Far-out Flora
Across the continents, plants flourish or flounder depending on climate, precipitation and human activities. By using advanced satellite sensors that can detect the greenness of plants from space, scientists have amassed a decades-long record of the planet's terrestrial plant life. Data from the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite, the latest to make these measurements, was used to produce detailed images of plant activity around the world. The dense green areas on the globe represent thriving flora, whereas the light green or tan areas represent sparse plant life or struggling vegetation. The data will be incorporated into U.S. weather prediction models and could help provide early warnings of droughts and fires. Watch the visualization to see how Earth’s plant life changes over the course of a year.
Take a tour of Earth’s terrestrial plant life.
This visualization shows vegetation changes from Mar. 15, 2012 to Mar. 15, 2013, as seen by the Suomi NPP satellite.
Thriving vegetation can be seen in the equatorial region of South America year-round.
In addition to providing early warnings of droughts and fires, the satellite data can also be used to help predict malaria outbreaks in Africa.
Arid conditions result in the lack of abundant plant life observed in the Middle East.
Australia is largely comprised of dry regions with bits of lively vegetation found on the edges of the continent.
For More Information
See NASA.gov
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Animator
- Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC)
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Video editor
- Kayvon Sharghi (USRA)
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Scientists
- Eric Vermote (NASA/GSFC)
- James Gleason (NASA/GSFC)
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Writer
- Kasha Patel (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Tuesday, July 23, 2013.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:51 PM EDT.