common Earth orbits, and the science behind calculating an orbit, please see the Earth Observatory series About Orbits.

Russia's Arctic Park Imaged from Space

Posted on August 5, 2009 | 0 Comments

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This satellite image of Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago in Russia's Arctic, launches a new ad hoc series on this blog I will call Earth from Space.

Look out for regular updates for unusual, beautiful, educational, newsworthy images released by public and commercial space agencies. I will be looking particularly for images that highlight the special geographic features of our planet.

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Today's NASA Earth Observatory image of Novaya Zemlya gives us an opportunity to view not only a magnificent view but also the terrain that Russia recently proclaimed as a national park, a 3.7 million-acre zone that includes the northern part of Novaya Zemlya and some adjacent marine areas. The park will provide a much-needed sanctuary for polar bears and other Arctic species.

Novaya Zemlya consists of two major islands, Severny in the north and Yuzhny in the south, separated by a narrow strait, Matochkin Shar.

An extension of the Ural Mountains, this mountainous archipelago has an average altitude of roughly 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) above sea level, and glaciers cover much of the northern island, according to the original NASA caption.

In the latter half of the twentieth century, Novaya Zemlya was used as a nuclear test site.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured this true-color image of Novaya Zemlya on July 27, 2009. (This image focuses primarily on the northern island. See an image for the entire archipelago on NASA's Web site.)

The sparsely vegetated land appears in shades of beige and icy white, NASA says. "Hints of turquoise along the northwestern coast likely result from sediments running off the island, or getting churned up by currents from the ocean floor, A narrow band of sea ice hugs the southeastern coast, and smaller pieces of sea ice float off the northern island's northeastern tip."

Before the turn of the twentieth century, Arctic sea ice used to linger along the coast of Novaya Zemlya's larger island each July. After the turn of the century, however, increased summertime melt made open ocean more common, NASA says.

NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Original NASA caption by Michon Scott based on interpretation by Walt Meier, National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Sunset Seen From Space Colors Earth's Atmosphere

Posted on August 3, 2009 | 0 Comments

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To the many beautiful pictures made of our planet from space, add this one, released today by NASA as its image of the day. It reminds me how thin and fragile is our precious atmosphere.

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Image Credit: NASA

"Layers of Earth's atmosphere, brightly colored as the sun sets, are featured in this image taken by the STS-127 crew on the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Endeavour," says the NASA caption. "This image was taken on July 29, 2009, one day before the shuttle landed, completing a 16-day, 6.5-million mile journey."

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