NASA captured beautiful satellite images of night lights on Earth
NASA revealed some breathtaking images of the Earth during night time as captured from space. The highlight of these images is India which reached a lot of progress and is now shinier than in the previous images from 2012. These maps are a clear indicative of human progress and show how settlements are gathered around the globe.
The night lights are breathtaking images with various practical uses
These images of Earth at night are also called night lights. The satellites orbiting Earth have been capturing such images for 25 years and they have always represented a source of interest for the public. Moreover, they can serve as tools for scientific research.
Now, NASA decided to make public the night lights of Earth in 2016. To understand how the human settlements have evolved, they compared the 2016 map with that from 2012. It was India which stood out, as it baffled everyone with the progress it made and how lit up it is right now.
This is a beautiful way of looking at the evolution of humans. Researchers can analyze how the economy thrived in certain countries based on the increase of lights on their surface. Also, they can be of a social interest and the environmentalists might see what an impact light pollution had on our planet. Last but not least, these maps might be used by pop culture and become widely popularized on social media.
How does NASA capture the night lights?
The satellite responsible for these impressive images has been launched following a collaboration between NASA and NOAA in 2011. Since then, researchers have been constantly analyzing night lights and tried to improve the satellite’s capability of capturing clearer images. They are currently working on a software which would allow them to provide high quality images of the night lights captured every day.
This is no easy task. When capturing night lights, scientists have to take into account the moon phases, which might affect how much light is reflecting on Earth. Also, the other factors which might influence this light would be clouds, auroras, or the vegetation on the surface which might constrain the night lights.
After they finish all the improvements they need to make, NASA hopes that users will be able to access the night lights themselves only several hours after they are captured. This will greatly improve the environmental and weather research, as they will be able to see how the planet is affected or how certain cloud formations move.
Image Source: Flickr
The post NASA Reveals Breathtaking Images of Night Lights from Space appeared first on Trinity News Daily.