EO On This Day

Since its creation in late April 1999, NASA Earth Observatory has published more than 15,000 image-driven stories about our planet: natural- and false-color satellite images, data maps, and aerial or space-based photos. In honor of our 20th anniversary, we offer a selection of some of the most beautiful, newsworthy, interesting, and scientifically important images from the past 20 years — one for each day of the calendar year. Check this page each day for a new blast from EO’s past.

First Image of Earth from the International Space Station

First Image of Earth from the International Space Station

Published Dec 3, 2000

Astronauts used the Electrical Still Camera (ESC) to photograph a mass of storm clouds during Expedition 1.

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December

Australia’s Ephemeral Lake Mackay
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Australia’s Ephemeral Lake Mackay

Water in Australia's salt lakes can be fleeting, but provides vital wetland habitat for plants and animals.

Published Dec 31, 2014

Image of the Day Land Water

Tsunami Strikes Sri Lanka
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Tsunami Strikes Sri Lanka

On December 26, 2004, tsunamis swept across the Indian Ocean, spawned by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra.

Published Dec 30, 2004

Image of the Day Land Water Earthquakes

Seafloor Features Are Revealed by the Gravity Field
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Seafloor Features Are Revealed by the Gravity Field

Scientists read the bumps on the ocean surface to understand the shape of the seafloor below.

Published Dec 29, 2015

Image of the Day Water Remote Sensing

Hole Punch Clouds over West Virginia
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Hole Punch Clouds over West Virginia

Cold winter conditions set the stage for these unusual clouds that can form due to airplane traffic.

Published Dec 28, 2010

Image of the Day Atmosphere

Gas Drilling, North Dakota
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Gas Drilling, North Dakota

Cities and people are scarce in northwestern North Dakota, but nighttime satellite imagery shows the Bakken Formation aglow with brightly-lit drilling equipment.

Published Dec 27, 2012

Image of the Day Land Fires Unique Imagery Human Presence

A Perfect (Dust) Storm
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A Perfect (Dust) Storm

In April 2001, researchers watched with surprise as dust from an Asian storm crossed the Pacific and reached the eastern United States.

Published Dec 26, 2007

Image of the Day Atmosphere

O Christmas Tree! from Space
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O Christmas Tree! from Space

Shaped like an evergreen conifer, Lake Dukan is the largest lake in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Published Dec 25, 2018

Image of the Day Water Human Presence

All of You on the Good Earth
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All of You on the Good Earth

These iconic photos are not new, but their message never gets old.

Published Dec 24, 2018

Image of the Day Life Human Presence

The Alphabet from Orbit: Letter J
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The Alphabet from Orbit: Letter J

J brings us joy when we view it from space.

Published Dec 23, 2015

Image of the Day Land Life Water Remote Sensing

A Lava Lamp Look at the Atlantic
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A Lava Lamp Look at the Atlantic

The Gulf Stream is a warm current amidst the cool North Atlantic. But the pattern is hardly uniform.

Published Dec 22, 2013

Image of the Day Heat Water Remote Sensing

Terra Launches!
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Terra Launches!

The flagship of NASA’s modern Earth-observing satellite fleet launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on December 18, 1999.

Published Dec 21, 1999

Image of the Day Remote Sensing

City Lights of Australia, or Not
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City Lights of Australia, or Not

What are those lights in the Outback?

Published Dec 20, 2012

Image of the Day Land Fires Unique Imagery Human Presence Remote Sensing

The Arctic Is Absorbing More Sunlight
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The Arctic Is Absorbing More Sunlight

Satellites confirm that the Arctic has been absorbing more solar radiation over the past 15 years, a trend that coincides with a decline in sea ice and increase in open water.

Published Dec 19, 2014

Image of the Day Heat Snow and Ice

Terra Turns Ten: Snow, Clouds, and Sunlight
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Terra Turns Ten: Snow, Clouds, and Sunlight

This trio of global maps illustrates how snow and clouds make Earth more reflective.

Published Dec 18, 2009

Image of the Day Atmosphere Heat Land Snow and Ice

Even from Space, Holidays Shine Brightly
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Even from Space, Holidays Shine Brightly

Satellite data reveals increases in December holiday lighting in the United States, mostly in the suburbs.

Published Dec 17, 2014

Image of the Day Unique Imagery Human Presence Remote Sensing

First Global Image from VIIRS
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First Global Image from VIIRS

Looking down from 512 miles, the newly launched NPP satellite offers up its first gap-free view of Earth.

