Friday, September 03, 2021

New Orleans' Blackout from Space

NASA has published satellite imagery which shows a nighttime view of New Orleans on August 31st, after Hurricane Ida hit the city. In Satellite Observes Power Outages in New Orleans an interactive map allows you to swipe between two nighttime satellite views of New Orleans, one dated August 9th and one dated August 1st. The comparison of the two images clearly shows where power outages were experienced after Hurricane Ida.

The nighttime satellite imagery used shows light distribution at a 30m resolution. The August 9th imagery allows you to see how New Orleans is usually lit-up at night when observed from space. The post-Ida image clearly shows where electric power blackouts (from downed lines and damaged transmission towers) have effected the city. 

Back-up generators appear to have been successfully deployed at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and in the city's Business District. The brightly lit location across the river from the airport appears to be the Cornerstone Chemical plant. In the east the ExxonMobile and PBF Chalmette oil refineries also seem to have successfully deployed back-up gemerators.

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