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Observing Our Earth Through Visualization With Joshua Stevens

Josh Stevens, wearing a light blue shirt against a backdrop of trees
u003cstrongu003eu003cemu003eCredits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Tabatha Luskeyu003c/emu003eu003c/strongu003e

What is your role at NASA?

I am a data visualizer creating imagery from Earth science data with NASA’s Earth Observatory. I pair geographic analysis with the science of how people see, think, and reason about graphics to communicate about our planet.

How long have you worked here?

A little over five years now.

What is your background and why did you choose to work at NASA?

I have a background in geography, but I did not start out that way. I began my studies in graphic design and photography, and later computer science. I ultimately chose and stuck with cartography because it is a great intersection of art and science. I joined NASA after teaching and researching cartography at Penn State.

What does a day on the job look like?

My team starts every day looking at events happening around the world, looking for breaking news in natural hazards, and investigating other stories we want to share. After that it is code and pixels all day!

What is your favorite part of your job?

I love the vast quantity of things NASA can see from space and the opportunity to share that with the world.

What inspired you to become a data visualizer?

I just love the marriage of art and science. Using code to turn complex data into something that is interesting and informative is really satisfying.

satellite-based nighttime images of the U.S. East Coast (top) with map (bottom) indicating power outages
A memorable moment in Stevens’ career when he and Adam Voiland worked on a story visualizing the aftermath of power outages following Hurricane Matthew. Matthew knocked out power for more than one million customers as it grazed the coasts of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina in October 2016.
Credits: NASA Earth Observatory maps by Joshua Stevens, using VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, data from the NASA-NOAA GOES project, and Unisys Weatheru003cbru003eu003ca href=u0022https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/88896/power-outages-plague-southeastu0022u003eMore on this story from NASA’s Earth Observatoryu003c/au003e

What has been your favorite project or memory from your time here?

The first big project that got me really excited was when we were looking at Hurricane Matthew and we could see the changes in night lights data as the hurricane passed over Florida. There were obvious concerns about the storm’s impact on the people in its path, which we could easily see from the imagery. But we paired the satellite imagery with data on power outages to quantify that impact, connecting the story from space to the ground. My colleague Adam Voiland and I were so excited about reporting this story that we came in on a Saturday to finish it.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

I am proud of getting Earth Observatory into the realm of a lot of movies and animations that we typically weren’t doing in the past. We now have these longer videos and animated datasets that are showing things in a more dynamic way, illustrating the movement and change that happens on our planet as it really occurs.

Within the past five years, the number of graphics in our stories, and the proportion of those graphics that are thematic maps, has increased quite a bit.

Who or what has shaped you personally and professionally?

Kirk Goldsberry — he was an adviser on my master’s committee and he really got me thinking that maps are more than just these spatial representations of Earth. There is a relationship between all kinds of variables that we can present visually in map form. He went on to work for the Spurs, and now ESPN, after writing a book on visualizing basketball shots. He was a key influence who really got me thinking more abstractly about spatial analysis.

What advice would you give a recent graduate seeking a career with NASA?

The biggest thing I would tell any student is to have a portfolio or something they can show, and share that with others. Try to stay active and blog about what you do in the community that you want a career in.

What is your favorite geo-topic to visualize?

I am really in love with terrain maps and topography. There are many timeless classics in that category and I just love them all!

Is there a question in Earth science that is frequently on your mind and hasn’t been solved?

There are so many environmental and atmospheric datasets that can show human influence, even the presence of our political borders. We can see this in land cover and land use data and how different land management practices on one side of a boundary affects land cover differently than another. But once we leave the ground, the relationship can sometimes be less obvious. I like to look for ways the human signal shows up, whether on the ground or in the clouds, so to speak.

Two maps of nitrogen dioxide concentrations over China in early 2020
Stevens’ visual of airborne nitrogen dioxide levels over China during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Credits: NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using modified Copernicus Sentinel 5P data processed by ESAu003cbru003eu003ca href=u0022https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146362/airborne-nitrogen-dioxide-plummets-over-chinau0022u003eMore on this story from NASA’s Earth Observatoryu003c/au003e

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I would go back to Switzerland. The Swiss produced many of the most influential topographic maps and it’s not hard to see why. The Swiss landscape and Swiss cartography are both just so stunning.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I like fishing and photography. I try to cook and fail a lot. My kids keep me pretty busy too.

Media Contact: Andi Thomas
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

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Last Updated
Sep 29, 2023