Published Dec 16, 2011

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water Remote Sensing

Sulfur Dioxide Down over China; Up over India
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Sulfur Dioxide Down over China; Up over India

A decade of satellite observations show how levels of a common air pollutant have changed over Asian skies.

Published Dec 15, 2015

Image of the Day Atmosphere

Old Night Vision Meets New
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Old Night Vision Meets New

New images from Suomi NPP are an order of magnitude better than previous satellite views of city lights.

Published Dec 14, 2012

Image of the Day Land Fires Unique Imagery Human Presence Remote Sensing

Rare Snow in the U.S. Deep South
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Rare Snow in the U.S. Deep South

Several inches of wet snow fell across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama in December 2008.

Published Dec 13, 2008

Image of the Day Land Snow and Ice

A Year in the Life of Carbon Dioxide
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A Year in the Life of Carbon Dioxide

NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 has compiled its first year of data and started quantifying the cycles of emission and absorption of the greenhouse gas.

Published Dec 12, 2015

Image of the Day Remote Sensing

Cloud Towers
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Cloud Towers

Impressive thunderclouds run along the spine of the Indonesian island of Flores, a result of ocean breezes and steep mountains.

Published Dec 11, 2013

Image of the Day Atmosphere

Global Warming Mapped
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Global Warming Mapped

The average global temperature has increased by about 0.8°Celsius since 1880, and two-thirds of the warming occurred after 1975.

Published Dec 10, 2010

Image of the Day Atmosphere Heat Land Water Human Presence

Dune Movement Around Aorounga
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Dune Movement Around Aorounga

Photographs taken by astronauts on the ISS in 2003 and 2013 show the evolution of a dune field in Chad.

Published Dec 9, 2013

Image of the Day Land

Satellites Track Yellowstone’s Underground Heat
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Satellites Track Yellowstone’s Underground Heat

Landsat instruments have peered into the hot-water plumbing beneath some of the park’s famous monuments.

Published Dec 8, 2011

Image of the Day Heat Land

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
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Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

An astronaut captured this photo of the historic stretch of southern coastline of Oahu.

Published Dec 7, 2009

Image of the Day Human Presence

Manicouagan Impact Structure, Quebec
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Manicouagan Impact Structure, Quebec

The impact that formed the lake is thought to have occurred about 200 million years ago and may have caused a mass extinction event.

Published Dec 6, 2001

Image of the Day Land

South Shetland Islands and Antarctica
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South Shetland Islands and Antarctica

Astronauts on the ISS captured an unusual, airplane-like view of the Antarctic Peninsula and nearby islands.

Published Dec 5, 2011

Image of the Day Land Water

Aïr and Ténéré Natural Reserves
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Aïr and Ténéré Natural Reserves

Like islands of stone surrounded by a sea of sand, the Aïr Mountains sustain a vibrant pocket of life in the Sahara.

Published Dec 4, 2013

Image of the Day Land Remote Sensing

SO2 Pollution Controls Bring Results
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SO2 Pollution Controls Bring Results

Scientists using a NASA satellite found that sulfur dioxide levels in the vicinity of major coal-fired power plants in the U.S. have fallen by half since 2005.

Published Dec 2, 2011

Image of the Day Atmosphere Human Presence

Amazon River in Sunglint
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Amazon River in Sunglint

Astronauts use the Sun’s reflection point to reveal features that are otherwise difficult or impossible to see.

Published Dec 1, 2014

Image of the Day Water

November

Athabasca Oil Sands
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Athabasca Oil Sands

The clay, sand, and other minerals coated in thick, viscous bitumen are a source of oil, economic growth, and environmental concern.

Published Nov 30, 2011

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Salar de Atacama, Chile
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Salar de Atacama, Chile

In perhaps the driest place on Earth, water still shapes the landscape.

Published Nov 29, 2011

Image of the Day Land

Thanksgiving and New York City
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Thanksgiving and New York City

The most populous city in the United States has several connections to this national holiday.

Published Nov 28, 2013

Image of the Day Land Unique Imagery Human Presence

Look Again: It’s Not Snow
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Look Again: It’s Not Snow

These white mounds are the world’s largest gypsum dune field, centerpiece of the White Sands National Monument.

