One of the first images acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in 2018 was this clear nighttime view of the northeastern United States. On a frigid night lit by a nearly full Moon, city lights shone brightly amidst the snow-covered landscape.
With temperatures of 9 degrees Fahrenheit (-13 degrees Celsius) in New York City, the 2018 New Year’s Eve celebration at Times Square was the second coldest on record.
The image above was acquired by the VIIRS “day-night band,” a sensor that detects light signals in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared, and uses filtering techniques to observe signals such as city lights, auroras, wildfires, and reflected moonlight.
References & Resources
- NASA (2017, November 30) A Supermoon Trilogy. Accessed January 2, 2018.
- NBC (2017, December 31) New Year’s Eve Ball Drop 2nd Coldest on Record. Accessed January 2, 2018.
- NASA Earth Observatory (2018) Earth at Night.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens using VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership . Text by Adam Voiland.
