
Glittering Blue - netinstructions
https://glittering.blue/
======
celoyd
I made this, and I’m happy to answer questions. (And to politely ignore
contentious remarks about how I characterized GOES-R.)

~~~
danielvf
Thanks! This was increadable to watch over and over again. I'm so used to
highly compressed video, that the detail in this was staggering.

Is there a good public reasonably live feed of this data? I found the 800x800
8 bit pngs, and I found information on the restricted access full sized 103
gigabyte per day feed.

~~~
celoyd
_Is there a good public reasonably live feed of this data?_

Right here: [http://himawari8.nict.go.jp](http://himawari8.nict.go.jp)

~~~
optiglitch
Any reason why we don't have several of these at all points?; or do we and I
just do not know about it? - p.s. love the site, thank you

~~~
logingone
_Europe’s weather authorities are extremely stingy with their nearest
equivalent data – their attitude is that the observations are for science or
for money, not for silly websites._

Feel free to provide an email address for us to complain.

------
patrickk
From the about page:

> "Europe’s weather authorities are extremely stingy with their nearest
> equivalent data – their attitude is that the observations are for science or
> for money, not for silly websites."

What a terrible attitude we have here. We don't even have the climate change
excuse because that attitude doesn't exist here. I did a bit of Googling, it
seems that Eumetsat is the agency responsible:

[http://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/AboutUs/index.html](http://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/AboutUs/index.html)

If anyone is interested in drafting a letter with me, asking why our
taxpayers' money is being used and the benefits not shared openly, please get
in touch. Email in my profile.

~~~
acomjean
In the US we have NOAA for weather. I found about about them when they were
being sued by some private forecasters (accuweather I think) for giving away
forecast data on the web. (We used to have a weather band radio which would
just broadcast the forecast).

The government site [1] is ad free and is very accurate and free from local
hype. To the local media snow = ratings. (I bike a lot so I'm a weather
watcher). My main complaint is their use of ALL CAPS in the detailed weather
discussion[2]

Getting a stream of data from NOAA wasn't so easy for global locations, hourly
so when my company needed it we paid weather underground which has a lat/long
-> json weather condition api.[3] its was free for developers and small sites
and its fun to play around with.

[0][http://graphical.weather.gov/xml/rest.php](http://graphical.weather.gov/xml/rest.php)
[1][http://www.weather.gov](http://www.weather.gov)
[2][http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=BOX&issuedby=BO...](http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=BOX&issuedby=BOX&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off)
[3][http://www.wunderground.com/weather/api/](http://www.wunderground.com/weather/api/)

~~~
Veratyr
You can get limited data from NOAA (METAR) through ADDS:
[https://aviationweather.gov/adds/dataserver](https://aviationweather.gov/adds/dataserver)

Here's an example for Moscow:
[https://aviationweather.gov/adds/dataserver_current/httppara...](https://aviationweather.gov/adds/dataserver_current/httpparam?dataSource=metars&requestType=retrieve&format=xml&stationString=UUEE&hoursBeforeNow=2)

If you need forecasts, NDFD appears to have both SOAP and REST services that
are updated hourly:
[http://graphical.weather.gov/xml/rest.php](http://graphical.weather.gov/xml/rest.php)

------
gus_massa
Be sure to read the (long) explanation and more details linked in the page:
[https://glittering.blue/about](https://glittering.blue/about)

------
HorizonXP
Reading the about page really makes me hope that private efforts to launch
mini/nano satellites actually works out. It would be supremely awesome to have
easily accessible data & imagery of our planet, rather than have it locked up
due to politics and bureaucracy.

~~~
sangnoir
> Reading the about page really makes me hope that private efforts to launch
> mini/nano satellites actually works out

That sounds like a good idea, but it gives me Kessler Syndrome anxiety. We
already have a bit of space debris on our hands

------
jarmitage
I made a script that sets the latest image from Himawari-8 as your desktop
background - new picture of Earth every 10 mins!

[https://gist.github.com/jarmitage/5042bfe20aa54b3d8dc8](https://gist.github.com/jarmitage/5042bfe20aa54b3d8dc8)

------
Garvey
Not a massive issue, but in Chrome if you scroll so that the credits/about
link is over the Earth, you can no longer click it.

Adding a z-index property set to 1 in the CSS fixes it for me in Chrome.

