Earth never looked so good!
Thanks to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a space-based look back on our piece of celestial real estate offers an art-filled eye-full.
The USGS has unveiled “Earth as Art3” – a collection of the latest set of NASA Landsat satellite images selected for their artistic quality.
Taken from the Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellites, Earth as Art 3 depicts an intricate beauty in Earth’s natural patterns.
Instead of paint, the medium for this collection is light.
Satellite sensors don’t see light as the human eye does; sensors see the Earth in bands of red, green, blue, and infrared. As these different bands are combined into a single image, fascinating patterns, colors, and shapes emerge.
Forty satellite images were selected for the exhibit based solely on their aesthetic appeal. Cloud formations, coastlines, mountain ranges, islands, deltas, glaciers, and rivers seen from space take on patterns resembling abstract art with their striking textures and brilliant colors.
“While studying satellite imagery taken nearly 450 miles above the Earth’s surface, USGS researchers recognized that some remarkable images went beyond scientific value and inspired their imagination,” said Matt Larsen, USGS Associate Director for Climate and Land Use Change in a press statement.
The Earth as Art 3 collection coincides with Geography Awareness Week 2010.
To take your own look at these impressive images, go to:
http://eros.usgs.gov/imagegallery/
By LD/CSE