NASA’s Worldview
Aqua MODIS 24 July 2014
Jeff Schmaltz
Goddard Space Flight Center
Satellites & Education Conference XXVII
East Fork of the Bitterroot River on the Sula Complex
August 6, 2000
Photo credit: the Alaskan Type I Incident Management Team. Photographer: John McColgan,
fire behavior analyst, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service
Rapid Response
• Near-real time information
from MODIS
• Fires
• “True Color” imagery
California – Terra 26 October 2003
earthdata.nasa.gov/Worldview
Take the Tour! (hover over “i” icon)
250 meters per pixel Resolution
Cannot read license plates
Cannot see your house
Can see large cities
But, there are two overpasses per day
Ash plumes - Nyamuragira Volcano
http://1.usa.gov/1nGDdqR
Severe Storms - Super Typhoon Rammasun
http://1.usa.gov/1rieHuu
Smoke Plumes – US and Canadian Wildfires
http://1.usa.gov/1nGGLtc
Google Earth Animation - Hurricane Arthur
http://1.usa.gov/1zdee13
Google Earth Animation
•Select region and date
•Use “camera” icon to download KML
•Close download tool and change date
•Click “camera” again, region selection
will be remembered
•Rinse and repeat
College Example
Katie L.Pitts
Texas A & M University
“Worldview was used in a junior/senior
level undergraduate atmospheric
sciences class - Satellite Meteorology
and Remote Sensing. For their final
project, the students were tasked with
using satellite data to analyze some
atmospheric or surface feature/event of
their choosing.”
Ship Tracks off the West Coast
http://1.usa.gov/1kfrU8F
Deforestation in South America
http://1.usa.gov/1kfsbZp
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
Detailed captions and links
lance-modis.eosdis.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/imagery/gallery.cgi
No captions, but more MODIS images
wiki.earthdata.nasa.gov/display/GIBS/GIBS+Available+Imagery+Products
Earth at Night 2012
http://1.usa.gov/1qGYkeW
Coming Attractions
Events feed integrated into Worldview
MODIS Imagery from 2000 onwards
Open Street Map layer including labels
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/labs/lab/cloud/
Educator’s Guide
Cloud Typing
Reconstructing a Storm > Open Investigation
Thank You!
Jeff.Schmaltz@nasa.gov
301-614-5135