Published Nov 27, 2016

Image of the Day Land

Forest Change in Paraguay
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Forest Change in Paraguay

Between 1990 and 2000, Paraguay lost about 13 percent of its forests, including nearly 40 percent of the Atlantic Forest.

Published Nov 26, 2009

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Soil Moisture in the United States
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Soil Moisture in the United States

Views from the ground and from space are helping scientists understand how soil moisture affects U.S. agriculture.

Published Nov 25, 2015

Image of the Day Water Remote Sensing

Hurricane Otto
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Hurricane Otto

The late-season storm struck southern Nicaragua.

Published Nov 24, 2016

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water Severe Storms

VIIRS First Light
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VIIRS First Light

A new Earth-observing satellite opened its eyes for the first time and captured this natural-color view of eastern North America.

Published Nov 23, 2011

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water Remote Sensing

Maupiti Island
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Maupiti Island

Low-profile fringing islands and coral reefs surround a relatively tall central island.

Published Nov 22, 2009

Image of the Day Land Water

Settling on the Coast
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Settling on the Coast

Cape Cod is a haven for rocks and people who have washed up on American shores.

Published Nov 21, 2010

Image of the Day Land

Evidence of Destruction in Tacloban, Philippines
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Evidence of Destruction in Tacloban, Philippines

Typhoon Haiyan’s winds and storm surge caused widespread damage to the coastal city.

Published Nov 20, 2013

Image of the Day Land Water Severe Storms Human Presence

Landsat 8 Detects New Deforestation in Peru
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Landsat 8 Detects New Deforestation in Peru

Free, open-access imagery helps scientists monitor remote areas and protect tropical forests.

Published Nov 19, 2013

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Plumes from Pavlof Volcano
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Plumes from Pavlof Volcano

In November 2014, Alaska’s most active volcano rumbled back to life.

Published Nov 18, 2014

Image of the Day Atmosphere Heat Land Volcanoes

Fog in Argentina’s Lake District
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Fog in Argentina’s Lake District

Landsat 5 captured a ring of radiation fog lingering in valley bottoms and above lakes in northwestern Patagonia.

Published Nov 17, 2012

Image of the Day Land

High Resolution View of Pine Island Glacier
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High Resolution View of Pine Island Glacier

Pine Island Glacier has undergone a steady thinning in recent decades. In December 2000, satellites detected a wide new crack.

Published Nov 16, 2001

Image of the Day Land Water Sea and Lake Ice

Dark Sky Parks
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Dark Sky Parks

Areas recognized for their pristine dark skies are the perfect place to catch a glimpse of celestial phenomena.

Published Nov 15, 2014

Image of the Day Human Presence

Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Fall in China, Rise in India
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Sulfur Dioxide Emissions Fall in China, Rise in India

Pollution controls can work even as coal-usage continues.

Published Nov 14, 2017

Image of the Day Atmosphere Human Presence

Mýrdalsjökull Then and Now
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Mýrdalsjökull Then and Now

Climate and volcanoes transform an ice cap in Iceland.

Published Nov 13, 2014

Image of the Day Snow and Ice

New Sunspot Cycle Begins
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New Sunspot Cycle Begins

After a slow start, a pair of sunspots in late 2008 signaled an upswing in Solar Cycle 24.

Published Nov 12, 2008

Image of the Day Remote Sensing

Eruption at Mount Merapi, Indonesia
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Eruption at Mount Merapi, Indonesia

The volcano released sulfur dioxide, a colorless gas that can harm human health and cool Earth’s climate.

Published Nov 11, 2010

Image of the Day Atmosphere Volcanoes

Katabatic Winds Rake Terra Nova Bay
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Katabatic Winds Rake Terra Nova Bay

The scene provides a glimpse of the persistent and fierce downslope winds that blow from the interior of the Antarctic ice sheet toward the coast.

Published Nov 10, 2009

Image of the Day Land Life Water Snow and Ice

Global View of Fine Aerosol Particles
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Global View of Fine Aerosol Particles

Solid particles and liquid droplets in the air come in a range of sizes, but those smaller than 2.5 micrometers pose the greatest risk to human health.

Published Nov 9, 2010

Image of the Day Atmosphere Human Presence

Satellite Spots Massive Tonzang Landslide
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Satellite Spots Massive Tonzang Landslide

Heavy rainfall from tropical storm Komen triggered a large landslide in Myanmar (Burma).