~~~
celoyd
Done. Thank you!

------
matthuggins
Black screen except for "Loading 0%" in the corner on Android.

~~~
machrider
Black screen here, too (although the loading text went from 0 to 100%) on
Firefox 44 on Windows 7.

~~~
ch4s3
I had the same problem on FF44 and Win7, but it worked fine on Chrome on
Windows and OSX, worth firing up Chrome to check out, IMHO.

~~~
celoyd
Sorry. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this project, it’s that video
support is hard.

I’m happy to take advice (preferably in the form of ffmpeg flags).

~~~
voltagex_
What were your ffmpeg flags to begin with?

~~~
celoyd
It’s based on the example for 2-pass encoding, with tweaks for things like
QuickTime support:
[https://gist.github.com/celoyd/90cc919105248a2ddc95](https://gist.github.com/celoyd/90cc919105248a2ddc95)

------
truebosko
The Earth looks so .. crisp and clean from afar.

Mesmerizing.

------
outworlder
> The moon does appear occasionally, dimly – it’s made of rock about as dark
> as asphalt.

That's what I've always found fascinating in discussions about what's the true
color of the moon. I know the fact, and I still have trouble picturing an
asphalt moon. No-one I told that believed me.

~~~
reedlaw
So is it freshly-poured asphalt black or well-worn asphalt grey? How can its
color be compared to something on earth? Doesn't the (lack of) atmosphere have
some effect?

~~~
celoyd
Well-worn gray:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albedo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albedo)

It’s a loose comparison, since both asphalt and the moon’s surface vary. Plus,
there are tricky things like specular reflection and the opposition effect.

 _How can its color be compared to something on earth? Doesn 't the (lack of)
atmosphere have some effect?_

You can hold a moon rock up against something on Earth. Or you can look at
Earth and the moon from a distance with the same sensor, which is what
Himawari-8 is doing.

The atmosphere does affect things: A huge plain of moon rocks on Earth’s
surface would look bluer (hazier) than the moon would in the same picture from
Himawari-8 (or an Apollo Hasselblad, etc.). And a moon rock in sunlight on
Earth will look slightly yellower than one in the same light on the moon. But
your eyes are constantly adapting to the surrounding illumination. Color
perception is really complicated.

------
hyperknot
If you have any problem with loading the page, here is the direct link to the
MP4:
[https://s3.amazonaws.com/hi8/v/2015-08-03.mp4](https://s3.amazonaws.com/hi8/v/2015-08-03.mp4)

------
aedron
From the FAQ:

 _What’s the light-colored border in the water around some continents?

Several things. The turquoise in the tropics ... is shallow water – we’re
seeing bright sand under a relatively thin layer of ocean. Around China, it’s
air pollution from coal power ..._

------
kelvin0
On firefox, all I see is a part of a sphere (earth?) that gets somewhat
illuminated. Laoding stops at 10% .... nothing else happens. What is is
supposed to do?

~~~
MagerValp
It's supposed to load to 100% (zing!)

Seriously though, works fine in FF here, and shows a beautifully rendered loop
of the earth.

