What is special about satellite images?

My answer is everything.

Satellite images are really something different: They are unique and immensely powerful in conveying information about the environment.

Satellite images are powerful not in themselves but in the way that they empower every one of us who has the opportunity to use them. To examine a satellite image of your own city, town or farm, is to experience something that virtually no one else has done. You become one of the very few; a genuine minority member. You have experienced a new and potent view of your country.

Genuine hands-on access to satellite images was very limited until quite recently. This restricted access is the consequence of a lack of awareness and easy public availability. I believe the lack of access to satellite images by the Australian public has crippled contemporary environmental debate.

What is the best way to describe the view of life on Earth that satellite images can provide?

It is difficult to find the words to convey my enthusiasm and excitement for satellite images because so many of the powerful words that were once reserved for special occasions are now used for the ordinary and the commonplace.

Let me start by admitting that each time I examine a satellite image, I am excited by and engrossed in what I see. No matter what part of Earth is captured by the image, I am enthralled by the information that space images convey to me, and captivated by their novelty and magnificence.

My response to space images is not only from my head. It is not just the information content of space images that excites me. My sense of delight is also involved because the view of Earth from space is intrinsically beautiful and enchanting.

I have had this affair with satellite images for two decades. It began with love at first sight in 1972. My passion remains as strong as ever. I still can recall the excitement of the first encounter, and the feeling of disbelief at what was captured by a lifeless machine onboard a spacecraft 900 km out in space that was (and still is) ceaselessly circling the planet.

I know that I am not alone in my feelings. I know of many others who also appreciate the beauty of space images or who use their power to communicate ideas and information. I am very confident that I can convey at least some of my enthusiasm for the space view of Earth and convince you of its potential. I promise you that what has been brought together in this book is definitely not ordinary or commonplace. I hope that space images weave a spell on you and that they start with the image at the beginning of this chapter.