How to animate weather satellite imagery using "Gallery" (Android)

The AMS interactive infrared [weather] satellite image that works with a variety of devices in the Apple ecosystem also works with my Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (Android OS).

Black pixel = 20.5℃ (68.9℉).

Gray pixel = 10.0℃ (50℉).

White pixel = -45.0℃ (-49℉).

Create an animated GIF

"Gallery" is a native application in Samsung Android OS that can be used to animate the non-interactive infrared images, thereby creating a time lapse "video" of the Earth as seen from space. Animations enable the viewer to determine the direction and speed weather systems are moving.

Follow these simple directions to create an animated GIF using the "Gallery" app.

1. Open"Gallery."
2. Select several images.
3. Tap the three dots icon ("More" menu).
4. Select "Create" and choose "GIF."

As always, the devil is in the details but the preceding directions should get you started. For more information watch the two YouTube videos by "Samsung Care," listed under "Related Resources" (at the end of this blog post).

A 12-hour time series of non-interactive images was used to create the following animated GIFs. Notice the warm air advection moving from south-southwest to north-northeast across the southeastern United States of America. Also notice midday heating causes Mexico to "bloom" in dark gray-to-black pixels, indicating very warm land temperatures.

Animation created using "Gallery." Speed = 3 (default).

Animation created using "Gallery." Speed = 4.

Animation created using "Gallery." Speed = 5.

Animation created using "Gallery." Speed = 6.

Which animation speed do you prefer -- 3, 4, 5, or 6?

For comparison, "GIFfun" (Apple Mac OS) was used to create the last animation from the same 12-hour times series of images as the "Gallery" (Android OS) animations. As you can see, the results are similar for both applications.

Animation created using "GIFfun." Delay Time = 0.2 s.

Related Resources

• Create a GIF in your Galaxy phone using photos from the Gallery app | Samsung US (2:07) by Samsung Care
• Different ways to create GIFs on your Galaxy phone | Samsung US (3:30) by Samsung Care
• UTC/EST/EDT – a table listing equivalent times among Universal Time Coordinated (UTC), Eastern Standard Time (EST), and Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), rescued from the Wayback Machine Internet Archive
• Weather Calculators, including temperature conversion – a page of interactive calculators that still work, also rescued from the Wayback Machine Internet Archive
• How to animate weather satellite imagery using "GIFfun" (MacOS) - a blog post by Walter Sanford

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