NASA Picture: Blue Marble: Next Generation

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http://gyazo.com/b43cad3c40776fb6928b194a93274cda.png

 

Note: The image [link supplied below] is very large: 21600 x 10800 pixels [2 km per pixel] and 113 MB.

 

Link: Blue Marble: Next Generation

 

Information from NASA about Blue Marble: Next Generation:

 

Blue Marble: Next Generation improves the techniques for turning satellite data into digital images. Among the key improvements is greater detail in areas that usually appear very dark to the satellite (because a large amount of sunlight is being absorbed), for example in dense tropical forests. The ability to create a digital image that provides great detail in darker regions without 'washing out' brighter regions, like glaciers, snow-covered areas, and deserts is one of the great challenges of visualizing satellite data. The new version also improves image clarity, and gives highly reflective bodies of water, such as salt lakes, a more realistic appearance.

 

Limitations

 

Those who intend to use the Blue Marble: Next Generation in their own publications or projects should be aware of areas that still require improvement. Areas of open water still show some 'noise.' In tropical lowlands, cloud cover during the rainy season can be so extensive that obtaining a cloud-free view of every pixel of the area for a given month may not be possible. Deep oceans are not included in the source data; the creator of the Blue Marble uses a uniform blue color for deep ocean regions, and this value has not been completely blended with observations of shallow water in coastal areas. The lack of blending may, in some cases, make the transition between shallow coastal water and deep ocean appear unnatural. Finally, the data do not completely distinguish between snow and cloud cover in areas with short-term snow cover (less than three or four months). This problem may be resolved in the future through the use of a more sophisticated snow mask.

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Blue Marble 2012 [ 8000 x 8000 pixels]

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6760135001_58b1c5c5f0_b.jpg

 

Link to Blue Marble 2012 [8000 x 8000] image:

 

Link: Blue Marble 2012

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Blue Marble: The other side:

 

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2012/02/621ed69f44dca11ea7bbb037b8ff02d4.jpg

 

Link: "Most Amazing Earth Image" From the Other Side

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http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/660720main_blue_marble_arctic_full_full.jpg

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Link 1: A New Blue Marble By Scott Kelly, NASA Astronaut

 

...NASA will make all of the data, data products, and images collected by DSCOVR freely available to the public, including the new “Blue Marble” images. Starting soon, you’ll be able to view and download new “Blue Marble” images taken by DSCOVR every day...

 

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/187_1003705_americas_dxm.png

 

Link 2: NASA Captures "EPIC" Earth Image | NASA

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Link 1: Daily Views of Earth Available on New NASA Website | NASA

 

...Once a day NASA will post at least a dozen new color images of Earth acquired from 12 to 36 hours earlier by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC). Each daily sequence of images will show the Earth as it rotates, thus revealing the whole globe over the course of a day. The new website also features an archive of EPIC images searchable by date and continent...

 

Link 2: DSCOVR::EPIC::Earth Polychromatic Camera

 

http://i.snag.gy/nSuAu.jpg

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Link: NASA Visible Earth: The Blue Marble: Land Surface, Ocean Color, Sea Ice and Clouds

 

This spectacular “blue marble” image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile) of our planet. These images are freely available to educators, scientists, museums, and the public...

 

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On July 20, 2015, NASA released to the world the first image of the sunlit side of Earth captured by the space agency's EPIC camera on NOAA's DSCOVR satellite. The camera has now recorded a full year of life on Earth from its orbit at Lagrange point 1, approximately 1 million miles from Earth, where it is balanced between the gravity of our home planet and the sun.

 

EPIC takes a new picture every two hours, revealing how the planet would look to human eyes, capturing the ever-changing motion of clouds and weather systems and the fixed features of Earth such as deserts, forests and the distinct blues of different seas. EPIC will allow scientists to monitor ozone and aerosol levels in Earth’s atmosphere, cloud height, vegetation properties and the ultraviolet reflectivity of Earth.

 

The primary objective of DSCOVR, a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Air Force, is to maintain the nation’s real-time solar wind monitoring capabilities, which are critical to the accuracy and lead time of space weather alerts and forecasts from NOAA.

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Link: EPIC :: DSCOVR

 

NASA Epic webpage:

 

 

NASA Epic webpage magnify

 

 

NASA Epic animation

 

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The Blue Marble 50 years on - time lapse video