Published Nov 8, 2015

Image of the Day Land Water Landslides

Counting Carbon Over Southern California
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Counting Carbon Over Southern California

NASA’s new Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 calibrated its sensors by taking data from an area where ground stations could provide ground truth.

Published Nov 7, 2014

Image of the Day Atmosphere Remote Sensing

Comparing the Winds of Sandy and Katrina
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Comparing the Winds of Sandy and Katrina

The scenes of devastation and wreckage that these two hurricanes left behind were tragically similar, but the meteorology was very different.

Published Nov 6, 2012

Image of the Day Atmosphere Severe Storms

Hybrid Eclipse Shades Africa
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Hybrid Eclipse Shades Africa

This rare event merged annular and total eclipses. It won't happen again until 2172.

Published Nov 5, 2013

Image of the Day Heat

Upsala Glacier Retreat
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Upsala Glacier Retreat

A photograph by an astronaut on the International Space Station shows a progressively shrinking glacier in the North Patagonian Icefield.

Published Nov 4, 2013

Image of the Day Snow and Ice

Erebus Ice Tongue
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Erebus Ice Tongue

The edge of this Antarctic glacier protrudes from the coast of Ross Island with a long, narrow, jagged sheet of ice.

Published Nov 3, 2004

Image of the Day Heat Land Water Snow and Ice

Studying Chesapeake Bay from Above
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Studying Chesapeake Bay from Above

Ships, airplanes, and satellites all play a role in monitoring Chesapeake water quality, algae blooms, and dead zones.

Published Nov 2, 2016

Image of the Day Water Remote Sensing

Living Large in Hawaii
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Living Large in Hawaii

Geologists estimate that Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, has erupted about once every six years for the past three millennia.

Published Nov 1, 2015

Image of the Day Land

October

Something Fishy in the Deep, Dark Ocean
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Something Fishy in the Deep, Dark Ocean

Squid boats create a city of light in the South Atlantic.

Published Oct 31, 2013

Image of the Day Human Presence

Hurricane Sandy
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Hurricane Sandy

The dramatic late-season storm was observed shortly before making landfall on the U.S. Northeast Coast.

Published Oct 30, 2012

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water Severe Storms

Eruption of Sicily’s Mt. Etna
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Eruption of Sicily’s Mt. Etna

NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color view of an eruption at Europe’s largest and most active volcano.

Published Oct 29, 2002

Image of the Day Land

Dark Snow Project
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Dark Snow Project

Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet reveals impurity-rich ice that is thousands of years old.

Published Oct 28, 2014

Image of the Day Land

Floods Swamp Historic City in Thailand
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Floods Swamp Historic City in Thailand

Flooding submerged large parts of the historic city of Ayutthaya, Thailand, in October 2011.

Published Oct 27, 2011

Image of the Day Land Floods

Gonzalo Stirs Up Sediment and the Carbon Cycle
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Gonzalo Stirs Up Sediment and the Carbon Cycle

The potent storm spread coraline sediments from the shallows around Bermuda into the deeper ocean.

Published Oct 26, 2014

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Severe Storms

Klyuchevskaya Erupts
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Klyuchevskaya Erupts

In October 2013, the tallest and most active volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula saw a surge in activity.

Published Oct 25, 2013

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Volcanoes

Midwestern USA at Night with Aurora Borealis
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Midwestern USA at Night with Aurora Borealis

When viewed from the International Space Station, the night skies are illuminated with light from many sources.

Published Oct 24, 2011

Image of the Day Atmosphere Human Presence

Drought Shrinking São  Paulo Reservoirs
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Drought Shrinking São Paulo Reservoirs

Water supplies are near historically low levels in southeastern Brazil.

Published Oct 23, 2014

Image of the Day Water Drought Human Presence

Cloud Plume with a Cold War Twist
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Cloud Plume with a Cold War Twist

Gas hydrates? Nuclear tests? No. Just unusual, but natural clouds.

Published Oct 22, 2013

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Snow and Ice

Measuring Earth’s Albedo
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Measuring Earth’s Albedo

The global picture of how Earth reflects sunlight is a muddle, though several regional trends emerge.

Published Oct 21, 2014

Image of the Day Atmosphere Heat Land Water Remote Sensing

Life Reclaims Mount St. Helens
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Life Reclaims Mount St. Helens

Over 33 years, life has reclaimed the land from the wreckage of the 1980 volcanic eruption.

