Animation of a year of Global Cloud Cover
Update April 19, 2020: I made a longer, higher resolution version which you can find here.
Here's an animation showing a year of global cloud cover (from July 2017 to July 2018) :
The clouds are sourced from the free daily download at xplanet. I run a Google apps script that saves a copy of the image to Google Drive every day (basically the same as this script to save Nest cam images). The hard part was waiting a year to get enough frames. Xplanet combines GEOS, METEOSAT and GMS satellite imagery with some reflection near the poles. Although I didn't need to for this project note that you can subscribe to higher quality / more frequent downloads.
As well as the clouds you can also see the terminator between day and night change shape over the course of the year. This video starts and ends with the Summer equinox when days are longest in the Northern hemisphere.
Where it's nighttime the image is based on NASA's Black Marble. The daytime is based on Blue Marble, but blended with a different older image which has better ocean colors and interpolated daily between twelve monthly Blue Marble satellite images. The result of this is that you can see snow and ice coverage changing over the course of the year. If you look closely you'll also notice vegetation growing and dying back with the seasons.
Rendered in a slightly modified build of Catfood Earth (the main release doesn't know how to access my private cache of xplanet cloud images). As well as combining day, night and cloud images Catfood Earth can also show you earthquakes, volcanoes, US weather radar, political borders, places and time zones. It has been enlivening Windows desktop wallpaper for fifteen years now (as shareware back when that was a thing, these days it's a free download for Windows and Android).
More Google Apps Script Projects
- Get an email when your security camera sees something new (Apps Script + Cloud Vision)
- Get an email if your site stops being mobile friendly (no longer available)
- Export Google Fit Daily Steps, Weight and Distance to a Google Sheet
- Email Alerts for new Referers in Google Analytics using Apps Script
- Control LIFX WiFi light bulbs from Google Apps Script
- How to backup Google Photos to Google Drive automatically after July 2019 with Apps Script
- Using the Todoist API to set a due date on the Alexa integration to-do list (with Apps Script)
- Automate Google PageSpeed Insights and Core Web Vitals Logging with Apps Script
- Using the Azure Monitor REST API from Google Apps Script
- Monitor page index status with Google Sheets, Apps Script and the Google Search Console API
(Published to the Fediverse as: Animation of a year of Global Cloud Cover #code #software #video #animation #appsscript #drive #earth #nasa #xplanet Timelapse video showing cloud cover, day and night and changing seasons. Rendered in Catfood Earth. )
Star Trails
Here's a different take on the timelapse I posted yesterday (Jupiter from Casini Ranch):
For this version each frame is built from the cumulative maximum pixel value for all the previous frames. So it's like a long exposure with nice star trails (and Jupiter, and at various points a couple of satellites and a plane).
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(Published to the Fediverse as: Star Trails #timelapse #video #stars #jupiter Time lapse of star trails above Casini Range Family Campground in Sonoma County, California. )
Jupiter from Casini Ranch
A short 4K UHD timelapse featuring Jupiter rising over the Russian River:
Shot from Casini Ranch near Duncan Mills, California. It's a shame it's not Saturn and Cassini Ranch.
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(Published to the Fediverse as: Jupiter from Casini Ranch #timelapse #video #4k #jupiter #stars Time lapse of Jupiter rising over Casini Ranch Family Campground in Sonoma, California. )
Painted Lady Butterflies Eclosing
Four Painted Lady butterflies eclose (emerge) from their chrysalises. The video has a timelapse and then realtime video of each butterfly in turn.
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(Published to the Fediverse as: Painted Lady Butterflies Eclosing #etc #video #butterfly #chrysalis #eclose Timelapse and realtime video of four Painted Lady butterflies eclosing (emerging) from their chrysalises )
Sutro Baths Timelapse
Timelapse of the Sutro Baths ruins at Lands End in San Francisco, CA.
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(Published to the Fediverse as: Sutro Baths Timelapse #timelapse #video #4k #sutrobaths #sanfrancisco A 4k timelapse of the ruins of Sutro Baths at Lands End in San Francisco, CA )
Backyard Visits
I have a Nest camera in my backyard. So far it has caught zero criminals. It's not completely useless though as it has captured many raccoons, several skunks, eerie spiders glowing in the infrared lights, a couple of rats and one cat. Parkside police say I can stop calling now.
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(Published to the Fediverse as: Backyard Visits #etc #video #nest A Nest camera catches many raccoons, several skunks, eerie spiders, a couple of rats and one cat. )
San Francisco Street Tree Datalapse
A datalapse video of San Francisco street trees:
City elevation contours and street tree database from DataSF. I included all trees with a latitude, longitude and known planting date. On the visualization trees grow over 25 years to a generally exaggerated 25 meters radius. Each species of tree is assigned a random color.
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(Published to the Fediverse as: San Francisco Street Tree Datalapse #etc #datalapse #sanfrancisco #trees #video Animation of all the known trees in San Francisco (from Data SF). )
2017 Total Solar Eclipse from Madras, OR
Edited highlights from the 2017 total solar eclipse shot from Madras, Oregon.
360 spherical video of totality. This is best in a virtual reality headset.
The three timelapse videos edited into the version at the top of the page. The first one was shot on a GoPro. The second is from a Sony RX100V with an ND5 filter and the third is the Sony timelapse processed to keep the sun at the center of the frame.
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(Published to the Fediverse as: 2017 Total Solar Eclipse from Madras, OR #photo #timelapse #spherical #eclipse #solar #360 #video Timelapse video, composite photo and spherical 360 video of totality from the 2017 total solar eclipse in Madras, Oregon. )
Stars from Pine Mountain Lake
Timelapse of sunset and then stars shot over several nights at Pine Mountain Lake in Groveland, CA.
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(Published to the Fediverse as: Stars from Pine Mountain Lake #timelapse #4k #stars #california #video Timelapse of sunset and stars from Pine Mountain Lake in Groveland, California (4K) )
Stars over Lake Tahoe
4K timelapse of stars and the Milky Way over Lake Tahoe, California.
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(Published to the Fediverse as: Stars over Lake Tahoe #timelapse #video #4k #laketahoe #california 4K timelapse of stars and the Milky Way over Lake Tahoe, California. )