Holy Land by Satellite
September 16, 2007
At the back of my NET Bible, Reader’s Edition are 16 pages of incredible images of the Holy Land like the sample image that follows. The satellite imagery is courtesy of Rohr Productions Ltd., and it makes quite a story.
This is the first time that satellite imagery has been used in a study Bible to illustrate the Holy Land. These images are as detailed as photographs, yet as exact as conventional maps. They allow you to see all the geographical features in truly photo-realistic detail, and to place the biblical events in their proper geographical context.The color was derived from a single pass of the U.S. LandSat 5 satellite, which crossed the area early one crystal-clear, cloudless morning in January. The imagery, therefore, reflects the true look of the Holy Land on one particular day, despite the differences in each area
In April, 1997, I traveled to Israel on a tour sponsored by Ligonier Ministries. Our guide (who we were careful to call our “professor” to keep him out of trouble with the Israeli tour guides) was a researcher and Fuller Seminary graduate named Jim Martin who studied at Hebrew University In Jerusalem. I made copious notes as we walked the land from Dan to Elat.
But back to the images. Here are some technical details about how they were produced.
With LandSat 5 data, each picture element (pixel) covers 30 meters on the ground. This “resolution” has been increased 900% by combining it with black and white data from the French SPOT satellite, in which each pixel covers only 10 meters. This involved merging the LandSat and SPOT imagery, so that each set of nine SPOT pixels was superimposed exactly over the corresponding one LandSat pixel, over a distance of 250 miles. This merged data set was then “draped” over a 3-D relief model of the terrain, which was derived from highly accurate contour data, with exact positioning of every hilltop and river valley. Finally, special computer software was developed to process the whole database simultaneously in three dimensions. Only then was it possible to select the best viewpoints from which to illustrate every part of the Holy Land.
Aren’t you impressed? I surely am.
Dave, still re-living that memorable tour,
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