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Green: its the color of life. As seasons cycle on Earth, it is the greenness of the planet
that is the most notable change. Both on the ground and in space we seen vegetation bloom,
flourish, and fall. This satellite analysis of greenness over 1 year shows these subtle
transitions over the planet from week to week. This data is colored to represent the amount
of greenness on our planet.As summer fades to fall and eventually winter, we see the
loss of greenness, and even blankets of snow across the U.S. Improving our understanding
of surface vegetation advances our weather model accuracy, as it provides greater detail
on energy transfers between the surface and the atmosphere, which is the ultimate driver
of weather.We are now able to see the subtle changes in seasonal vegetation cover - important
for understanding the amount of fuel available for forest fires.We see the scars and disturbances
to ecosystems caused by the natural process wildfires and regrowth - or in the case of
the Everglades, the reduction in the natural occurrence of fires due to engineered waterways.Since
2012, NOAA, in collaboration with NASA, has taken a tremendous leap forward in measuring
global vegetation with the launch of the Suomi NPP satellite. The data from the satellite
is providing more detailed views of Earth not previously possible with NOAA satellites.
Continuous data records from previous satellite missions including the NOAA AVHRR and NASA
MODIS sensors will be used in conjunction with Suomi NPP�s VIIRS data to document
the changes observed in greenness over time - changes from week to week and over decades.Some
changes are natural, some are man made.The vastness of the Brazilian rainforest is clear
in this data, along with the network of tributaries leading to the mighty Amazon.Eventually this
heavy blanket of green gives way to a mottled patchwork of forest and field.In this view
we can clearly see areas of the Amazon converted from dense rain forest into agricultural areas.
Not only do these land use changes impact local ecosystems, but also microclimates and
microscale weather patterns.Not only does the VIIRS sensor provide us a detailed understanding
of how plant cover changes on land, but also how phytoplankton are distributed in the ocean.
Besides their individual usefulness, combining the two different datasets begins to paint
a picture of carbon cycling across the planet. Moving across Europe, cities mark the otherwise
lush landscapes dominated by agriculture and forest. Mountain ranges serve as divisions
between climate zones, where rain and temperature vary greatly between opposing sides, such
as the Alps and the Caucuses.These climate transitions are especially clear along the
southern edges of the Black and Caspian Seas, as lush mountain regions in Turkey and Iran
gives way to the plains of the Middle East.However, amid vast deserts we can see the signature
of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq - creating a well known historical breadbasket
in the region.Even the most subtle changes in vegetation from week to week provide meaning
to scientists. In the Horn of Africa, the slightest pixel by pixel variations from week
to week provide early warning for the onset of drought conditions - droughts thats can
impact tens of thousands of people each year. Early warnings provided by vegetation data
are used by global relief organizations to mobilize resources to lessen the effects of
drought on populations.As vegetation regrows it is also an indicator of the potential for
malaria, since mosquitoes in Sub-Saharan Africa are reliant upon proper vegetative habitat
to reproduce and spread the malaria disease.The Indus River Valley in Pakistan shows the signs
of productivity, especially in post-monsoon periods. And at its source, high in the Tibetan
Plateau, increases in global temperature are resulting in melting glaciers, changing the
extent of vegetation in this region.But still in the dense vegetation of Southern and Southeastern
Asia are the unmistakable signs of the human race. The footprints of towns and cities throughout
India and up through China are clearly visible. The United Nations estimates that over 60%
of the world lives in this region.Hundreds of islands, both large and small - some just
little green dots of lush tropical forest - are scattered through the western pacific.
Even some of the tiniest islands exhibit relatively large spatial variations in vegetation cover
due to their mountainous terrain.Australia�s red deserts, pale in this representation,
are lined by an area of green on the coasts - a thin boundary of habitable land on this
island-continent.As humans we do have impact on the color of Earth, but the cycle of seasonal
growth continues to beat a constant rhythm on our Green Planet.