Tour the Australian state’s diverse landscapes and waterscapes.
A slow-moving wall of basaltic lava is bulldozing its way through communities on one of the Canary Islands.
The proportion of the world’s population exposed to floods grew by 20 to 24 percent—ten times greater than what previous models had predicted.
Published Sep 27, 2021
Shadows accentuate the depth of the canyon that the Niagara River has carved over the past 12,000 years.
Published Sep 26, 2021
An astronaut photograph shows the proximity of a volcanic eruption to nearby cities on the Spanish island of La Palma.
Published Sep 25, 2021
The KNP fire complex and Windy fire are threatening groves of giant sequoias and prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders.
Published Sep 24, 2021
One of the CubeSats launching with Landsat 9 is the Cusp Plasma Imaging Detector (CuPID), which will image the boundary where Earth’s magnetic field interacts with the Sun’s.
Published Sep 24, 2021 in Notes From the Field
Water levels at Glen Canyon Dam have fallen to their lowest level since 1969 and are still dropping.
Published Sep 23, 2021
Landsat satellites have enabled numerous applications in diverse fields, including the monitoring of global agriculture and food security applications.
Published Sep 23, 2021 in Notes From the Field
Sea ice covered more area this summer compared to recent years, but it was also much thinner.
Published Sep 23, 2021
Patchworks and swirls of color adorn the eastern coast of the South Island.
Published Sep 22, 2021
Seasonal rains along the White Nile and Blue Nile can cause widespread devastation when the rivers overflow.
Published Sep 20, 2021
Few craters are as large, or as old, as this impact structure in southeastern Ontario, Canada.
Published Sep 20, 2021
Ocean temperatures can influence weather, such as hurricane formation, and climate patterns, such as El Niño. These maps show the temperature at the surface of the world’s seas and oceans.
The small tidal island provides a bounty of oysters and salt.
Published Sep 19, 2021
In the midst of another brutal fire season, several of California’s natural treasures have also been threatened.
Published Sep 16, 2021
12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.
Published Oct 13, 2005
The slow-moving storm has been pulling in tropical moisture.
Published Sep 15, 2021Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Severe Storms Remote Sensing
50 Years. 9 million scenes. One champion.
Published Sep 7, 2021
Engineer Andy Hynous is back in the saddle in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program is making flights for the fall 2021 balloon campaign.
Published Sep 2, 2021 in Notes From the Field
These maps depict anomalies in land surface temperatures (LSTs); that is, how much hotter or cooler a region was compared to the long-term average. LST anomalies can indicate heat waves or cold spells.
What do you do when presented with a new satellite image? Here's what the Earth Observatory team does to understand the view.
Published Nov 18, 2013
When fuels such as coal, wood, and oil burn incompletely, they produce carbon monoxide. The gas is spread by winds and circulation. These maps show monthly averages of CO in the lower atmosphere.
Scientists are pleased with the compelling images and data collected by a shoebox sized satellite.
Published Aug 31, 2021 in Earth Matters
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.
Published Apr 12, 2017
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.
Published Aug 28, 2020
Summer is beach season in the northern hemisphere. But even if you're a regular at your local swimming hole, you probably haven't seen too many beaches from this perspective. See the satellite and space-station views of various shorelines from across the United States. No sunblock necessary.
Published Jul 22, 2021
In addition to making rain and snow, clouds can have a warming or cooling influence depending on their altitude, type, and when they form. These maps show what fraction of an area was cloudy each month.
Clouds can be a nuisance when scientists are trying to observe features on Earth's surface. But at other times, clouds are exactly what they want to see. These images highlight some of the more unusual and beautiful clouds observed in recent years from space.
Published Jun 21, 2021
Airborne aerosols can cause or prevent cloud formation and harm human health. These maps depict aerosol concentrations in the air based on how the tiny particles reflect or absorb visible and infrared light.
Since 1999, Earth Observatory has published images and stories from all over our planet. Now you can explore more than 11,000 images in a different way: by location.
Published Jun 2, 2021
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.
NASA has a unique vantage point for observing the beauty and wonder of Earth and for making sense of it. The images in this book tell a story of a 4.5-billion-year-old planet where there is always something new to see.
Published Apr 28, 2021
For 20 years, astronauts have been shooting photos of Earth from the space station. Like everything the astronauts do, they are trained for this job. And like everything they do, there is purpose and intention behind it.
Published Feb 8, 2021
