Lab 13 - Earth Observing Missions Imagery

This lab is a gratefully modified version of lab 12 from Bradley A. Shellito’s Introduction to Geospatial Technologies p880

This chapter’s lab introduces some of the basics of examining imagery from three different Earth-observing satellite missions: Terra, Aqua, and Suomi NPP. You will be examining data from MOPITT as well as many types of imagery from MODIS and VIIRS. You will also be using online resources from NASA and others in conjunction with Google Earth. The goals for you to take away from this lab:

• Utilize Google Earth Pro as a tool for examining Earth-observing satellite imagery as an overlay
• Examine the usage and functions of the day-night band imagery from VIIRS
• Examine the usage and functions of MODIS imagery for various applications
• Examine the output from MOPITT imagery of global carbon monoxide
• Examine environmental and climate applications of satellite imagery from MODIS for land surface temperature, sea surface temperature, and snow cover

Outline:

Materials (click to download)

##Tutorial

Since we arn’t doing much quantitative analysis with this data

1. Start Google Earth Pro (GEP), and once loaded turn on the option Borders and Labels.
2. From the File pull-down menu, choose Open.
3. Under the pull-down menu where you can change the types of files to open in Google Earth, choose Images to allow GEP to open files of .tif file type.
4. Open the file Bakken_vir_2012317_geo.tif.
5. On the dialog box that pops up, click Crop.

7. When prompted, click the mouse somewhere in the middle of North Dakota. The VIIRS imagery should appear on the screen, properly aligned with Google Earth.
8. In the New Image Overlay dialog box, Google Earth gives you some information about the image. Click OK in this dialog box to close it. A new layer called bakken_vir_2012317_geo.tif is added to Google Earth.
9. Although North Dakota is sparsely populated, a lot of lights can be seen by VIIRS at night. These lights are related to the gas and oil drilling sites of the Bakken shale in the region. You may have to zoom out and pan around the imagery to see the whole North Dakota region.

More information about this is available through NASA’s Earth Observatory

Question 1
How does the VIIRS imagery help determine where shale and oil drilling is occurring in this section of North Dakota?

10. In Google Earth Pro, in the Places box, right-click on the Bakken_vir_2012317_geo.tif file and choose Delete to remove it.
11. Open the next GeoTIFF file, samerica_vir_2012202_geo.tif, in Google Earth Pro. GEP rotates to the Atlantic coast of South America and shows you an outline box of where the image should be placed.
12. In the dialog box that appears, again click Crop and click the mouse somewhere in the center of the outline box. The VIIRS image appears properly aligned in GEP. In the New Image Overlay dialog box, Google Earth gives you some information about the image. Click OK in that box to close it.
13. You see a VIIRS image captured during the night in July 2012 showing part of the eastern coast of South America. (More information about this is available through NASA’s Earth Observatory at https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/79822/city-lights-of-south-americas-atlantic-coast.) You may have to zoom out and pan around the imagery to see the whole region covered by the imagery.

Question 2
How does the VIIRS imagery help determine the spread of cities and populations across this section of South America? How can this imagery be used to aid in measuring demographics such as population density?

14. In Google Earth Pro, in the Places box, right-click on the samerica_vir_2012202_geo.tif file and choose Delete to remove it.

12.2 Viewing MODIS Satellite Imagery Overlays with Google Earth Pro

1. Open the next GeoTIFF image to examine: russia_tmo_2012170_fires_geo.tif. GEP rotates to Russia and shows you an outline box of where the image should be placed. In the dialog box that appears, this time click Scale. The MODIS image appears properly aligned in GEP. In the New Image Overlay dialog box, Google Earth gives you some information about the image. Click OK in that box to close it.
2. You see a MODIS image of wildfires burning in Siberia. (More information about this is available through NASA’s Earth Observatory, at https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/78305/siberia-burns.) You may have to zoom out and pan around the imagery to see the whole region covered by the imagery.

Question 3
How are the fires being shown in this MODIS imagery? How is the extent of the fires being tracked via MODIS? (Hint: What else is visible in the MODIS scene, aside from the fires?)