------
VintageCool
OH! It's summer in the Northern Hemisphere on that picture. That's why the day
seems so damn short if you're watching Australia.

~~~
tilt_error
...and why there is no night at the north pole.

This cannot be mid summer though, because a larger area to the north should be
continuously illuminated then -- the part above the arctic circle.

Living north of the arctic circle makes nice summers, reading in bed without
any lamp, but sucks at winter.

------
martgnz
The New York Times published an interactive about this new satellite in July:
[http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/10/science/An-
Ima...](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/10/science/An-Image-of-
Earth-Every-Ten-Minutes.html)

------
Voltage
I also get a loading 0%. OSX Chrome.

From the page src:

// [Not like piano
music.]([http://achewood.com/index.php?date=11082002](http://achewood.com/index.php?date=11082002))

I'm intrigued but don't understand the comic.

------
rodionos
Himawari 8 is some 35K kilometers away from Earth (moon is 380K km). It
doesn't appear that far away just by looking at the satellite pictures.

------
cpayne624
Beautiful + fascinating + mesmerizing.

------
nas
This makes me want to play KSP. ;-)

------
tilt_error
Oh! So the sun IS really rotating around the Earth. The church was right all
along then...

~~~
elcct
I wonder how has he hacked God's webcam.

~~~
singularity2001
[https://www.shodan.io/](https://www.shodan.io/)

------
amelius
Very cool. But, you forgot to model the lightning :) Especially visible at
night.

~~~
an_ko
And you forgot to read the "about" page. :) It's not a rendering, it's
pictures of the planet.

------
oliv__
This is why I love the internet. Thank you for making this!

------
ramgorur
on the about page:

"My friend believes Earth is flat and people never landed on the moon. How do
I use this video to convince them otherwise?"

unfortunately, the answer is 100% true.

~~~
mucker
No, its him being a smart ass. He has never received that email but it allows
him to straw man any opponents. Because @!#!$$!@ love science!

------
ghettoimp
Nice work, sir.

------
cphoover
the hurricanes are really cool looking

------
thaumasiotes
I think mucker's excellent comment deserves to be listed under yours:

> to say you won't discuss contentious remarks after being pointedly
> contentious is really, pathetically bad form. If you dish it out, be
> prepared to take it.

~~~
celoyd
I think they’re just responding to my joke with a joke ;)

~~~
mucker
I didn't find it a joke and the votes indicate others took it seriously (down
votes are serious).

------
hueving
Avoid the about page, it's unnecessarily loaded with flame bait political
commentary.

~~~
tim333
I thought the about page was rather good and the political points interesting.

tl;dr he argues we can get this data from a Japanese satellite rather than US
ones because the climate denial folk have blocked funding.

In linked material:

>[the House of Representatives, led by Republicans] slashed Earth science
funding by $260 million and added extra money for planetary science that the
agency did not ask for. For example, nasa requested $30 million for a robotic
mission to Jupiter's icy moon, Europa, but the House gave it $140 million.

------
mucker
Nice stuff...except for the about page.

"but our federal science budget is controlled by climate denialists who
dishonestly impede Earth observation because environmental science embarrasses
them."

Uh no. The House voted not to spend money on a Vice Presidents dream of a
beautiful 38 million dollar picture. Now you can argue that it has merit, but
even the NY Times ([http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/01/science/politics-keeps-
a-s...](http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/01/science/politics-keeps-a-satellite-
earthbound.html)) leaves that question, quite rightfully, hanging.

And to say you won't discuss contentious remarks after being pointedly
contentious is really, pathetically bad form. If you dish it out, be prepared
to take it.

~~~
celoyd
Casual readers may not get your reference – the idea for DSCOVR literally came
to Al Gore in a dream. I still think this is hilarious.

One can indeed argue that DSCOVR has merit, and people including climate
scientists do. (Though arguably it’s really too early to judge either way
until there’s time for publications to come out of its data.) Earth’s
radiation budget is surprisingly underdetermined, considering its importance.

But it’s certainly a fair criticism of DSCOVR _as launched_ that it’s not
state-of-the-art. That’s because it was delayed for reasons of politics, only
loosely disguised as reasons of science.

The only places I’d push back on your remarks are:

1\. The “Uh no”, which is unsubstantiated (perhaps just facetious, but I’m
sensitive because I supported my point relatively laboriously, with the
links); and

2\. the idea that the NYT should refrain from pointing out political
interference in science funding.

~~~
thebooktocome
38 million was loose change, even in 1998. We spent far more teaching
abstinence (with little to no effect) to school children that year.

