About the image: The image above was produced from a variety of sources. Dan Wilkinson of NGDC's Solar-Terrestrial Division provided the visualization of the geomagnetic field and the GOES8 satellite. The image of Earth was produced by Peter Sloss of NGDC's Marine Geology and Geophysics Division from the ETOPO2 relief database, including additions of DMSP nighttime lights, simulations of DMSP hurricane imagery, and artistic addition of ice cover in northern regions derived from satellite imagery. The sun is a Solar X-ray image (SXI). The bathymetry in the foreground is multibeam bathymetry off the US West Coast, produced by Lincoln Pratson of Duke University during his tenure as a visiting scientist at NGDC. The resulting collage was produced by Carla Moore of NGDC's Marine Geology and Geophysics Division. This image is in the public domain, please see NGDC's (disclaimer and copyright information). We are pleased to see NGDC-generated images throughout the web, and appreciate links back to NGDC's web site and an acknowledgement of NGDC.