NASA GLOBE Observer’s Weekly Roundup: 24-30 December 2017

 

Happy Holidays, everyone! Wishing you all wonderful times together with those you love -- this and more in this week's edition of the roundup.

1. IMAGE OF THE WEEK: Holiday lights, whether adorning a tree or a house, always add sparkle and excitement.  Did you know that during holiday times, satellites and astronauts can see those lights from space?

"With a new look at daily data from the Suomi NPP satellite, a NASA scientist and colleagues have identified how patterns in nighttime light intensity change during major holiday seasons. According to the data, nighttime lights around many major U.S. cities shine 20 to 50 percent brighter during Christmas and New Year’s when compared to light output during the rest of the year. In some Middle Eastern cities, nighttime lights shine more than 50 percent brighter during Ramadan than the rest of the year." Keep reading in the link below.

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2. LET IT SNOW?: Snow affects our ability to discern clouds from space. Snow also affects our measurements of holiday lights from space. The above image only measures holiday lights in areas without snow. For clouds, it has to do with the fact that both are white and look similar from space.  For lights, it has to do with the fact that snow reflects more light than areas without snow and therefore could skew light measurements.

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3. WEEKLY VIDEO: And of course, we do want to share with you our favorite cloud observation submissions from the past week. Thank you for sharing with us your observations from all around the world. We look forward to seeing your observations in 2018. Happy New Year!

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