Published Oct 20, 2013

Image of the Day Land

The Many Colors of Electric Lights
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The Many Colors of Electric Lights

Distinct colors mark the communities and commerce along the Tsushima Strait, between Japan and South Korea.

Published Oct 19, 2014

Image of the Day Human Presence Remote Sensing

Central Asia’s Water Tower
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Central Asia’s Water Tower

Glaciers on the Tien Shan, a long mountain range that runs through central Asia, serve as a key source of freshwater for cities in the region.

Published Oct 18, 2012

Image of the Day Snow and Ice

Kenya’s Ewaso Nyiro River Dries
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Kenya’s Ewaso Nyiro River Dries

Severe drought gripped much of East Africa in 2009, turning a riverbed into a pale tan ribbon of sand.

Published Oct 17, 2009

Image of the Day Land Life Drought

A Curious Ensemble of Wonderful Features
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A Curious Ensemble of Wonderful Features

Parts of the Glen Canyon that John Wesley Powell explored in 1869 have been submerged by Lake Powell.

Published Oct 16, 2016

Image of the Day Land

Connecticut River Oxbow
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Connecticut River Oxbow

Floods and new infrastructure have long since separated the distinctive bend in the river that was portrayed by landscape painter Thomas Cole in 1836.

Published Oct 15, 2017

Image of the Day Human Presence

Space Station view of the Pyramids at Giza
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Space Station view of the Pyramids at Giza

This image represents, for its time, the greatest detail of the Giza plateau captured from a human-occupied spacecraft.

Published Oct 14, 2001

Image of the Day Land Life

Craters of the Moon, Idaho
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Craters of the Moon, Idaho

This lava field includes at least 60 flows ranging from 15,000 to 2,100 years old.

Published Oct 13, 2009

Image of the Day Land

The Legacy of Nimbus
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The Legacy of Nimbus

Fifty years ago, NASA launched the first of seven satellites that revolutionized how we study weather, the atmosphere, and other Earth systems.

Published Oct 12, 2014

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Severe Storms Remote Sensing

Bhutan, Himalayas
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Bhutan, Himalayas

One of the highest mountain reliefs on Earth can be found in this tiny country sandwiched between eastern India and the Tibetan plateau,

Published Oct 11, 2005

Image of the Day Heat Land

Auroras over North America
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Auroras over North America

A geomagnetic storm in early October lit up the skies with northern lights that were detected by an Earth-observing satellite.

Published Oct 10, 2012

Image of the Day Atmosphere

Shrinking Shoreline of the Salton Sea
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Shrinking Shoreline of the Salton Sea

California’s largest lake is shrinking, and an unusual combination of conservation, drought, and water laws may someday take it away.

Published Oct 9, 2015

Image of the Day Land Water

Boteti River, Botswana
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Boteti River, Botswana

In September 2010, water again flowed through this riverbed after several dry years.

Published Oct 8, 2010

Image of the Day Land

A Little Water Goes a Long Way
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A Little Water Goes a Long Way

The tiny amount of water vapor in our atmosphere has an outsized influence on the planet as a potent greenhouse gas.

Published Oct 7, 2010

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water

Long Cold Spell Leads to Arctic Ozone Hole
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Long Cold Spell Leads to Arctic Ozone Hole

An unusually long period of cold temperatures and strong winds allowed an Arctic ozone hole to form in March 2011.

Published Oct 6, 2011

Image of the Day Atmosphere

Russian Kolka Glacier Collapses
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Russian Kolka Glacier Collapses

In September 2002, the collapse of a hanging glacier from Mt. Dzhimarai-Khokh triggered an avalanche that buried small villages in North Ossetia.

Published Oct 5, 2002

Image of the Day Land Life Volcanoes Snow and Ice

From Green to Brown
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From Green to Brown

In a span of just 11 days, fall colors swept over the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Siberia.

Published Oct 4, 2012

Image of the Day Land

Fast-Flowing Glaciers Thin Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets
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Fast-Flowing Glaciers Thin Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets

To understand how fast-moving glaciers are changing the ice sheets, scientists devised a method to map elevation change using data from ICESat.

Published Oct 3, 2009

Image of the Day Snow and Ice

MODIS Views the North Pole
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MODIS Views the North Pole

A NASA satellite captures one of its first clear views of the Arctic sea ice cap.

Published Oct 2, 2000

Image of the Day Water

Some Tea With Your River?
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Some Tea With Your River?

