Category Archives: Eyes in the Sky

Eyes in the Sky, Space participation, Space Systems

SkyTruth – Using satellites to spot gas flares, deforestation, illegal fishing, and other nasties

SkyTruth uses satellite imagery and measurements to monitor the globe for nefarious activities:

SkyTruth is a nonprofit organization using remote sensing and digital mapping to create stunning images that expose the landscape disruption and habitat degradation caused by mining, oil and gas drilling, deforestation, fishing and other human activities.

Our vision is a world where all people can see and understand the environmental consequences of human activity everywhere on Earth, and are motivated to take action to protect it.

Our mission is to motivate and empower new constituencies for environmental protection through illuminating the issues that impact our planet.

We use scientifically credible satellite images and other visual technologies to create compelling pictures that vividly illustrate environmental impacts, and provide these pictures and supporting data to environmental advocates, policy-makers, the media, and the public. 

Here, for example, is a graphical display of gas flares around the world: Global Flaring Visualization – SkyTruth

GlobalFlaring

A new program is the Global Fishing Watch:

Global Fishing Watch is the product of a technology partnership between SkyTruth, Oceana, and Google that is designed to show all of the trackable fishing activity in the ocean. This interactive web tool – currently in prototype stage – is being built to enable anyone to visualize the global fishing fleet in space and time. Global Fishing Watch will reveal the intensity of fishing effort around the world, one of the stressors contributing to the precipitous decline of our fisheries.

A visualization of ocean fishing activities was unveiled last fall Global Fishing Watch – SkyTruth. They are taking advantage of satellite tracking of ships via the Automatic Identification System (AIS). The AIS is based on a standardized transmitter on ships intended to help with maritime traffic control. Though the AIS signal is fairly short range and intended originally only terrestrial reception in coastal areas, it was shown a few years ago that it can be picked up by satellites in low earth orbit. Subsequently, several satellite systems now use AIS to provide maritime traffic monitoring. Here are two ship tracking visualization tools available on line for free:

This video lays out the Global Fishing Watch plan:

Eyes in the Sky, Multiple media

Oddities on Google Earth

Here’s an interesting collection of natural and man-made features as seen from space : 40 Bizarre and Cool Google Earth Photos – noupe.

Lovers Island is all heart for ValentinesThe isle of Galesnjak off the coast of Croatia has a Valentines look about it.
Photo: Google Earth/EUROPICS

Eyes in the Sky, Living in Space, Multiple media

Video: Beautiful time-lapse earth images by Alexander Gerst on the ISS

Here is a compilation of time-lapse imagery of the earth shot from the ISS by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and set to a nice soundtrack:

Education, Eyes in the Sky

Video: Update on the Sally Ride EarthKAM program

Here is a NASA interview with Cari Goulard of the Sally Ride EarthKAM program, which

enables middle school students all around the world to take photographs of Earth with a camera mounted in a window on the International Space Station. More than 800 schools in 51 countries, representing more than 70,000 students, are signed up for the current session.

Eyes in the Sky, Living in Space, Multiple media

Video: ISS earth time lapse

Via Universe Today comes this excellent time lapse video compiled with imagery from the Int. Space Station:

http://youtu.be/2dAHGvmT6v8