A View From Above
Satellite Images Tell The Story
Our Objective:
Vocabulary You Need To Know
Learn to Read Satellite Images
Tips, Tricks, & Strategies For Reading Satellite Images
- Looking for a scale
- Looking for patterns, shapes, and textures
- Defining the colors (including shadows)
- Finding north
- Considering your prior knowledge
These tips come from Earth Observatory's writers and visualizers to help us gather visual data from all of the satellite images.
1. Look for Scale
Examine the photos above. The first picture shows a small box in the center of the photo. The second photo shows the area only contained within that small box.
What is a topographic map?
Topographic maps are detailed, accurate graphic representations of features that appear on the Earth's surface. These features include:
- cultural: roads, buildings, urban development, railways, airports, names of places and geographic features, administrative boundaries, state and international borders, reserves
- hydrography: lakes, rivers, streams, swamps, coastal flats
- relief: mountains, valleys, slopes, depressions
- vegetation: wooded and cleared areas, vineyards and orchards.
A map legend (or key) lists the features shown on that map, and their corresponding symbols.
Uses: Topographic maps are used for recreational purposes, such as travelling, hiking and orienteering, but they are also used by government and industry to assist with urban planning, mining, emergency management and the establishment of legal boundaries and land ownership.
Ga.gov.au,. "What Is A Topographic Map? - Geoscience Australia". N. p., 2016. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.
3 Types of Satellite Images
1. Visible Satellite Images
Dark areas in a visible satellite image represent geographic regions where only small amounts of visible sunlight are reflected back to space. Areas of white indicate clouds while shades of gray indicate generally clear skies. The oceans are usually dark while snow and thick clouds are bright.
2. Infrared Satellite Images
IR imagery can be used to distinguish low clouds from high clouds. Low clouds are relatively warm and appear gray in satellite IR images. Thick cold clouds, like the tops of thunderstorms, appear bright white. An obvious advantage of IR satellite images over visible images is that IR images are available day and night.