Dissolved organic matter from forests and wetlands stained the water dark brown near Rupert Bay. A similar process darkens tea.

Published Oct 1, 2016

Image of the Day Water Remote Sensing

September

Ash and Lava Flows at Nabro
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Ash and Lava Flows at Nabro

A NASA satellite observed the eruption of a volcano in a remote part of Eritrea.

Published Sep 30, 2011

Image of the Day Land Volcanoes

Pinpointing Where Lights Went Out in Puerto Rico
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Pinpointing Where Lights Went Out in Puerto Rico

Satellite data on city lights could aid rescue and recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria.

Published Sep 29, 2017

Image of the Day Severe Storms Human Presence Remote Sensing

Copper Deposits in Iran
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Copper Deposits in Iran

Scientists are using images such as these to locate alteration minerals.

Published Sep 28, 2002

Image of the Day Land Remote Sensing

Fire in the Sky and on the Ground
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Fire in the Sky and on the Ground

Astronauts on the International Space Station captured these views of the aurora australis and wildfires in Australia.

Published Sep 27, 2011

Image of the Day Atmosphere Heat

The Aral Sea Loses Its Eastern Lobe
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The Aral Sea Loses Its Eastern Lobe

Once part of the fourth-largest lake in the world, the eastern lobe of the southern Aral has dried up for the first time in modern history.

Published Sep 26, 2014

Image of the Day Land Water

Volcanoes of Kamchatka
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Volcanoes of Kamchatka

The peninsula has one of the highest concentrations of active volcanoes in the world.

Published Sep 25, 2014

Image of the Day Land

International Space Station from the Space Shuttle
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International Space Station from the Space Shuttle

An astronaut shot this photograph while looking back across the length of Endeavour.

Published Sep 24, 2007

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water

Water Level Changes in Lake Mead
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Water Level Changes in Lake Mead

In August 2010, Lake Mead reached its lowest level since 1956, the result of a persistent drought and increasing human demand.

Published Sep 23, 2010

Image of the Day Land

A Broad View of Flooding in the Carolinas
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A Broad View of Flooding in the Carolinas

Rivers swelled from the torrential rains of Hurricane Florence.

Published Sep 22, 2018

Image of the Day Land Water Severe Storms Human Presence Remote Sensing

Dust and Clouds Dance Over the Sahara
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Dust and Clouds Dance Over the Sahara

A massive dust storm filled the skies over Libya in early September 2014.

Published Sep 21, 2014

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land

Changes on Ol Doinyo Lengai
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Changes on Ol Doinyo Lengai

In September 2007, a series of explosive eruptions altered the summit of the volcano, the only one that erupts natrocarbonatite lava.

Published Sep 20, 2009

Image of the Day Land Volcanoes

Bloom in the Bering Sea
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Bloom in the Bering Sea

Changing conditions in the waters near Alaska promotes late summer phytoplankton growth.

Published Sep 19, 2014

Image of the Day Life Water Water Color

Watching the Ozone Hole Before and After the Montreal Protocol
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Watching the Ozone Hole Before and After the Montreal Protocol

NASA satellites have observed the Antarctic ozone hole since the late 1970s—before and after nations agreed to stop producing chemicals that destroy the ozone layer.

Published Sep 18, 2012

Image of the Day Atmosphere

Finding Hidden Shoals on the North Slope
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Finding Hidden Shoals on the North Slope

By analyzing satellite images of sediments, coastal researchers and cartographers can identify potential shallows, shoals, and shipping hazards.

Published Sep 17, 2015

Image of the Day Water

Urban Growth in Cairo 1965-98
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Urban Growth in Cairo 1965-98

Astronaut photographs from the Gemini era and from the space shuttle reveal tremendous growth.

Published Sep 16, 2001

Image of the Day Land Life

The World’s Largest Urban Area
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The World’s Largest Urban Area

Rapid growth in several cities along the Pearl River Delta has made a Chinese megacity larger and more populous than any other urban area in the world.

Published Sep 15, 2015

Image of the Day Life Human Presence

NASA Satellite Measures Deforestation
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NASA Satellite Measures Deforestation

MODIS sensors view the Amazon multiple times a day, so they can provide a rapid assessment of forest change that is not possible with high-resolution sensors.

