National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 37

SCIENCE | Service | Stewardship EXPLORE THE EARTH

Earth Origami

Carl Skalak was on a solo canoe trip in the 

Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York when a 

surprise storm brought three days of high winds and 

heavy rain that eventually turned to snow. When the 

weather cleared, the river was frozen over and he was 

surrounded by high drifts of heavy snow.

“I knew I couldn’t get out on my own, and didn’t 

know if that situation would change for the positive 

anytime soon.”

Skalak activated a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), 

which sent a distress message to NOAA’s Search 

and Rescue Satellite Aid Tracking System (SARSAT). 

According to a SARSAT operations support officer 

for NOAA, “Mr. Skalak was facing a life-threatening 

situation because of his isolated conditions and the 

brutally frigid weather. In a matter of a few hours, he 

might have become acutely hypothermic putting his 

life at risk.” The SARSAT distress signal was relayed to the Air 

Force Rescue Coordination Center at Langley Air Force Base, 

Va., which in turn notified the nearest rescue unit, the U.S. 

Army Fort Drum Air Ambulance Detachment near Watertown, 

N.Y. A few hours after activating his PLB, Mr. Skalak was 

rescued.

~ from NOAA News 

NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, 

Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) 

operates a search and rescue system known 

as COSPAS-SARSAT, in cooperation with 

the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Air Force, 

and the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration. This system can detect 

emergency signals from Personal Locator 

Beacons anywhere in the world. Carl Skalak’s 

PLB may have saved his life.

NESDIS uses satellites for many other 

purposes in addition to search and rescue, 

and gathers information about Earth’s 

environment that includes the location of 

major fi shing areas, hurricanes, tsunamis, 

earthquakes, fi res, and volcanoes, as well as 

information about Earth’s habitats, geology, and 

climate. NOAA makes this information available to 

many people for many di erent purposes. Here’s 

one example of a special NESDIS product: satellite 

images of Earth, assembled so that the combined 

image can be folded to produce a three-dimensional 

object that is almost round.

What You Will Do

Make a three-dimensional 

model of Earth

Earth Origami

Digital Global Image by Peter W. Slos, NOAA-NGDC
noaa.gov

Discover Your World With NOAA

38

What You Will Need

r National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) “Origami Balloon” image, copied 

on a color printer as large as you can make it. 

You can download a pdf file of this image (2.5 

MB) from www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/image/

origamiearth.pdf

r Scissors

How to Do It

1. Cut the Origami Balloon image into a square.

2. Put the square image face-up on a flat surface 

so that the NOAA logo is right-side-up. Fold 

the bottom edge to the top edge, and make 

a crease that passes through the center of 

the square. Now unfold and refold along the 

same crease so the image is facing out. This 

will make it easier to shape the model in 

later steps. Unfold the image so it is a square 

again.

3. Bring one corner to the opposite corner and 

make a diagonal crease that passes through 

the center of the square. Unfold and refold 

along the same crease in the opposite direction. Unfold the image so it is a square again.

4. Fold the other corner to the opposite corner, 

and make another diagonal crease so that 

you now have three creases that cross in the 

center of the square. Unfold and refold along 

the same crease in the opposite direction. 

Unfold the image so it is a square again.

5. Put your thumbs on the ends of the horizontal 

crease formed in Step 2. Push the sides of 

the square together, and flatten into a triangle. The longest side of the triangle should 

be closest to you.

6. Notice that there are two pieces at each of the 

side corners of the triangle, one on top of 

the other. Take the upper piece at one of the 

side corners (a), bring it to the top of the 

triangle, and make a crease (b). Repeat with 

the upper piece of the other side corner. 

a

b

fold
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 39

SCIENCE | Service | Stewardship EXPLORE THE EARTH

7. Turn the model over, and repeat Step 6.

8. Now there are two pieces at each of the side 

corners, one on top of the other. Fold the upper piece on one side to the center and make 

a vertical crease (a). Repeat with the upper 

piece of the other side (b). 

9. Turn the model over, and repeat Step 8.

10. Notice that there are two free points at the 

top of the model. If you turn the model over, 

there are two more free points at the top. 

Fold down the left free point at the top of the 

model (a). Open up the pocket on the left, 

and tuck the point into the pocket. Repeat 

with the right free point (b).

11. Turn the model over, and repeat Step 10.

12. Open up the shape and fi nd the open end at 

the bottom of the model.

13. Hold the model lightly by the edges, and 

blow sharply into the hole. The Earth Origami 

Balloon will infl ate!

Want to Do More?

1. See www.ngdc.noaa.gov/education/education.

html for lots of other images, maps, and 

activities.

2. Visit www.sarsat.noaa.gov/ for more information about NOAA-Satellite and Rescue 

Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT).

3. Visit www.noaa.gov/stories/noaa-satelliteshelped-save-307-lives-in-2016;

www.noaa.gov/stories/noaa-satelliteshelped-save-250-lives-in-2015;

www.noaa.gov/media-release/noaa-satellites-help-in-rescue-of-240-people-lastyear; and

www.noaa.gov/noaa-satellites-helped-save253-people-last-year to read more rescue 

stories.

c

d

a

b

a

b

An artist’s conception of a fully integrated environmental monitoring system including satellites, 

balloons, ships, aircraft, buoys, and data reception and 

processing facilities. Courtesy NOAA. Origami illustrations courtesy Mel Goodwin