NASA. LARGE FORMAT. Superb and historic photograph from the - Lot 221

NASA. LARGE FORMAT. Superb and historic photograph from the "BLUE MARBLE" series. Western Hemisphere. This stunningly beautiful view of Earth from space is a fusion of science and art, a showcase for the remote sensing technology that makes such views possible, and a testament to the passion and creativity of the scientists who devote their careers to understanding how land, ocean and atmosphere - indeed, life itself - interact to generate Earth's unique life-sustaining environment. Drawing on data from several satellite missions (not all of which were collected at the same time), a team of NASA scientists and graphic designers have created global data layers for everything from the earth's surface to polar sea ice, to the light reflected by the chlorophyll of the billions of microscopic plants growing in the ocean. They wrapped these layers around a globe, placed it on a black background and simulated the hazy edge of the Earth's atmosphere (the limbus) that appears in astronaut photographs of the Earth. The Earth's surface layer is based on observations of surface reflectance (reflected sunlight). The sea ice layer near the poles is based on diurnal sea ice observed between August 28 and September 6, 2001. The oceanic layer is a composite. In shallow water areas, the layer shows the surface reflectances observed in July 2004. In the open ocean, the photo-like layer is superimposed on observations of mean ocean chlorophyll content for 2004. The cloud layer shows a one-day snapshot of the clouds observed by Terra MODIS over the planet on July 29, 2001. City lights on the Earth's night side are visualized from data collected between 1994 and 1995. The topography layer is based on radar data collected by space shuttle Endeavour during an 11-day mission in February 2000. 2007. Numbering on front. Label on back. 50.8 x 50.8 cm with margin.