Seamounts and Abyssal Hills Mapped From Space

Depictions of the seafloor derived from satellite data can improve underwater navigation and increase knowledge of how heat and life move around the world’s ocean.

Image of the Day Land Water

Mangrove Pioneers

The right climatic and geographic conditions in the southeastern U.S. have allowed mangroves to migrate northward to Georgia.

Image of the Day Land Water

National Parks Under Snow

Gateway towns in Wyoming and Montana flank the Rocky Mountains and provide an access point to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

Image of the Day Land Snow and Ice

Tornadoes Rip Through Mississippi 

Tracks of damage extended dozens of miles after 18 tornadoes plowed through several parts of the state.

Image of the Day Land Severe Storms

Spring Thunderstorm Thrashes Louisiana

The severe weather delivered large hail and damaging wind to parts of the state.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Severe Storms

A Swirl of a Day for Phytoplankton

In the Gulf of Oman, eddies drew seasonal phytoplankton blooms into mesmerizing whirls. 

Image of the Day Remote Sensing Water Color

Outbreak of Fire Across South Korea

Several wildland fires burned amid dry and windy conditions in the country’s southeast.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Fires

Geometric Connections in Puglia

The Italian region displays a network of lines—and one nearly perfect circle—that connect inland settlements and agricultural areas with the bustling Adriatic coast.

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Floating Solar in Madhya Pradesh

Buoyant photovoltaic systems, also called floatovoltaics, have been deployed across a reservoir in central India.

Image of the Day Water Human Presence

Low Ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

The body of water off eastern Canada is one of the southernmost locations where Arctic sea ice forms, but its extent in winter 2024-2025 was well below normal.

Image of the Day Water Snow and Ice

Vegetation

Greenness is an important indicator of health for forests, grasslands, and farms. The greenness of a landscape, or vegetation index, depends on the number and type of plants, how leafy they are, and how healthy they are.

Land Life

Signs of Life in Thawing Lake Erie

As winter turned to spring, ice cover on the lake diminished to reveal colorful billows of sediment and phytoplankton.

Image of the Day Water Snow and Ice Water Color

An Asteroid’s Bite in an Australian Mountain Range

The asteroid that smashed into northern Australia and caused the Amelia Creek impact structure transformed mountain ridges in the blast zone.

Image of the Day Land

Earth at Night

Satellite images of Earth at night have been a curiosity for the public and a tool of fundamental research for at least 25 years. They have provided a broad, beautiful picture, showing how humans have shaped the planet and lit up the darkness.

Atmosphere Land Human Presence Remote Sensing

March Puzzler

Your challenge is to tell us the location of the satellite image and why it is interesting.

How to Interpret a Satellite Image: Five Tips and Strategies

What do you do when presented with a new satellite image? Here's what the Earth Observatory team does to understand the view.

Remote Sensing

Adventures and Preparing To Be On the Land

"Leaf-to-orbit" activities began as the campers arrived in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

2024 North Atlantic Hurricane Season

Hurricane season in the basin runs from June 1 to November 30.

Atmosphere

Land Surface Temperature

Land surface temperatures rise and fall with the heat of the Sun, and they represent how hot or cold the surface would feel to touch. These maps show daytime land temperatures as measured from space.

Heat Land

Water Vapor

These maps show the average amount of water vapor in a column of atmosphere by month. Water vapor is the key precursor for rain and snow and one of the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Atmosphere

Blue Marble Next Generation

12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.

Atmosphere Land Water Snow and Ice

Renewable and Alternative Energy

People have developed systems to harvest and store energy from sources such as wind, sunlight, and tidal action. Many of these installations are visible from orbit.

Land Human Presence

Air Quality

From ground-level ozone to particulate matter to nitrogen dioxide, an array of gasses and particles can affect the air people breathe, with implications for human health.

Atmosphere Human Presence

Temperature Extremes 2024

Warmer-than-average temperatures are showing up locally and globally, with consequences for people, landscapes, and ecosystems.

Heat

Aerosol Size

Sea salt, volcanic ash, dust, wildfire smoke, and industrial pollution are types of airborne aerosols. Natural aerosols tend to be larger than human-made aerosols. These maps show when and where aerosols come from nature, humans, or both.

Atmosphere

Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll is used by algae and other phytoplankton--the grass of the sea--to convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into sugars. These maps show chlorophyll concentrations in the ocean, revealing where phytoplankton are thriving.

Life Water

Mission: Biomes

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a different part of the world? What would the weather be like? What kinds of animals would you see? Which plants live there? By investigating these questions, you are learning about biomes.

Land Life

2024 Fires in the Northern Hemisphere

Whether sparked by lightning, intentional land-clearing, or human-caused accidents, wildland fires are burning longer and more often in some areas as the world warms.

Atmosphere Land Human Presence

Temperature Extremes 2023

Warmer-than-average temperatures are showing up locally and globally, with consequences for people, landscapes, and ecosystems.

Heat

Fire

Whether started by humans (farming, logging, or accidents) or by nature (lightning), fires are always burning somewhere on Earth. These maps show the locations of fires burning around the world each month.

Land

World of Change

NASA satellites document how our world—forests, oceans, human landscapes, even the Sun—changes over months, seasons, and years.

Atmosphere Heat Land Life Human Presence Snow and Ice