Category: Earth Observation Group – Payne

Night-Time Detection of Subpixel Emitters with VIIRS Mid-Wave Infrared Bands M12–M13. 2/21/2023

Night-Time Detection of Subpixel Emitters with VIIRS Mid-Wave Infrared Bands M12–M13

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin, Director Christopher D. Elvidge and Alexey Poyda talk about a new approach to subpixel infrared (IR) emitter detection in VIIRS mid-wave (MWIR) infrared bands M12–M13 at night, based on the presence of a tightly clustered background diagonal present in full granule scattergrams of M12 versus M13 radiances. This diagonal is found universally in night-time VIIRS data collected worldwide. The diagonal feature is absent during the day due to solar reflectance. The existence of the diagonal is attributed to close spacing in the bandpass centers of the VIIRS’ two MWIR bands.  Februay 21, 2023.

VIIRS Day/Night Band Power Outage Analysis for the February 6, 2023 Earthquake in Turkey and Syria 2/16/2023

VIIRS Day/Night Band Power Outage Analysis for the February 6, 2023 Earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associates Tilottama Ghosh and Mikhail Zhizhin, and Director Christopher D. Elvidge use satellite imagery to look at the power outage in Turkey and Syria caused by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck in the Gaziantep province in Turkey.  February 16, 2023.  

Pakistan’s power outage on January 23, 2023 1/24/2023

Pakistan’s power outage on January 23, 2023

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group researcher Tilottama Ghosh and Director Christopher Elvidge write about how millions of people in Pakistan were reported to be without electric power on during the day on Monday, January 23, 2023 when electricity was turned off Sunday night to conserve energy. The next morning, technicians were unable to restart the system in the dawn hours and the power remained off during much of the day on January 23.  January 24, 2023.

Ukraine Power Outages Viewed From the NASA/NOAA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite at Night 1/10/2023

Ukraine Power Outages Viewed From the NASA/NOAA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite at Night

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Director Christopher Elvidge, Research Associate Tilottama Ghosh and Mikhail Zhizhin, and student researcher Elijah Mt.Castle write about how as the Russia-Ukraine war approaches the 1 year mark the electrical grid in Ukraine has taken devastating damage. Russia has hit more than 200 targets in the electrical infrastructure. This has left millions of Ukrainian citizens without power in the cold winter months. In the early days of the war Russia captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russia has now militarized the facility installing several Grad rocket launchers around the dry storage for spent nuclear fuel. Protective structures were erected to defend the launchers, but these structures violate international nuclear and radiation safety regulations.   January 10, 2023.  

Statistical Moments of VIIRS Nighttime Lights

Statistical Moments of VIIRS Nighttime Lights

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Director Christopher D. Elvidge, Feng Chi Hsu, Mikhail Zhizhin, Tilottama Ghosh, and Tamara Sparks write about how they generated VIIRS day/night band multiyear and annual statistical moments for a widely dispersed set of test areas. The moments were calculated from 15 arc second nightly temporal profiles spanning 2012-2020, filtered to exclude cloudy and sunlit data, with radiance adjustments to reduce view angle and lunar illuminance effects. The moment data were examined in two ways: 1) Geospatial grids-which reveal zonation and temporal changes present in urban areas, and 2) Scattergrams of moment pairs.  December 16, 2022.

Grass Fire in South Australia 10/28/2022

Grass Fire in South Australia

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group student researcher Elijah Mt. Castle looks at a wildfire in the Northeast edge of Southern Australia that grew to over 65,000 hectares (161,000 acres). The wildfire started on the 19th of September and burned for 10 days. Due to its location in remote APY land (An indigenous protected zone) fire suppression efforts was hampered. Fortunately, the communities of Kalka and Pipalyatjara were not threatened by the fire. Firebreaks were created to protect the endangered species of warru that live in the area. No damage was reported from the fire.  October 28, 2022.  

Novel Steel Industry Flaring Capability at Payne Institute 10/24/2022

Novel Steel Industry Flaring Capability at Payne Institute

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Director Christopher Elvidge, Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin, Communications Associate Kelly Tabor, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the they have developed a new method for detecting flaring at industrial sites with the capability to produce worldwide data on steel mills.  This data is relevant for policy-makers, non-governmental organizations, and industry leaders seeking innovative Green Steel solutions; traditional steel manufacturing produces more CO2 emissions than any other heavy industry.  October 24, 2022.

POWER OUTAGE IN FLORIDA CAUSED BY HURRICANE IAN 10/5/2022

POWER OUTAGE IN FLORIDA CAUSED BY HURRICANE IAN

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associate Tilottama Ghosh writes about how Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida on the southwest coast in the island of Cayo Costa near Fort Myers and Cape Coral on September 28th at about 3:15 pm local time as a Category 4 Hurricane. It caused immense damage to life and property. On September 30th, 1.8 million people were still without power.  October 5, 2022.

Russia Is Keeping Unsold Gas Underground Rather Than Flaring It 9/28/2022

Russia Is Keeping Unsold Gas Underground Rather Than Flaring It

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group contributes to the research on the economic impact of Russia’s gas shutoff is dominating European politics, but there are also concerns about the environmental consequences. The amount of gas observed being flared — burned off into the atmosphere — at Gazprom’s key production area in the Yamal peninsula between Aug. 10 and Sept. 21 averaged 1.18 million cubic meters a day.  September 28, 2022.

POWER OUTAGE IN PUERTO RICO CAUSED BY HURRICANE FIONA 9/26/22

POWER OUTAGE IN PUERTO RICO CAUSED BY HURRICANE FIONA

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associate Tilottama Ghosh writes about how the September 15th, power supply was ‘normal’ in Puerto Rico. Then increasing cloud cover was seen September 16th onwards, till Hurricane Fiona made landfall on September 18th. The cloud cover remained heavy till September 21st making it difficult to get a ‘clear’ view of the power outage. September 26, 2022.