A stunning image of our planet has been shared, capturing everything from the bright blue hue of the Caribbean Sea to the dense fog over northern India. But this picture is just the beginning of a new science mission that aims to track wildfires, droughts and floods, monitor ocean ecology and marine health, as well as provide a new global perspective on Earth from space.
This image was taken by NOAA-21, a recently launched NASA satellite that experts hope will provide vital information about our planet’s oceans, atmosphere and land.
The Earth-observing spacecraft has an instrument known as the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Package (VIIRS), which began collecting data in early December and produces a mosaic of frames over a 24-hour period. It features all sorts of features, from the snow-capped Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau to the haze and smoke over northern India caused by agricultural burning.
While VIIRS measures sea surface temperature, an important metric for monitoring hurricane formation, monitoring the color of the ocean helps monitor phytoplankton activity, an important indicator of ocean ecology and marine health.
Program scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dr. Satya Kalluri stated that one of her most important purposes is to produce images over Alaska, adding that satellites such as NOAA-21 fly directly over the North Pole several times a day, as they orbit the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole.
Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Flight Project NASA project scientist Dr. “VIIRS serves many disciplines and is an absolutely critical set of metrics,” says James Gleason.
VIIRS will provide many different data products used in many areas, from agricultural economists trying to make crop forecasts, to air quality researchers predicting where wildfire smoke will be, to disaster support teams counting night lights to understand the impact of a disaster.
NOAA-21 is the second operational satellite in the JPSS series, launched into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base on November 10. The previous satellite, known as NOAA-20, was launched in November 2017.
While both vehicles are cruising 824 kilometers above our planet at 27,360 km/h, they observe the entire Earth’s surface twice a day.
A third JPSS satellite will be launched in 2027 and a fourth in 2032.
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