Breathing Earth

Every five seconds, this scene of Earth changes  as the months change. Because the effects of seasonal change is most  profound in the northern hemisphere, we have chosen to highlight this  area.

The planet ‘breathes’ as the angle of the Sun changes during  Earth’s 365-day orbit. Not only do the snow bands move with the seasons  but also watch the green ebb and flow in the equatorial forests of  Africa.

Built with JavaScript and WebGL, the animation uses a json  file to supply the month and image information. Images are all from the  NASA Blue Marble collection.

In a related WebGL experiment, I  combined a movie of Jupiter’s clouds, added rotation and a 3D model I  created earlier. The twisted torus rotating randomly around Jupiter adds  a surreal, science fiction feel to this piece. Make sure to check it  out at https://www.terrazoom.com/atlas/cc/proj7/index2.html