Part 3—Animate NEO Data with ImageJ

Step 1 – Create an Animation Showing How Reflected Shortwave Radiation Changes over the Course of A Year

1. Launch ImageJ by double-clicking its icon on your desktop (Mac or PC) or by clicking the icon in the dock (Mac) or the Start menu (PC).
2. Choose File > Import > Image Sequence... and navigate to the Reflected Shortwave Radiation folder where you stored the monthly images.
   
   
   
   
3. Select the first image in the sequence and then click the Open button. Specify the Sequence Options. Start with the first image and increment by 1 and then click OK.
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1. Select the first image in the sequence and then click the Open button.
   
   
   
   
2. Specify the Sequence Options. Use all twelve slices, beginning with the first slice and incrementing by one. Do not scale the images. Turn on (check) the Sort Names Numerically option and click OK.
   
   
   
   
4. All twelve images will be imported into a stack named Reflected Shortwave Radiation. The individual images in a stack are called "slices" in ImageJ. The image below shows the first of the twelve total slices (1/12). The width and height of the stack in pixels, and the size of the stack, in this case 12 MB, are displayed at the top of the window just below the name of the stack.
   
5. Choose File > Save As... to save the stack as Reflected_Shortwave_Radiation.tif.
6. Choose Image > Stacks > Tools > Animation Options... to set the speed of the animation to five frames per second.
   
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   1. Choose Image > Stacks > Tools > Animation Options...
      
   2. Set the Speed of the animation to 5 frames per second. Animate all the frames by setting the First Frame to 1 and the Last Frame to 12. Check Start Animation and click OK. The stack will start moving through the slices.
      
7. Use Image > Stacks > Tools > Start Animation and Image > Stacks > Tools > Stop Animation to begin and end the animation. Shortcuts include clicking backslash, \, on the keyboard to start the animation, clicking directly on the animation to stop it, and using the > and < keys to step forward and backward through the stack slice by slice. The slider bar at the bottom of the stack makes it possible to quickly move to a particular slice.

If you had difficulty creating or saving the stack, then use the Reflected_Shortwave_Radiation stack provided in the link below. To download and save the Reflected_Shortwave_Radiation stack, on a PC, right-click on the link and on a Mac, control-click on the link. Then choose File > Save As... and navigate to where you want to save the stack.

Step 2 – Explore How Reflected Shortwave Radiation Changes over the Course of A Year

Experiment with changing the speed of the animation. Step through or animate the Reflected Shortwave Radiation images from January 2009 through December 2009. Carefully observe the changes that occur during the year and then answer the following questions:

• What regions of the Earth are have the most reflected short wave radiation each month of the year? These regions appear "bright" on the map.
• How does this change in the amount of reflected short wave radiation relate to the seasons?
• Which months of the year have the largest area of reflected short wave radiation in the Arctic regions of Canada and Siberia, Russia?
• Canada is heavily forested with evergreen trees, so the cause of this reflected solar radiation is not soil or desert. What might be causing this reflection of the light?
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The high level of reflected solar radiation moves with the seasons. The more incoming solar radiation, the more there is to reflect. The combination of high levels of spring sunlight and highly reflective snow cover creates a time of high reflective solar radiation in April in the Northern Hemisphere. The months of the year in the Arctic with the highest level of reflected solar radiation are March, April, and May. The time in the Canadian Arctic with the highest level of reflected solar radiation are in the spring when the snow cover is still extensive and the incoming solar radiation is high. Due to its high Albedo or reflectivity, it is the snow and ice that cause the high levels of reflected solar radiation.