Robert Simmon
@rsimmon.bsky.social
Data Visualization. Ex-Planet & NASA Earth Observatory. Blue Marble, Earth at Night, color, cartography, occasionally skewed views of Earth. Looking for a job.
Dramatic changes in and around Hayli Gubbi #Volcano after its eruption on November 23rd. In addition to the thin coating of ash, note the petite gas plume and a new secondary crater. 🌋🛰️
November 25, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Dramatic changes in and around Hayli Gubbi #Volcano after its eruption on November 23rd. In addition to the thin coating of ash, note the petite gas plume and a new secondary crater. 🌋🛰️
This sentence is grammatically correct, but the words make no sense together: “just a simple Wordle-like where you play Golf using Chess pieces”
As a way to drum up wish lists on my next Steam game, I took an old Web App game I made and turned it into a Free Steam game. No ads, no micro transactions, just a simple Wordle-like where you play Golf using Chess pieces.
store.steampowered.com/app/4158380/...
store.steampowered.com/app/4158380/...
November 25, 2025 at 5:39 PM
This sentence is grammatically correct, but the words make no sense together: “just a simple Wordle-like where you play Golf using Chess pieces”
Reposted by Robert Simmon
Almost anything can be treated as a map. Projections, charts, and diagrams are all ways of flattening the world so we can understand.
But the real magic happens when we enjoy those maps together. MAPS FOR KIDS is here! Let's meet our three maps: visionarypress.com/pages/maps-f...
But the real magic happens when we enjoy those maps together. MAPS FOR KIDS is here! Let's meet our three maps: visionarypress.com/pages/maps-f...
Maps for Kids
Celebrate information graphics!
visionarypress.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Almost anything can be treated as a map. Projections, charts, and diagrams are all ways of flattening the world so we can understand.
But the real magic happens when we enjoy those maps together. MAPS FOR KIDS is here! Let's meet our three maps: visionarypress.com/pages/maps-f...
But the real magic happens when we enjoy those maps together. MAPS FOR KIDS is here! Let's meet our three maps: visionarypress.com/pages/maps-f...
Reposted by Robert Simmon
An explosive #eruption of Hayli Gubbi #volcano, located SE of Erta'Ale in the Afar Rift (Ethiopia), began at ~08:30 UTC on Nov 23. Eruption onset was fortuitously captured by a @planet.com overpass at 08:31 UTC. Hayli Gubbi has no record of Holocene eruptions. Toulouse VAAC reporting ash to ~15 km.
November 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
An explosive #eruption of Hayli Gubbi #volcano, located SE of Erta'Ale in the Afar Rift (Ethiopia), began at ~08:30 UTC on Nov 23. Eruption onset was fortuitously captured by a @planet.com overpass at 08:31 UTC. Hayli Gubbi has no record of Holocene eruptions. Toulouse VAAC reporting ash to ~15 km.
I’m having a tough time trying to decide exactly how much Python to include in my tutorial that’s supposed to be the simplest possible introduction to using Python to drive GDAL. 🤷♂️
November 24, 2025 at 11:24 PM
I’m having a tough time trying to decide exactly how much Python to include in my tutorial that’s supposed to be the simplest possible introduction to using Python to drive GDAL. 🤷♂️
Hayli Gubbi Volcano (lower right) from Sentinel-2 hours before it erupted explosively. Erta Ale (upper left) is emitting a small plume from its perennially-active lava lake. Imagery from Copernicus: browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu?zoom=13&lat=...
🌋🛰️
🌋🛰️
November 24, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Hayli Gubbi Volcano (lower right) from Sentinel-2 hours before it erupted explosively. Erta Ale (upper left) is emitting a small plume from its perennially-active lava lake. Imagery from Copernicus: browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu?zoom=13&lat=...
🌋🛰️
🌋🛰️
Great view of the eruption of Hayli Gubbi Volcano from Aqua MODIS yesterday afternoon. Imagery from NASA WorldView: go.nasa.gov/4p0ivDW
🌋🛰️
🌋🛰️
November 24, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Great view of the eruption of Hayli Gubbi Volcano from Aqua MODIS yesterday afternoon. Imagery from NASA WorldView: go.nasa.gov/4p0ivDW
🌋🛰️
🌋🛰️
There isn‘t much difference between the “Horn” & “ZevenbergenThorne” algorithms for calculating slope and hillshade in GDAL. (The literature suggests Zevenbergen & Thorne to be more suited to smooth landscapes, whereas Horn's formula to perform better on rougher terrain: gdal.org/en/stable/pr...)
