Earth Matters

A Super View of a Super Bloom

April 10th, 2019 by Adam Voiland
Photo Credit: NASA/Jim Ross. Learn more about this image.

When we published a few Landsat images of wildflower super blooms in California in March 2019, you may have had to squint a little to find the flowers. From 705 kilometers (438 miles) above Earth’s surface, at the 15-meter-per-pixel resolution of the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8, the flowers tend to blend with the hues of the desert.

Not so with this colorful photograph of poppies and other wildflowers in Antelope Valley that was taken from a T-34 airplane. The picture was shot by NASA Armstrong aerial photographer Jim Ross, who may have one of the coolest jobs at NASA. Watch the video below to find out how he got it.

Meanwhile, remote sensing scientist Iban Ameztoy was inspired enough by the aerial photos to pull Sentinel-2 satellite imagery of the same bloom and share them on Twitter.

Want more satellite imagery and aerial photography of the super bloom in California? NASA Earth Observatory and NASA Armstrong have you covered.

Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Landsat 8/OLI. Learn more about this image.
Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Landsat 8/OLI. Learn more about this image.