Since 2012,Adam Voilandhas been working on a pet project to find every missive of the alphabet in NASA orbiter imagery and astronaut photographs . After geezerhood of weary eye and a fiddling minute of help from his colleagues and the net , NASA ’s Earth Observatorywebsite has released the complete ABC’s .
The project discover letter in everything from mount range of mountains , clouds , rivers , phytoplankton blooms , internal-combustion engine , dust clouds , and even man - made towns .
In the article , Voiland explain the inspiration behind the undertaking . As a science writer for NASA ’s Earth Observatory web log , he spends a bonny amount of time trawling through NASA ’s satellite imagery . While writing a small-arm on wildfires , he came across a “ quintuplet ” shape in a bullet bloom over Canada . collide with by curiosity , he set out to find the complete solidifying .
He went on to explain : “ Some alphabetic character , like O and C , were easy to find . Others – A , B-complex vitamin , and roentgen – were maddeningly difficult . Note that the A below is cursive . And if you may encounter a better instance of any letter ( in NASA imagery),send us an emailwith the escort , parallel of latitude , and longitude . ”
you could check out the full alphabet on Adam Voiland ’s mail service over at theNASA Earth Observatory , along with all of his Dr. Seuss - inspired caption explaining where exactly these letters lie . We ’ve posted a selection below .
" A , what begins with A ? There is Antarctica and the Arctic , algal bloom , bitter rain , and the atmosphere . And aerosol container altering an astronaut ’s scene of this ancient gathering of rock in a state adjacent to Arizona !
An astronaut captured this exposure of Utah ’s Green River doubling back on itself – a feature known as Bowknot Bend – from the International Space Station on January 22 , 2014 . "
Caption by Adam Voiland . persona credit : NASA
" Bonjour B , what begins with B ? Biomass and boreal forests . Beirut , Barcelona , and Brasília . A bunch of babbling birds bunched up along Holla Bend .
On August 4 , 2014 , the Operational Land Imager ( OLI ) on Landsat 8 acquire this image of the Arkansas River and the Holla Bend Wildlife Refuge . In the winter , it is usual for the asylum to host 100,000 ducks and geese at once . "
Caption by Adam Voiland . figure course credit : NASA
" Big C , small C , what begins with C ? This twist crescent of carbonate and lechatelierite clinging to the coast . There is CloudSat and CALIPSO . Contrails from jets cruise over cumulus clouds . The Corolis force , chlorofluorocarbons , and crafty coccolithophores !
An astronaut captured this photo of an stilted island at the southern end of Bahrain Island on January 23 , 2011 . The beach sand on tropical island is mostly made up of calcium carbonate from the shell and systema skeletale of maritime organisms . "
Caption by Adam Voiland . mental image credit : NASA
" What begins with D ? Decomposing detritus and dust bank on a dimpled island during deglaciation . Deserts , delta , and deforestation . What else ? information ! Data sets … databases … data systems … data point visualisation .
The Enhanced Thematic Mapper on Landsat 7 acquired this image of Akimiski Island in James Bay on August 9 , 2000 . "
" What begins with E ? Earth , of course . Evaporation and the exosphere . Egypt and Eyjafjallajökull . Eskers , erratics , El Niño , and EO-1 . This ephemeral cortege of algae off the east coast of an island where English is speak !
On October 25 , 2009 , the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ( MODIS ) on NASA ’s Aqua satellite captured this persona of a phytoplankton flush off the seashore of New Zealand . "
" Big F , little f. What begins with F ? Firn - fill fiord and fixed build on fold , fogy - occupy facies of stone ! Fog , fossil fuels , and faults . France , Fort Collins , and do n’t forget Fiji .
The Operational Land Imager ( OLI ) on Landsat 8 acquired this false - color figure of speech of vale and snow - covered mountain reach in southeastern Tibet on August 4 , 2014 . Firn is a grainy character of snow often observe on the airfoil of a glacier before it has been compact into ice . "
" proficient sidereal day , G. What begins with G ? Geostationary satellites in geosynchronous orbit . glasshouse gases and worldwide thawing . Glaciers … snuff it , going , gone . These resplendent grains of sand softly groomed by the grinding power of the Pacific Ocean .
This image of Pinaki Island was captured by astronauts on the International Space Station in April 2001 . "
" Hello H , what begins with H ? Haze , hurricanes , and hydrocarbon . Hawaii and Hakodate . Hummocky humus heaped on these mound in the center of Kyrgyzstan .
On , August 30 , 2014 , the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8 acquired this persona of river run through colorful ridge in southwesterly Kyrgyzstan . "
" What start with I ? In situ measurements and infrared radiation . deoxyephedrine tabloid and isthmus . Istanbul and Ilopango . This intriguing picture of India ’s Andaman Island after an intimidating incident involve an earthquake .
On February 10 , 2007 , the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ( MODIS ) on NASA ’s Terra satellite captured this image of the Andaman Islands . The thin , hopeful rings surrounding several of the island are coral reefs that were lifted up by a massive earthquake near Sumatra in 2004 . "
