The above picture is actually a composite of over 200 images made by satellites orbiting the Earth. The scans were made by the USAF Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System. The DMSP satellites continue to help in the understanding and prediction of weather phenomena as well as provide key information about population patterns, city light levels, and even rural forest fires.

This map is available as a poster through the DMSP web page.