A Sky View of Earth From Suomi NPP

Satellite: Suomi-NPP
Sensor: VIIRS
Date: 9 April 2015
Description:
 Data from six orbits of the Suomi-NPP spacecraft have been assembled
 into this perspective composite of southern Africa and the surrounding oceans.
 Tropical Cyclone Joalane is seen over the Indian Ocean.
Data used:
  The image was constructed from six orbits of surface reflectance (rhos)
  data using the 671, 551, and 443 nm bands for red, green, and blue
  respectively.
Projection:
 near-sided perspective projection from 8300 kilometers above 50 South by 40 East
Projection details:
 mapproject -Rd -JG40/-50/2.3/0/0/0/60/60/150
Image created by: Norman Kuring

This composite image of southern Africa and the surrounding oceans was captured by six orbits of the NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership spacecraft on April 9, 2015, by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument. Tropical Cyclone Joalane can be seen over the Indian Ocean. Winds, tides and density differences constantly stir the oceans while phytoplankton continually grow and die. Orbiting radiometers such as VIIRS allows scientists to track this variability over time and contribute to better understanding of ocean processes that are beneficial to human survival on Earth. The image was created by the Ocean Biology Processing Group at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.