NASA ScienceCasts: Station Science 101 - Earth Observation from the Space Station

Stunning images of Earth captured by crew members on the International Space Station are actively supporting life on our planet, helping monitor climate change, and advancing our understanding of Earth’s changing landscapes.

What is said in the film

Station Science 101 Earth Observation from the Space Station These stunning images of Earth captured on the International Space Station are actively supporting life on our planet, helping monitor climate change, and advancing our understanding of Earth's changing landscapes. As part of a discipline called Earth Observation Science, space station imaging and data, along with satellites, are used to collect information about our planet that is not available from the ground. While satellites provide a lot of invaluable information, the space station's crew and unique orbit, which circles Earth nearly 16 times a day at different latitudes, provides more frequent and broader coverage of Earth with varied directions and fields of view, lighting conditions, and the added nuance of human subjectivity. Known as Astronaut photography, these images are part of Crew Earth Observations (CEO), a multidecade activity that translates into real world benefits. From the space station, the crew can track natural disasters and use their handheld digital camera images to support disaster response efforts on the ground.

Astronaut photography is also used to monitor glaciers and volcanoes, improve urban planning, observe urban lighting and atmospheric processes, and track bird migration corridors. Automated instruments on the space station's exterior, like ECOSTRESS, EMIT, SAGE III-ISS, and OCO-3 provide additional insight into extreme heat zones, atmospheric patterns, and carbon exchange that enhance ongoing climate science. Together, this information helps us better understand and track the complex changing systems of our planet. And for astronauts, capturing images of Earth has been shown to improve their mental health, reinforcing the awe-inspiring experience of seeing our planet from above.

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