3. In Google Earth Pro, in the Places box, right-click on the russia_tmo_2012170_fires_geo.tif file and choose Delete to remove it.
4. Open the next GeoTIFF image to examine: newzealand_amo_2017317_geo.tif. This is a MODIS image of a phytoplankton bloom off the coast of New Zealand. (More information about this is available through NASA’s Earth Observatory Again, you may first have to zoom out to see the extent of the MODIS image and then zoom in to examine some of the details.

Question 4
How is the phytoplankton bloom shown in this MODIS image (that is, what distinguishes the bloom from the surrounding ocean)? What is the approximate size of the bloom (in comparison with the New Zealand coastline)?

5. In Google Earth Pro, in the Places box, right-click on the newzealand_amo_2017317_geo.tif file and choose Delete to remove it.
6. Open the last of the GeoTIFF images to examine: irene_amo_2011238_geo.tif.
7. In the dialog box that appears, click Scale. The MODIS image appears properly aligned in GEP. In the New Image Overlay dialog box, Google Earth gives you some information about the image. Click OK in that box to close it. This is a 2011 MODIS image of Hurricane Irene, which was a massively destructive storm. (More information about monitoring this storm is available at https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/51931/hurricane-irene.) Again, you have to zoom out to see the extent of the imagery of Irene.

Question 5
Why is MODIS used for monitoring weather and storms such as Hurricane Irene rather than other satellite systems we’ve discussed, such as WorldView-3 or Landsat 7 or 8?

8. In Google Earth Pro, in the Places box, right-click on the irene_amo_2011238_geo.tif file and choose Delete to remove it.

12.3 Viewing Recent Earth-Observing Imagery with Google Earth Pro

1. A system such as MODIS can image almost the entire Earth in a single day, and you can access very recent imagery from it. In Google Earth Pro, from the File pull-down menu select Open and then navigate to the Chapter 12 folder and open the KML file called Daily_MODIS_May3. When the file opens, GEP begins zooming very closely to Earth; you might want to stop it in mid-zoom and then zoom out to see the entire United States in Google Earth.
2. This KML file consists of a series of MODIS images from May 3, 2017, that cover nearly all of the United States. Pan and zoom across the imagery to see the entire area covered by these MODIS images.

Question 6
By examining the imagery, you can see that overlapping images were taken and that small pieces of imagery are missing. Approximately how much area of the United States is covered in one MODIS swath? Why do you think there are pieces missing from the imagery?

3. These MODIS images were downloaded from the University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering Center’s MODIS Today online tool. To see what’s happening with current MODIS imagery, point your Web browser to http://ge.ssec.wisc.edu/modis-today. When the Website opens, you see the currently available real-time MODIS imagery. Click on the radio buttons for Terra and Aqua to see what type of coverage of MODIS imagery is currently available for each one (as both satellites carry MODIS instruments).
4. Choose either Terra or Aqua, based on which one gives you the better overall coverage for today’s date. If neither is acceptable, click on the Previous Day button and try again with the two satellites. When you have a good MODIS image of the United States to work with, click on Open in Google Earth. If you are prompted with a dialog box, choose to open the file in Google Earth Pro. If not, save the KML to the Chapter 12 folder and then manually open it in Google Earth Pro.
5. You’ll see in Google Earth Pro’s Places box, under Temporary Places, the name of the initial KML you added (t1.17122) placed at the top of the list and then the second KML you added directly from the Website (shown in the graphic above as aqua_today.kml) placed second at the bottom. When you add KML/KMZ files to Google Earth Pro, the order of priority for displaying them goes from top to bottom in the Places box. So, whatever is at the bottom of the stack gets displayed first, then the next up from the bottom is displayed on top of it, until whatever is at the top of the stack gets displayed over everything else. (This will be important in the next section of the lab.) You can turn layers on and off by checking and unchecking their boxes. For now, display only the new KML file you downloaded from the Website.

Question 7
Based on your examination of today’s MODIS imagery, are there any notable weather patterns you can see forming, such as large storms? How much of the United States is visible and not clouded over?

6. Turn off both of the MODIS images.

12.4 Using the NASA Earth Observations (NEO) Web Resources

1. In your Web browser, go to http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov. This is the Website for NEO (NASA Earth Observations), an online source of downloadable Earth observation satellite imagery. In this portion of the lab, you’ll be using NEO’s imagery in KMZ format in conjunction with Google Earth Pro. Rather than provide you with only a view of a flat satellite image, NEO gives you the option of examining the imagery draped across a global view in GEP.

