Patrick O'Shea

Photogrammetry · Image archives

Archival Photogrammetry

3D models of the aurora borealis and a passing storm, reconstructed from thousands of archival photographs taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Year
2020
Medium
3D models reconstructed from NASA astronaut photography

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station photograph the Earth constantly, and the images are uploaded incrementally to public archives in their millions. These models treat that archive as raw material for photogrammetry: thousands of frames taken for other reasons, recombined into volumes.

Northern Lights

A 3D model built from 2,200 archival images of the aurora borealis.

Interactive model, colours inverted for emphasis.

Storm

A model composed of more than 1,200 images, tracking five hours of a storm system from orbit.

Interactive model.