The earth at night

You have got to look at this:

http://eoimages2.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/79000/79765/dnb_land_ocean_ice.2012.3600x1800.jpg

Here's the larger version:

http://eoimages2.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/79000/79765/dnb_land_ocean_ice.2012.13500x6750.jpg

It's amazing all you can tell just by looking. In Egypt, lights trace the course of the Nile. And the contrast between North and South Korea is amazing.

The size of the African continent and lack of light is also impressive.

I assume that is all industrial operations in Russia north of India. There is no massive population centers to produce that much light.The cities all seem rather small.

Quote: rxwine

The size of the African continent and lack of light is also impressive.

It's more subtle than that.

See North Korea, and it suffers by comparison not just with South Korea, but also with China.

In Africa you see lots of little clusters of light, south of the Sahara at least, but no strings of lights between them, nor large splotches of light. I think what this means is that cities and towns are well lighted, but the roads between them are not. In Mexico most highways are unlighted, but some, particularly those stretches closer to Mexico City are either suburban areas or are lined with small businesses on the sides.

Now, if large splotches of light indicate dense urban areas, then Europe would seem to have a really high population density. Italy in particular seems alight head to toe ;)


Now for a small oddity, I think I see a couple of lights on the Dead Sea.

Quote: Nareed

Now for a small oddity, I think I see a couple of lights on the Dead Sea.

A lot of times the lights from boats are visible in space. The waters around China, Korea, and Japan are particularly busy with fishing boats.

Quote: Pacomartin

I assume that is all industrial operations in Russia north of India. There is no massive population centers to produce that much light.The cities all seem rather small.

The Fergana Basin of Tashkent-Bukhara-Samarkand is a major population and industrial center. Pop. estimated at 11m.

I'm not sure what all those lights are in Siberia. The same thing occurs around the Persian Gulf. It could be oil refining facilities.

Enormous amount of light activity in the Bakken Shale region of North Dakota.

Quote: Pacomartin

A lot of times the lights from boats are visible in space. The waters around China, Korea, and Japan are particularly busy with fishing boats.

I seriously doubt there are any fishing boats in the Dead Sea.

There are salt and mineral mining operations. I've seen some located at the shores. I suppose there could be some on the sea itself.

Does anyone else get a sense of vertigo, or uneasiness, or...something...when looking at the big version of this map? I get the same thing looking at the satellite images on Google maps, it just upsets me somehow.