This original satellite photo was used by JPL imaging scientists to create "L.A.: The Movie," a two-minute film taking viewers on an aerial ride over a three-dimensional Southern California landscape. Beginning with this single, two-dimensional LANDSAT satellite photo of the Los Angeles area and existing elevation data, image processors used a special computer algorithm to generate 3,336 film frames (see accompanying photo P-30842). Animation techniques developed during the proof-of-concept project will be used by scientists to study the three-dimensional nature of global cloud cover. The research is funded by NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications.
