Earth Observing Fleet (August 2021)
- Visualizations by:
- Greg Shirah
- View full credits
Changes to this version include: removal of SORCE and the addition of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich.
Spacecraft included:
Aqua
Aura
CALIPSO: Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation
CYGNSS-1: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 1
CYGNSS-2: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 2
CYGNSS-3: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 3
CYGNSS-4: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 4
CYNGSS-5: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 5
CYGNSS-6: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 6
CYGNSS-7: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 7
CYGNSS-8: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 8
Cloudsat
GPM: Global Precipitation Measurement
GRACE-FO-1: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On-1
GRACE-FO-2: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On-2
ICESat-2
ISS: International Space Station
Landsat 7
Landsat 8
OCO-2: Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2
SMAP: Soil Moisture Passive Active
Suomi NPP: Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership
Sentinel-6 Micael Freilich
Terra
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Visualizers
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
- Ernie Wright (USRA)
- Kel Elkins (USRA)
Datasets used in this visualization
Terra and Aqua BMNG (A.K.A. Blue Marble: Next Generation) (Collected with the MODIS sensor)
Credit: The Blue Marble data is courtesy of Reto Stockli (NASA/GSFC).
Dataset can be found at: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/BlueMarble/
See more visualizations using this data setCelesTrak Spacecraft Orbit Ephemeris
Dataset can be found at: http://celestrak.com
See more visualizations using this data setNote: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.
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Nov. 17th, 2020
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Jan. 12th, 2023
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Dec. 12th, 2021
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Earth Observing Fleet (December 2019)
Dec. 6th, 2019
Read moreNASA's Earth Observing Fleet (December 2019) This animation shows the orbits of NASA's fleet of Earth observing spacecraft that are considered operational as of December 2019. The clouds used in this version are from a high resolution GEOS model run at 10 minute time steps interpolated down to the per-frame level.Changes to this version include: removal of Jason-2 and Jason-3 and the camera does not show DSCOVR within its view.Spacecraft included:AquaAuraCALIPSO: Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite ObservationCYGNSS-1: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 1CYGNSS-2: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 2CYGNSS-3: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 3CYGNSS-4: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 4CYNGSS-5: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 5CYGNSS-6: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 6CYGNSS-7: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 7CYGNSS-8: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 8CloudsatGPM: Global Precipitation MeasurementGRACE-FO-1: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On-1GRACE-FO-2: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On-2ICESat-2ISS: International Space StationLandsat 7Landsat 8OCO-2: Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2SMAP: Soil Moisture Passive ActiveSORCE: Solar Radiation and Climate ExperimentSuomi NPP: Suomi National Polar-orbiting PartnershipTerra Related pages
Earth Observing Fleet (October 2018)
Dec. 8th, 2018
Read moreNASA's Earth Science Fleet as of October 2018 This animation shows the orbits of NASA's fleet of Earth observing spacecraft that are considered operational as of October 2018. New elements in this version include the ICESat-2 and Cloudsat/CALIPSO in new orbits. The clouds used in this version are from a high resolution GEOS model run at 10 minute time steps interpolated down to the per-frame level.Spacecraft included:AquaAuraCALIPSO: Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite ObservationCYGNSS-1: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 1CYGNSS-2: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 2CYGNSS-3: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 3CYGNSS-4: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 4CYNGSS-5: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 5CYGNSS-6: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 6CYGNSS-7: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 7CYGNSS-8: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 8CloudsatDSCOVR: Deep Space Climate ObservatoryGPM: Global Precipitation MeasurementGRACE-FO-1: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On-1GRACE-FO-2: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On-2ICESat-2ISS: International Space StationJason 2Jason 3Landsat 7Landsat 8OCO-2: Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2SMAP: Soil Moisture Passive ActiveSORCE: Solar Radiation and Climate ExperimentSuomi NPP: Suomi National Polar-orbiting PartnershipTerra Related pages
Earth Observing Fleet (June 2018)
July 11th, 2018