November 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
There isn‘t much difference between the “Horn” & “ZevenbergenThorne” algorithms for calculating slope and hillshade in GDAL. (The literature suggests Zevenbergen & Thorne to be more suited to smooth landscapes, whereas Horn's formula to perform better on rougher terrain: gdal.org/en/stable/pr...)
I love this question. (And yes, the answer is surprising!)
How far back in time can the naked eye see?
To see back in the Universe farther than ever before, we need large, powerful telescopes.
But the naked eye, if you look just right, can take you impressively far.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #cosmology
To see back in the Universe farther than ever before, we need large, powerful telescopes.
But the naked eye, if you look just right, can take you impressively far.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #cosmology
How far back in time can the naked eye see?
Every observation out into deep space is also a look back in time.
bigthink.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I love this question. (And yes, the answer is surprising!)
Reposted by Robert Simmon
Cool inset map from this "Geologic Map of the San Francisco Bay Region," by Graymer, et al. (2006). ngmdb.usgs.gov/ngm-bin/pdp/...
It shows the blocks of crust sliced & diced by Bay Area faults, and how much & in what direction they have moved in the past 34 million years.
⚒️
It shows the blocks of crust sliced & diced by Bay Area faults, and how much & in what direction they have moved in the past 34 million years.
⚒️
November 24, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Cool inset map from this "Geologic Map of the San Francisco Bay Region," by Graymer, et al. (2006). ngmdb.usgs.gov/ngm-bin/pdp/...
It shows the blocks of crust sliced & diced by Bay Area faults, and how much & in what direction they have moved in the past 34 million years.
⚒️
It shows the blocks of crust sliced & diced by Bay Area faults, and how much & in what direction they have moved in the past 34 million years.
⚒️
Reposted by Robert Simmon
Fabulous.
'Light Fantastic'
21,837 images across 18 time-lapse sequences photographed by Don Pettit & Butch Wilmore are repaired, remastered and retimed to create 3x real time video footage.
Credit: Butch Wilmore / Don Pettit / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cKk...
21,837 images across 18 time-lapse sequences photographed by Don Pettit & Butch Wilmore are repaired, remastered and retimed to create 3x real time video footage.
Credit: Butch Wilmore / Don Pettit / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cKk...
ISS - Light Fantastic
YouTube video by Seán Doran
www.youtube.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Fabulous.
Anyone else having trouble downloading DEMs from the National Map right now? apps.nationalmap.gov/downloader/
TNM Download v2
The TNM Download Client is built on modern web technologies and features a simplified approach to downloading products from The National Map.
apps.nationalmap.gov
November 22, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Anyone else having trouble downloading DEMs from the National Map right now? apps.nationalmap.gov/downloader/
“Sentinel-6B will build upon the legacy of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich by making sea level measurements that improve forecasts … It also will support a safer reentry for our astronauts returning home, including crew from Artemis Moon missions.”
Wut?
Wut?
About the size of a full-size pickup truck, a newly launched satellite will provide ocean and atmospheric information to improve hurricane forecasts, help protect infrastructure, and benefit commercial activities.
Learn more about the Sentinel-6B satellite: https://go.nasa.gov/43yVTSm
Learn more about the Sentinel-6B satellite: https://go.nasa.gov/43yVTSm
NASA, SpaceX Launch US-European Satellite to Monitor Earth’s Oceans - NASA
The Sentinel-6B satellite lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in central California at 9:21
go.nasa.gov
November 21, 2025 at 7:09 PM
“Sentinel-6B will build upon the legacy of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich by making sea level measurements that improve forecasts … It also will support a safer reentry for our astronauts returning home, including crew from Artemis Moon missions.”
Wut?
Wut?
Reposted by Robert Simmon
When I wrote about the ancient Zanclean megaflood filling the Mediterranean in as little as 12-18 months (!), it was wistfully.
