The NOAA satellite captures Earth’s mosaic to display a stunning panoramic view

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released the first of its image NOAA-21 Visible Imaging Infrared Radiometer (VIIRS) Array Instrument.

The recently launched satellite captured a stunning panoramic view of Earth, created from swaths of data captured across the globe over the 24-hour period between December 5 and December 6.

Polar-orbiting satellites monitor the entire planet twice each day, unlike geostationary satellites.

According to the agency, the mosaic image shows bright blue waters containing phytoplankton in the Caribbean Sea, weather systems in motion and smog from agricultural fires in northern India.

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The above image taken by NOAA-21’s VIIRS instrument shows the color of the ocean around the southern tip of Florida and the Caribbean.
(Credit: NOAA STAR VIIRS Image Team)

The turquoise color around Cuba and the Bahamas is caused by sediment in the shallow waters around the continental shelf, Dr. Satya Calourie, a joint satellite program scientist, said in a statement.

VIIRS Provides ocean color measurements Help detect harmful algal blooms and monitor phytoplankton activity and sea surface temperature.

This satellite image released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Oct. 21 shows smoke from massive wildfires over the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra.
(AFP/AFP via Getty Images)

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Above Earth, the instrument — which also flies on the Joint Polar Satellite System’s NOAA-20 and Suomi-NPP satellites — is capable of detecting and Measuring the intensity of forest firesdroughts and floods.

Fire intensity is fed into a product that tracks the thickness and movement of wildfire smoke.

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VIIRS also produces important environmental products on ice, ice cap, clouds, fog, aerosols and dust, as well as the health of the world’s crops.

Unlike geostationary satellites, polar-orbiting satellites capture swaths of data across the entire globe and monitor the entire planet twice a day. This global mosaic, captured by the VIIRS instrument on the recently launched NOAA-21 satellite, is a composite image created of these swathes over a 24-hour period between December 5 and December 6, 2022.
(SDR team at NOAA STAR VIIRS.)

The device was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base on November 10.

NOAA-21, formerly known as JPSS-2, is the second operational satellite in a series called the Joint Polar Satellite System.

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NOAA and NASA oversee the development, launch, testing and operation of all satellites in the system.