Photographs of Earth from airplanes and orbiting satellites provide visual perspectives of the surface that are of great value in augmenting the information conveyed by topographic maps. Photographic images show the surface as it is rather than as a representation composed of lines and symbols.
The principal objective of this exercise is to help students recognize a variety of common landforms as they appear on images of Earth. Note that topography is readily discernable because of the shadowing that results from the combined effects of the angle of the Sun's rays and the shape of the surface.
Satellite photographs are often displayed as false color images because different spectral bands in the sunlight reflected from Earth's surface can be combined to enhance selected physical properties of the surface. Thus, forest cover, other vegetation, snow and other aspects on the surface may not appear the same in all photographs.
The following photograph shows Geneseo as it was in 1962. Can you see any differences between 1962 and the present? Look at the campus. A map of Geneseo and part the surrounding area may help you to orient your view. Now look at Geneseo as it was in about 1990. Note that the 1990 photo is illuminated by a higher sun angle which results in the reduction of shadowing of tall objects and lower resolution of the surface topography.
Long Island, and adjacent parts of New Jersey and New York are illustrated in the next photograph. Locate the following features:
The last photograph in this section is self explanatory. It conveys another category of information that, unfortunately, sometimes serves a useful purpose.
An area near Anchorage, Alaska is illustrated in the next photograph. Locate the following features:
Ancient meteorite crater in northern Quebec, Canada.
The next four photographs illustrate densely urbanized areas and the terrains that surround them.
San Francisco, California Find the following features:
Denver, Colorado Find the following features:
Naples, Italy Find the following:
Tokyo, Japan The population of Tokyo is greater than ten million. Healthy vegetation is colored red on this image.
Italy The image illustrates air pollution in the Po River valley of northern Italy.
Photograph of the entire Earth taken during darkness. The distribution of artificial lighting illustrates the extent, in both area and intensity, of the impact of humans on our planet.
Rocky Mountains south of the Grand Teton National Park. Find the following features:
The next two photographs illustrate Los Alamos, New Mexico before and after a major fire. The burned area would appear black on a normal panchromatic photograph. However, black objects are good absorbers and radiators of solar heat, and infrared (heat) radiation has been assigned the color red on these images. The circular feature just west of the city is the Valles Caldera.
The following photos illustrate fires caused by lightning in the northwest territories of Canada and both deforestation and forest burning by humans in Brazil.
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