Just in time for the U.S. National Park Service’s Centennial celebration on Aug. 25, the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite is releasing four new anaglyphs that showcase 33 of our nation’s national parks, monuments, historical sites and recreation areas in glorious 3-D.
MISR views Earth with nine cameras pointed at different angles, giving it the unique capability to produce anaglyphs — stereoscopic images that allow the viewer to experience the landscape in three dimensions. The anaglyphs were made by combining data from MISR’s vertical-viewing and 46-degree forward-pointing camera.
If you’d like to experience the images with the 3-D effect, you will need red-blue glasses; make sure you place the red lens over your left eye. The images have been rotated so that north is to the left in order to enable 3-D viewing because the Terra satellite flies from north to south. All of the images are 235 miles (378 kilometers) wide from west to east.
Instructions for making 3-D glasses are online at: http://mars.nasa.gov/mro/mars3d/3DGlasses.cfm
Highlights visible in the Southwest Splendor anaglyph include Walnut Canyon National Monument, Arizona; Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Arizona; Wupatki National Monument, Arizona; Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona; Pipe Spring National Monument, Arizona; Zion National Park, Utah; Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah; Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah; Capitol Reef National Park, Utah; Navajo National Monument, Arizona; Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah; Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah; Canyonlands National Park, Utah; and Arches National Park, Utah. (Credits: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL-Caltech, MISR Team)
In the Wyoming Wonders anaglyph, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming; John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway, Wyoming; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; and parts of Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho are visible. (Credits: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL-Caltech, MISR Team)
Visible in the Pacific Northwest Panorama anaglyph are Lewis and Clark National Historic Park, Oregon; Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington; Olympic National Park, Washington; Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, Washington; San Juan Island National Historic Park, Washington; North Cascades National Park, Washington; Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, Washington; and Ross Lake National Recreation Area, Washington; as well as Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Washington, which is administered by the U.S. Forest Service. (Credits: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL-Caltech, MISR Team)
In the California Dreaming anaglyph, Sequoia National Park, California; Kings Canyon National Park, California; Manzanar National Historic Site, California; Devils Postpile National Monument, California; Yosemite National Park, California; and parts of Death Valley National Park, California are all visible. (Credits: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL-Caltech, MISR Team)
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