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Our evolving planet, captured from the ISS.

NDVI Capture of Central Valley

Fresno, California, USA

The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index is an indicator of a plant’s greenness or photosynthetic activity by comparing the ratio of visible light and near-infrared light in an image. Scientists use the index to assess plant health such as vegetation density, total plant cover, and plant stress. Data points on the NDVI range from -1 (areas with no vegetation) to 1 (healthy vegetation). As a way for us to visualize the index and extract meaningful data from a capture, we assigned colors to the NDVI scale. This Landsat 8 capture is of Fresno in California’s Central Valley. The greens correspond towards high values on the NDVI scale and reveal dense or healthy plants in this area. The reds signify sparse or stressed vegetation and have lower NDVI values.

The Ural River

Oral, Kazakhstan

The Ural River, flowing from the Ural Mountains into the Caspian Sea, is considered a boundary between Europe and Asia. Theia, Urthecast’s 5-meter resolution camera, captured the stark contrast between fertile land surrounding the Ural River and the broad, flat plains beyond. Oral, the capital of the West Kazakhstan Region, is on the west side of the river.

Barcelona, Spain

HD video, captured by Iris

Colourful shipping containers zip around the Port of Barcelona in this ‘First Light’ UrtheCast video, captured at roughly one-meter resolution from the International Space Station. To the left of the frame, high atop Montjuïc hill, lies the site of the 1992 Olympics, settled against the shore of the Balearic Sea.

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