How do a bunch of Earth scientists celebrate Earth Day? The researchers and other staff at the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) and the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) located at the University of Wisconsin–Madison arguably celebrate Earth Day every day by constantly advancing our knowledge of global weather patterns, climate, spaceflight engineering, and the tools to keep track of massive amounts of data, among other projects. In honor of Earth Day itself, they’ve shared some of their favorite images of this planet we all call home. This piece comes to us from Eric Verbeten, a communications specialist at SSEC, and was originally posted – with even more images – on the SSEC website.
To celebrate Earth Day, we asked staff at the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) and the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) to share their favorite images of Earth as seen from space and terrestrially. Selections range from the most historic images captured in the late 1960s, to the most recent snapshots from this year. Here are our top choices:
True color full disk image of Earth taken by GOES-16 March 2017. Chosen by Kaba Bah, CIMSS Research Scientist (CIMSS/SSEC)
Earth at night taken by Suomi NPP in 2016. Chosen by Eric Verbeten, SSEC Communications Specialist (Miguel Román/NASA)
Enchanting Day/Night Band on Suomi NPP VIIRS with moon glint that lights up the entire Mississippi River in this image from the 0640 UTC overpass on January 19, 2016. Note the aurora over Canada. Chosen by Margaret Mooney, CIMSS Education and Outreach Director (CIMSS/SSEC)
Composite image showing ocean surface temperatures and water vapor, compiled from several satellites from US, Europe and Japan. Chosen by Rick Kohrs, SSEC Instrumentation Technology. (CIMSS/SSEC)
The first true color full-disk image of Earth taken by ATS-III geosynchronous satellite (1967). Chosen by Jean Phillips, SSEC Communications Director. (NASA/SSEC)
A false color image is a marvelous way to colorize the earth to draw out thunderstorms or certain clouds, or to visualize the Earth's atmosphere as a fluid. Taken by Suomi NPP May 29, 2014. Chosen by Jordan Gerth, CIMSS Meteorologist (CIMSS/SSEC)
Antarctica at 11:30 p.m. near McMurdo Station. Taken December 2016 during 24 hours of daylight. Chosen by Carol Costanza, Antarctica Meteorological Research Center Researcher (Carol Costanza)