Hyperion Animation (30 MB)
The Hyperion instrument aboard NASA's EO-1 satellite sees the Earthfrom space in a new way. Instead of detecting light in only 3—or even30—wavelengths, it detects 220 distinct wavelengths of light. So many,in fact, that it observes a virtually continuous spectrum of light from .4 µm (blue)to 2.5 µm (mid-infrared). The image above shows a true-color Hyperionimage of Argentina (composed of red, green, and blue channels). Superimposedon the image is the spectrum of light reflected from the area highlighted inorange (white line). Compare that to the spectrum of water (blue line), vegetation(green line), and fallow land (yellow line). Known as hyperspectral data, Hyperion's measurements will enable scientiststo distinguish different types of surface features—not only vegetation from water,but also soybeans from corn, pine trees from oaks, and sand from dust.
For more information, read:
EO-1 Fact Sheet from the Earth Observatory
EO-1 Home Page
Hyperion information page
References & Resources
Image and animation courtesy Tom Bridgman, Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio, based on data from the EO-1 science team.