Read moreNASA's Earth observing starting at L1 and moving in towards Earth This animation shows the orbits of NASA's fleet of Earth observing spacecraft that are considered operational as of June 2018. New elements in this version include the GRACE Follow-On 1 and 2. The clouds used in this version are from a high resolution GEOS model run at 10 minute time steps interpolated down to the per-frame level.Spacecraft included:AquaAuraCALIPSO: Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite ObservationCYGNSS-1: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 1CYGNSS-2: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 2CYGNSS-3: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 3CYGNSS-4: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 4CYNGSS-5: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 5CYGNSS-6: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 6CYGNSS-7: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 7CYGNSS-8: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 8CloudsatDSCOVR: Deep Space Climate ObservatoryGPM: Global Precipitation MeasurementGRACE-FO-1: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On-1GRACE-FO-2: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow On-2ISS: International Space StationJason 2Jason 3Landsat 7Landsat 8OCO-2: Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2SMAP: Soil Moisture Passive ActiveSORCE: Solar Radiation and Climate ExperimentSuomi NPP: Suomi National Polar-orbiting PartnershipTerra Related pages
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April 18th, 2017
Read moreNASA's Earth observing fleet as of March 2017 NASA's Earth observing fleet as of March 2017 with the A-train in highlighted in green This animation shows the orbits of NASA's fleet of Earth observing spacecraft that are considered operational as of March 2017. New elements in this version include the CYGNSS constellation and DSCOVR at L1. The clouds used in this version are from a high resolution GEOS model run at 10 minute time steps interpolated down to the per-frame level.The following spacecraft are included:AquaAuraCALIPSO: Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite ObservationCYGNSS-1: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 1CYGNSS-2: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 2CYGNSS-3: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 3CYGNSS-4: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 4CYNGSS-5: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 5CYGNSS-6: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 6CYGNSS-7: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 7CYGNSS-8: Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 8CloudsatDSCOVR: Deep Space Climate ObservatoryGPM: Global Precipitation MeasurementGRACE-1: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment-1GRACE-2: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment-2ISS: International Space StationJason 2Jason 3Landsat 7Landsat 8OCO-2: Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2SMAP: Soil Moisture Passive ActiveSORCE: Solar Radiation and Climate ExperimentSuomi NPP: Suomi National Polar-orbiting PartnershipTerraQuikSCATAlso included:StarsMoonSunEarthL1: Sun-Earth Lagrange Point Related pages
NASA Earth Observing Fleet (February 2015)
Feb. 25th, 2015
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NASA Earth Observing Fleet (August 2014)
Sept. 9th, 2014
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NASA Earth Observing Fleet including GPM
Jan. 26th, 2014
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NASA Earth Observing Fleet including Landsat 8
June 26th, 2013
Read moreHD resolution version of NASA's Earth Observing Fleet (including Landsat 8) A newer version of this visualization can be found here.This animation shows the orbits of NASA's current (as of May 2013) fleet of Earth remote sensing observatories. The satellites include components of the A-Train (Aqua, Aura, CloudSat, CALIPSO), two satellites launched in 2011 (Aquarius, Suomi NPP), and nine others (ACRIMSAT, SORCE, GRACE, Jason 1 and 2, Landsat 7, Landsat 8, QuikSCAT, TRMM, and EO-1). These satellites measure tropical rainfall, solar irradiance, clouds, sea surface height, ocean salinity, and other aspects of the global environment. Together, they provide a picture of the Earth as a system.This is an update of visualization #3725. It was created for display on the NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) hyperwall, a 5 x 3 array of high-definition displays with a total pixel resolution of 6840 x 2304. The orbits are based on orbital elements with epochs in April of 2013. The visualization spans twenty-nine hours, from 04:10 UT on April 14, 2013 to 09:24 UT on Aril 15, 2013. Related pages
NASA's Orbiting Earth Observing Fleet (Improved Background)
Sept. 8th, 2005
Read moreNASA's Earth Observing Fleet NASA's Earth Observing Fleet NASA's Earth Observing fleet of vehicles constitutes a major milestone in the history of Earth science, facilitating the kinds of wide scale and synergistic research endeavors that until the last decade have been impossible to even consider. Many of the techniques being employed around Earth are a direct offshoot of technological and scientific techniques developed on missions to other worlds. NASA's continued commitment to primary research about our home remains a top priority not only to the agency, but to the nation, and the world as a whole. This visualization shows the spacecraft in NASA's Earth Observing fleet. The relative altitudes, speeds, and sun position are correct for 12-01-2003 starting at 5:00 UTC. Aura was added as it would have appeared in orbit had it already been launched at that time. This is an HD version that uses an earth with clouds. Related pages