Billions of people will see London through many different
filters and lenses during the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic
Games. None of those views will look quite like this one from
the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite. The
image above shows London and the southern half of Great Britain
as it appeared on the night of March 27, 2012. While most of the
events in the 2012 Olympics will be held in the greater London
area, several other cities and towns will host events,
including: canoeing at Lee Valley White Water Center; sailing in
Portland Harbour; rowing and canoeing at Eton Dorney; and
cycling and mountain bike events at Hadleigh Farm. The image was
acquired by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite
(VIIRS) on Suomi NPP, which includes a “day-night band” similar
to images collected by the Operational Linescan System (OLS)
flown on U.S. Defense Meterological Satellite Program (DMSP)
satellites. The day-night band observes light in a range of
wavelengths from green to near-infrared,