NOAA’s hurricane forecasts will continue to be able to use data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). Michael Lowry reports that in a last-minute reversal, the U.S. Department of Defense will continue to allow NOAA to have access to that data for the remainder of the satellites’ lifespan (about a year or two). NOAA and NASA had been told that they’d lose access to the data today: see previous entry. In an earlier post Lowry challenged the notion that a viable substitute could be found for the DMSP’s Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) data, the loss of which he described as “significant and devastating” to hurricane forecasting. [Wonkette]
Tag: satellite
Defense Department Cuts Off NOAA, NASA from Key Satellite Data Used in Hurricane Forecasting
Citing cybersecurity concerns, the U.S. Department of Defense is cutting off NOAA and NASA access to data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), throwing a wrench into the NOAA’s ability to forecast hurricanes, CNN reports. Of particular concern is the loss of access to the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS). CNN explains:
This tool is like a 3D X-ray of tropical storms and hurricanes, revealing where the strongest rain bands and winds are likely to be and how they are shifting.
Such imagery provides forecasters with information about a storm’s inner structure and is one of the limited ways they can discern how quickly and significantly a storm’s intensity is changing, particularly at night and during periods when hurricane hunter aircraft are not flying in the storm.
It does not appear that the agencies were given notice of this move. They managed to negotiate a one-month extension, to July 31. NOAA says it can use other sources for its hurricane forecasts.
Seafloor Features Mapped by Satellite
“Mapping the seafloor isn’t the SWOT mission’s primary purpose,” says the JPL, and yet the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite is being used for more than measuring sea surface height: those ocean surface topography measurements can be used to infer features on the seafloor. NASA Earth Observatory:
Because geologic features like seamounts and abyssal hills have more mass than their surroundings, they exert a slightly stronger gravitational pull that creates small, measurable bumps in the sea surface above them. These subtle gravity signatures help researchers predict the kind of seafloor feature that produced them.
[…] Through repeated observations, the satellite is sensitive enough to pick up these minute differences, with centimeter-level accuracy, in sea surface height caused by the features below. David Sandwell, a geophysicist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and his colleagues used a year’s worth of SWOT data to focus on seamounts, abyssal hills, and underwater continental margins, where continental crust meets oceanic crust.
[…] Areas of decreased gravity (purple) are affiliated with depressions on the seafloor, while areas of increased gravity (green) indicate the locations of more massive, elevated features.
Only about a quarter of the seafloor has been mapped with traditional sonar methods, so you can see how a gap is being filled here. Next up is calculating the depth of the features being detected through this method.
Hurricane Milton
NASA Earth Observatory mapped the Gulf of Mexico’s above-average sea surface temperatures (6-7 October) and brightness temperature—“which is useful for distinguishing cooler cloud structures (white and purple) from the warmer surface below (yellow and orange)”—as Milton crossed Florida.
CNN maps the impact of Hurricane Milton across Florida.
Riley Walz’s Waffle House Index map: “FEMA officials informally track disaster impact by checking if Waffle House stays open. This site uses bots to check if each store is accepting online orders right now, offering a real-time view of how Hurricane Milton is affecting Florida.” [Maps Mania]
Some Google Maps Updates
Google Maps imagery updates include improved satellite imagery thanks to an AI model that removes clouds, shadows and haze, plus “one of the biggest updates to Street View yet, with new imagery in almost 80 countries—some of which will have Street View imagery for the very first time.” The web version of Google Earth will be updated with access to more historical imagery and better project and file organization, plus a new abstract basemap layer. [PetaPixel]
Meanwhile, The Verge reports that Google Maps is cracking down on business pages that violate its policy against fake ratings and reviews.
A Look Back at the SRTM
Last month NASA Earth Observatory ran a two-part series about the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which produced a high-resolution digital elevation model of the Earth based on radar data collected by the shuttle Endeavour in 2000. The first part looks at how Endeavour gathered the data, the second part at how it’s been used.
Nearly a quarter century after the mission to map the world, the SRTM’s data still yields results. Just this year, it aided in wildfire forecasting for Iran’s Zagros Mountains, tracking soil erosion in South Africa, assessing flood risk on the coast of Brazil, and even determining how the locations of power-generating wind turbines affect real estate values. Tens of thousands of research papers are published every year that rely on SRTM maps for these and other environmental, economic, agricultural, and public safety studies.
Canada’s Early Wildfire Season
Another year, another map from the European Space Agency showing the extent of Canada’s wildfires based on data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite. It’s not nearly as bad as last year’s, but it’s way earlier. The above is a frame from an animated map showing carbon monoxide concentrations earlier this month. “The extremely high concentrations, depicted in dark shades of orange, can be linked to active fires during this time period.”
Previously: Two Ways to Visualize Canada’s Wildfires.
Google, EDF Partner to Build Map of Global Methane Emissions
Methane is a greenhouse gas, more powerful than CO2 but shorter-lived. Google is partnering with the Environmental Defense Fund to map global methane emissions, much of which result from leaks from fossil fuel infrastructure and are undercounted. The EDF’s MethaneSAT satellite (itself a partnership between the EDF and New Zealand’s space agency) launches next month: it’ll measure methane emissions at high resolution. Google’s bringing to the party algorithms and AI, the latter to build a global map of oil and gas infrastructure.
