Earth observation journal

Night Atlas

A quiet record of the light we make, the places we gather, and the patterns visible only after sunset.

Global composite · VIIRS observations Image: NASA / NOAA

The planet tells a different story after dark.

Night-light observations reveal settlement, movement, energy use and change at a scale that daylight photography cannot. This field journal gathers those signals into a simple visual record.

Read the field notes

From the archive

824 km Approximate orbital altitude of the Suomi NPP satellite.
2× daily Observations over the same point on Earth, day and night.
2012–now A continuing record of the world's changing night lights.