2. Click on the Atmosphere option at the top of the page.
3. Select the option Carbon Monoxide.
4. You see an image showing the global carbon monoxide concentration for one month, collected using the MOPITT instrument aboard Terra. (See the About this dataset section of the NEO Website for more detailed information.)
5. Select 2016 for the year and then choose the option June 2016. Select Google Earth from the Downloads File Type pull-down menu and click on the option 1440 × 720 to begin the download of the KMZ file. If prompted, open the file in Google Earth Pro. If you had to download the KMZ file, locate it on your computer and manually open the file in GEP.

6. Rotate Google Earth Pro to examine the MOPITT imagery draped over the globe. Make sure there’s a checkmark in Google Earth Pro’s Borders and Labels box.

Question 8
Geographically, where were the highest concentrations of carbon monoxide for this month?

7. Turn off the MOPITT Carbon Monoxide image in Google Earth Pro.
8. Back on the NEO Website, select the Energy tab and then select Land Surface Temperature [Day].
9. Choose the option for 2019 and then select February.
10. Use Google Earth for the Downloads File Type option and click on the 1440 × 720 option. If prompted, open the file in Google Earth Pro. If you had to download the KMZ file, locate it on your computer and manually open the file in Google Earth Pro.
11. Rotate Google Earth Pro to examine the new MODIS image.

Question 9
Geographically, where were the lowest daytime land surface temperatures for this month?

Question 10
Geographically, where specifically in South America are the lowest daytime land temperatures for this month? Why are temperatures so low here when the rest of the continent has higher daytime land surface temperatures? (Hint: You may want to zoom in on some of these areas and then examine them with and without the MODIS imagery turned on.)

12. Turn off the MODIS Land Surface Temperature image in Google Earth Pro.
13. Back on the NEO Website, select the Ocean tab and then select Sea Surface Temperature 2002 + (MODIS). Choose 2019 for the year and then select January. Use Google Earth for the Downloads File Type option and click on the 1440 × 720 option. If prompted, open the file in Google Earth Pro. If you had to download the KMZ file, locate it on your computer and manually open the file in Google Earth Pro.
14. Rotate Google Earth Pro and zoom in to examine the new MODIS composite image.

Question 11
Geographically, where were the areas with the warmest sea surface temperatures on the planet for this month? (Hint: You may want to turn on the Grid functions in Google Earth Pro—under the View pull-down menu—to add further geographic context to help answer this question.)

Question 12
How do the sea surface temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of Lisbon, Portugal; Saint Pierre, Newfoundland; London, England; and New York City, New York, all compare to one another (that is, rank them from warmest to coolest temperatures) for this month?

15. In Google Earth Pro, turn off this MODIS image.
16. Back on the NEO Website, select the Land tab and then select Snow Cover. Choose 2019 for the year and then select February. Use Google Earth for the Downloads File Type option and click on the 1440 × 720 option. If prompted, open the file in Google Earth Pro. If you had to download the KMZ file, locate it on your computer and manually open the file in Google Earth Pro.17. Rotate Google Earth Pro and zoom in to examine the new MODIS image, showing snow cover on Earth.

Question 13
Geographically, where were the greatest concentrations of snow cover in the southern hemisphere in February 2019 (other than Antarctica and the south polar region)?

18. In Google Earth Pro, turn off this MODIS image.
19. Back on the NEO Website, select the Land tab and then select Snow Cover. Choose 2018 for the year and then select August. Use Google Earth for the Downloads File Type option and click on the 1440 × 720 option. If prompted, open the file in Google Earth Pro. If you had to download the KMZ file, locate it on your computer and manually open the file in Google Earth Pro.
20. Rotate Google Earth Pro and zoom in to examine this second MODIS image showing snow cover on Earth.

Question 14
Geographically, where were the greatest concentrations of snow cover in the northern hemisphere in August 2018 (other than the north pole and the Arctic)

21. At this point, you can exit Google Earth Pro by selecting Exit from the File pull-down menu.

There is no need to save anything from this lab, so when done you can simply close without saving. Submit your answers to the questions on blackboard.