COSEE Ocean Systems: News
Monitoring the Arctic during Polar Darkness
Description: Scientists watched the Arctic with particular interest in the summer of 2012. The behavior of sea ice following such a low extent interests scientists, but as Arctic sea ice was advancing in the autumn of 2012, so was polar darkness. Fortunately, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite can see in the dark. The VIIRS "day-night band" detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses filtering techniques to observe signals such as gas flares, auroras, wildfires, city lights, and reflected moonlight. [Source: NASA Earth Observatory]
URL: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=79825
Availability: Full Text
Source: NASA Earth Observatory
Publish Date: 10/30/2012
Reading Level: Basic
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