Once we have this complete infrastructure map, we can overlay the MethaneSAT data that shows where methane is coming from. When the two maps are lined up, we can see how emissions correspond to specific infrastructure and obtain a far better understanding of the types of sources that generally contribute most to methane leaks. This information is incredibly valuable to anticipate and mitigate emissions in oil and gas infrastructure that is generally most susceptible to leaks.
Previously: Mapping Methane Emissions.
Mapping Global Sea Levels at Even Finer Resolution
Launched in December 2022, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite measures ocean surface topography—i.e., sea surface height. It recently completed its first full 21-day science orbit, which is represented in the above animated globe.
The animation shows sea surface height anomalies around the world: Red and orange indicate ocean heights that were higher than the global mean sea surface height, while blue represents heights lower than the mean. Sea level differences can highlight ocean currents, like the Gulf Stream coming off the U.S. East Coast or the Kuroshio current off the east coast of Japan. Sea surface height can also indicate regions of relatively warmer water—like the eastern part of the equatorial Pacific Ocean during an El Niño—because water expands as it warms.
Sea surface height has been measured by earlier satellites (previously); SWOT does so at a much greater level of detail.
Two Ways to Visualize Canada’s Wildfires
The European Space Agency released this map showing the impact on atmospheric carbon monoxide from Canadian forest fires. “Using data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission, the image shows the average concentration of carbon monoxide for 1 May to 13 June. The extremely high concentrations, which are depicted in deep tones of orange, can be linked to active fires during the time. The image also shows how this air pollutant was carried as far as New York in the USA and over the Atlantic.”
Also from the ESA: this animated map of fire outbreaks in Canada during the same period.
Previously: Fire and Smoke Forecast Maps; Wildfires in Alberta.
Virginia Norwood, 1927-2023
Virginia Norwood, called “the mother of Landsat” for her invention of Landsat 1’s multispectral scanner system, died on March 26th at the age of 96. See also Landsat’s memorial. [Lat × Long]
Previously: The Mother of Landsat.
Mapping the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Roundup #2
Content warning: Some of these links contain disturbing images: I’ve marked them with a †.
More on the question of whether theatre maps accurately reflect the ground situation. Nathan Ruser’s maps have been used to argue that Russian forces are controlling roads rather than territory, but Ruser complains that his maps are being misinterpreted: they were never meant to show territorial control, just troop movements. See also this Twitter thread from Jennifer Cafarella, in which she explains the methodology and reasoning behind her team’s maps.
3D models of bombing damage.† Satellite imagery and 3D photogrammetric data are used to create 3D models of bombing damage in Ukraine. [Maps Mania]
A map of attacks on civilian targets† with photo and video documentation. [Nataliya Gumenyuk]
Where hot spots are literally hot spots. In a Twitter thread, Sotris Valkaniotis shows how military operations in Ukraine show up in Landsat spectral imagery: weapons fire turns up as hot spots showing “very high temperature in short-wave infrared band.”
A Ukrainian map of alleged Russian casualties† and where they were deployed from. [Michael Weiss]
A map of checkpoint traffic. More than two million Ukrainians have fled the Russian invasion. Overwhelmingly, they’re fleeing westward. This map shows how busy each border checkpoint is: Polish border crossings are extremely congested. [Kyiv Independent]
Meanwhile, Kenneth Field has been working on ways to map Ukraine’s refugees. Here’s his most recent iteration:
Update to my illustrative #Ukraine refugee map.
Adds more displaced grey dots to major populated areas.
Adds same stippled symbology to Russian incursion to indicate fuzziness of invasion (neither lines nor areas).#cartography #StandWithUkraine 💙💛 pic.twitter.com/QOyA8RaRi0
— Kenneth Field (@kennethfield) March 8, 2022
Ukraine’s population density. More than 41 million people live in Ukraine. This map from Airwars shows the population density per square kilometre. Which shows how many people in an area are affected by a particular military strike.
Apple says Crimea is Ukrainian. Mashable: “Apple’s Maps and Weather apps now mark Crimea as part of Ukraine when accessed outside of Russia. It appears the company has quietly updated its stance on the territorial dispute.” Apple had marked Crimea as Russian in 2019, which pissed Ukraine off at the time. [TechCrunch]
Finally, this striking bit of art:
By Ukrainian tattoo artist Eugene Anatsky pic.twitter.com/qVybeGYAuE
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) March 5, 2022
Alaskan Ice in Retreat
This NASA Earth Observatory video looks at the retreat of Alaska’s Columbia Glacier since 1986. Transcript here.
Looking for Lightning, Finding Meteors
It turns out that the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) aboard the GOES-16 and GOES-17 earth observing satellites can do more than just detect lightning—it can also detect bolides, or very bright meteors, thanks to a new automatic detection algorithm. NASA Earth Observatory: “The map above shows the distribution of more than 3,000 bolides detected by the GLMs aboard GOES-16 and GOES-17 between July 2017 and January 2022. Blue points are bolides detected by GOES-16; pink points were detected by GOES-17. The lone pink point over the Atlantic Ocean was detected by GOES-17 during its commissioning phase before it was moved into its operational orbit over the West Coast.” (Bolides in the middle of the map are detected by both, and as you can see there’s a bit of parallax.)
How Satellites Revealed the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai Eruption
The BBC’s Jonathan Amos looks at the ways satellites have collected imagery and data on the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai1 volcanic eruption.