14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists operating Electro-L – the first next-generation meteorological satellite developed for the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos) by NPO Lavochkin – have just released a video clip made up of images from the spacecraft. The view of Earth's northern hemisphere is breathtaking.
The spacecraft, which flies in a geostationary orbit some 40,000 kilometers (24,854 miles) above the planet's surface, collects one 121-megapixel image of Earth every 30 minutes. Data are collected at four wavelengths, in the optical and infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The images that were blended to produce this animation were collected between May 14-20, 2011, and are color-coded orange for the infrared wavelengths. The photographs have a resolution of 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) per pixel.
A mask on the spacecraft is used to keep Earth's surroundings out of the image, so as to prevent any stray light from entering Electro-L's sensitive cameras.