Satellite imagery are photographs of Earth or other planets made from artificial satellites. First satellite photographs of Earth were made April 1, 1960 by the weather satellite TIROS-1. First satellite photographs of the Moon might have been made on October 6, 1959 by the Soviet satellite Luna 3, on a mission to photograph the far side of the Moon. Earth, also known as the Earth, Terra, and (mostly in the 19th century) Tellus, is the third planet outward from the Sun. ... For other uses, please see Satellite (disambiguation) A satellite is an object that orbits another object (known as its primary). ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... First TV image of Earth from space TIROS-1 (or TIROS-I) was the first successful weather satellite, and the first of a series of TIROS satellites. ... Crust composition Oxygen 43% Silicon 21% Aluminium 10% Calcium 9% Iron 9% Magnesium 5% Titanium 2% Nickel 0. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in Leap years). ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Luna 3, an automatic interplanetary station of the Luna program, was the third spacecraft successfully launched to the Moon and the first to return images of the lunar far side. ...

In 1972 the United States started the Landsat program, the largest program for acquisition of imagery of Earth from space. Landsat 7, the most recent Landsat satellite, was launched in 1999. 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... The Landsat program is the longest running enterprise for acquisition of imagery of Earth from space. ... Landsat 7 is the latest satellite of the Landsat program. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

All satellite images produced by NASA are published by Earth Observatory and are freely available to the public. Other countries have their own satellite imaging programs. There are also private companies that provide commercial satellite imagery. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which was established in 1958, is the agency responsible for the public space program of the United States of America. ... The Earth Observatory is a publishing organization of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States. ...

Satellite images have many applications in agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education, intelligence and warfare. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Geology (from Greek γη- (ge-, the earth) and λογος (logos, word, reason)) is the science and study of the Earth, its composition, structure, physical properties, history, and the processes that shape it. ... Forestry - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Regional planning is a branch of planning that deals with the design and efficient placement of activities and infrastrucutre across a significantly large area of land. ... Intelligence has two different common meanings : Intelligence (trait) Animal intelligence Artificial intelligence Intelligence (information gathering) Business intelligence Military espionage This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... For other uses of War, see War (disambiguation). ...

Images can be in visible colours and in other spectres. There are also elevation maps, usually made with by radar imaging. A spectre is a representation of something supernatural or frightening, usually imaginary. ...

Blue Marble was a project for mapping the visible color of the Earth with about 1-km resolution. The beautiful resulting images have become very popular in the media and among the public. A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer) (symbol: km) is a unit of length equal to 1000 metres (from the Greek words khilia = thousand and metro = count/measure). ...

A satellite can only see a relatively small area at the same time. For this reason mapping a large area (or the whole Earth) takes a lot of time and most satellite images are on average several years old. Because imaging satellites are in low Earth orbits, real-time imaging of a certain area is complicated. However, spy satellites can do this during wars and other military operations or to provide data for intelligence agencies. Still, the troops frequently find out that the ground truth is different from the images that were taken some time ago. A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit in which objects such as satellites are below intermediate circular orbit (ICO) and far below geostationary orbit, but typically around 350 - 1400 km above the Earths surface. ... KH-4B Corona satellite Lacrosse radar spy satellite under construction A spy satellite (officially referred to as a reconnaissance satellite or recon sat) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. ... In cartography and analysis of aerial photographs and satellite imagery, the ground truth is the facts that are found when a location is field checked -- that is, when people actually visit the location on foot. ...

The image resolution of satellite images varies. For most cities in the world photos with resolution of 10 meters or better are available. For areas outside cities the resolution can be 100-500 meters. Most of the Earth is imaged with resolution of 1 km or better. For many smaller areas images with resolution as high as 10 cm can be available. Satellite imagery is supplemented with aerial photography, which has higher resolution, but is more expensive. The word resolution has several meanings, depending on context. ...

Because the total area of the land on Earth is so large and because resolution is relatively high, satellite databases are huge. Storing and serving satellite imagery was a big technical challenge.

Satellite imagery can be combined with GIS data. For example, the EarthViewer can combine the images with maps and other information from various sources. A geographic information system (GIS) is a system for managing spatial data and associated attributes. ...

In the early 21st century satellite imagery became widely available when affordable, easy to use software with access to satellite imagery databases was offered by several companies and organizations. In calendars based on the Christian Era or Common Era, such as the Gregorian calendar, the 21st century is the current century, as of this writing. ...

See also

• SRTM
• MODIS
• GLOBE
• Virtual globe
  • NASA World Wind
  • Virtual Earth
  • Google Earth
• TerraServer-USA
• Terraserver.com
• Google Maps

Ash plumes on Kamchatka Peninsula, eastern Russia MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) is a payload scientific instrument launched into Earth orbit by NASA in 1999 on board the Terra (EOS AM) Satellite, and in 2002 on board the Aqua (EOS PM) satellite. ... Google Earth, a highly detailed virtual globe that comes with atmosphere effects, seabed and even a simplified planetarium A virtual globe is a 3D software model of the earth. ... World Wind is a virtual globe developed by NASA for use on personal computers running Microsoft Windows. ... MSN Virtual Earth is virtual globe software by Microsoft for use on personal computers running MSN and in future versions for Microsoft Windows. ... Google Earth is a free virtual globe developed by Google for use on personal computers running Microsoft Windows. ... TerraServer-USA web site TerraServer-USA is a free online repository[1] of public domain aerial imagery and satellite imagery, formerly known as Microsoft TerraServer. ... Terraserver. ... Screenshot of Google Maps showing a route from Toronto to Ottawa Penang island and Province Wellesley on the mainland as seen on Google Maps [1] Google Maps is a free, online map service provided by Google. ...

External links

• World Wind - an open source 3D Earth-viewing software developed by NASA that accesses NASA JPL database
• Google Earth - Google's commercial 3D Earth-viewing software- Free.
• Google Maps satellite imagery
• TerraServer-USA - formerly Microsoft TerraServer, a repository of free satellite images of the United States
• GlobeXplorer - library of satellite imagery and maps