EO's Satellite Puzzlers: Earth Image or Georgia O'Keeffe?

One thing I love about the holidays is that I get to spend time on interests that often end up on the back burner during busier times. This year, I used some of my holiday break time to catch up on the EO Satellite Puzzler. If you have not yet discovered the puzzler, then you are in for a treat. Every month the EO folks publish a new image and invite the community to guess what it is. It's like trivial pursuit for remote sensing and geography geeks.

I have to admit that when I saw December's puzzler:

    

Image courtesy of NASA.

. . .  my first thought was of Georgia O'Keeffe's floral abstractions, especially:

    

"Abstraction WhiteRose", 1927 by Georgia O'Keeffe, copyright Georgia O'Keeffe Museum/ArtistRights Society (ARS), New York

Am I the only one that sees the similarities?

Well, it turns out that the luscious December puzzler image actually shows a small part of the Gulf Stream as it looks to the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) aboard Landsat 8 (image courtesy of NASA's Earth Observatory). Apparently, no one guessed correctly.

Next time you're looking for a bit of remote-sensing-themed fun, I recommend trying your hand at the current EO Puzzler. I know I'm looking forward to January's.