I'm English. Lovely place, England, but Big Geological Drama? None of that round 'ere, sadly.
Imagine my delight at what geophysicists found in the English Channel.
1/
I'm English. Lovely place, England, but Big Geological Drama? None of that round 'ere, sadly.
Imagine my delight at what geophysicists found in the English Channel.
1/
November 21, 2025 at 3:06 PM
When I wrote about the ancient Zanclean megaflood filling the Mediterranean in as little as 12-18 months (!), it was wistfully.
I'm English. Lovely place, England, but Big Geological Drama? None of that round 'ere, sadly.
Imagine my delight at what geophysicists found in the English Channel.
1/
I'm English. Lovely place, England, but Big Geological Drama? None of that round 'ere, sadly.
Imagine my delight at what geophysicists found in the English Channel.
1/
Interesting post on oblique imagery from Vantor (née Maxar): go.vantor.com/Imagery-Lead...
November 20, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Interesting post on oblique imagery from Vantor (née Maxar): go.vantor.com/Imagery-Lead...
Reposted by Robert Simmon
Our project director, Rebecca Lindsey, answers the burning question... Why did we choose Climate.us as our website name?
November 20, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Our project director, Rebecca Lindsey, answers the burning question... Why did we choose Climate.us as our website name?
Reposted by Robert Simmon
Imagery from @planet.com has captured the 4 November 2025 landslide at Mae Moh Mine in Thailand. It shows the failure was about 4.8 km long and 1.4 km wide. There appears to have been coal waste dumping on the area that failed in the weeks before the landslide.
eos.org/thelandslide...
eos.org/thelandslide...
November 20, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Imagery from @planet.com has captured the 4 November 2025 landslide at Mae Moh Mine in Thailand. It shows the failure was about 4.8 km long and 1.4 km wide. There appears to have been coal waste dumping on the area that failed in the weeks before the landslide.
eos.org/thelandslide...
eos.org/thelandslide...
Reposted by Robert Simmon
Half Life (1998) is now as old as the first ever arcade game, Computer Space (1971) was when Half Life was released.
November 19, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Half Life (1998) is now as old as the first ever arcade game, Computer Space (1971) was when Half Life was released.
#30DayMapChallenge Day 19: Projections. A comparison of an ‘orthographic’ projection, which positions the viewer an infinite distance from the Earth and views a full hemisphere, and a ‘vertical perspective’ projection which simulates a view from a specified altitude—in this case geostationary orbit.
November 19, 2025 at 10:51 PM
#30DayMapChallenge Day 19: Projections. A comparison of an ‘orthographic’ projection, which positions the viewer an infinite distance from the Earth and views a full hemisphere, and a ‘vertical perspective’ projection which simulates a view from a specified altitude—in this case geostationary orbit.
Neat 2022 @nacis.bsky.social talk by Sean Morrison (www.linkedin.com/posts/sean-m...):
youtu.be/c26KgVXzdp4?...
youtu.be/c26KgVXzdp4?...
Creating A Simplified Geologic Map of the Earth - Sean Morrison, Mapping Gnome
YouTube video by NACIS
youtu.be
November 19, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Neat 2022 @nacis.bsky.social talk by Sean Morrison (www.linkedin.com/posts/sean-m...):
youtu.be/c26KgVXzdp4?...
youtu.be/c26KgVXzdp4?...
Proofreading is hard.
November 19, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Proofreading is hard.
Reposted by Robert Simmon
My new big visualization project is out: The Trans News Initiative, a collaboration between UM's School of Communication, the Trans Journalists Association, and Polygraph (The Pudding): transnewsinitiative.org Here's a piece about it in the Columbia Journalism Review: www.cjr.org/news/visuali...
Trans News Initiative
A database and analysis of news coverage affecting trans communities.
transnewsinitiative.org
November 18, 2025 at 5:56 PM
My new big visualization project is out: The Trans News Initiative, a collaboration between UM's School of Communication, the Trans Journalists Association, and Polygraph (The Pudding): transnewsinitiative.org Here's a piece about it in the Columbia Journalism Review: www.cjr.org/news/visuali...