Published Sep 14, 2005

Image of the Day Land Life

Seasonal Changes along the Indus River
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Seasonal Changes along the Indus River

Because the river irrigates millions of acres of farms, the seasonal cycle changes not just the river, but also the surrounding landscape.

Published Sep 13, 2011

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Tragedy in New York City
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Tragedy in New York City

A NASA satellite captured this image of the grim aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Published Sep 12, 2001

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land

After a Fire, Before a Flood
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After a Fire, Before a Flood

Landsat helps direct restoration efforts in at-risk areas.

Published Sep 11, 2013

Image of the Day Heat Land Fires

Roiling Flows on Holuhraun Lava Field
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Roiling Flows on Holuhraun Lava Field

Landsat 8 captured fine details of the lava flowing in Iceland between the Bardarbunga and Askja volcanoes.

Published Sep 10, 2014

Image of the Day Land Volcanoes Snow and Ice

Sediment Spews from Connecticut River
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Sediment Spews from Connecticut River

Nearly a week after Hurricane Irene drenched New England, the river was spewing large amounts of muddy sediment into Long Island Sound.

Published Sep 9, 2011

Image of the Day Land Water Floods Severe Storms

NASA’s Front Porch View of Rising Seas
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NASA’s Front Porch View of Rising Seas

The nation’s problem is also NASA’s problem: Half to two-thirds of our space infrastructure and assets stand within 5 meters of sea level.

Published Sep 8, 2015

Image of the Day Water

Meeting of the Waters
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Meeting of the Waters

The confluence of the Rio Negro and Rio Solimões in Brazil is famous for unusual mixing patterns.

Published Sep 7, 2012

Image of the Day Water Human Presence

Increasing Tropical Rainfall
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Increasing Tropical Rainfall

The planet’s wettest areas are getting a little wetter, according to NASA scientists who analyzed 25 years of ground- and space-based rainfall observations.

Published Sep 6, 2007

Image of the Day Atmosphere

India-Pakistan Borderlands at Night
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India-Pakistan Borderlands at Night

Clusters of yellow lights on the Indo-Gangetic Plain reveal numerous cities large and small, as well as a border fence.

Published Sep 5, 2011

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Horton River Delta, Arctic Canada
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Horton River Delta, Arctic Canada

In the past few centuries, a river in northwestern Canada stopped wandering and assumed a more direct route to the sea.

Published Sep 4, 2012

Image of the Day Land Water

Sutter Buttes, California
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Sutter Buttes, California

Old volcanic domes form the backbone of the “smallest mountain range in the world.”

Published Sep 3, 2012

Image of the Day Land

California Wildfires as Seen From the Space Shuttle
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California Wildfires as Seen From the Space Shuttle

An astronaut on the Space Shuttle photographed several wildfires burning in California in August 2001.

Published Sep 2, 2001

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land

Trio of Hurricanes Over the Pacific Ocean
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Trio of Hurricanes Over the Pacific Ocean

For the first time in recorded history, three Category 4 storms lined up over the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.

Published Sep 1, 2015

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Severe Storms

August

Contour Plowing in the Palouse
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Contour Plowing in the Palouse

By planting in narrow strips and plowing in patterns that mimic the natural contours of the land, farmers in southeastern Washington are trying to prevent productive soils from washing away.

Published Aug 31, 2014

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Hurricane Katrina Arrives
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Hurricane Katrina Arrives

With winds of 135 miles per hour, a powerful storm surge, and heavy rains, the category 4 hurricane pounded the U.S. Gulf Coast, triggering deadly flooding.

Published Aug 30, 2005

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Tracking Dust Across the Atlantic
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Tracking Dust Across the Atlantic

Dust storms in mid-summer 2013 spanned the Atlantic Ocean, depositing particles in the Americas and perhaps suppressing hurricanes.

Published Aug 29, 2013

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A Nighttime View of California’s Rim Fire
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A Nighttime View of California’s Rim Fire

Burning in the northeast corner of Yosemite National Park, the Rim Fire ranks among the largest in California history.

Published Aug 28, 2013

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Aral Sea Continues to Shrink
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Aral Sea Continues to Shrink

In the first half of the twentieth century, it was the world’s fourth-largest lake. By August 2009, virtually nothing remained of the largest lobe.

Published Aug 27, 2009

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Hurricane Harvey Approaches Texas
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Hurricane Harvey Approaches Texas

Forecasters believe the storm will be the strongest to make landfall in the United States in 12 years.

Published Aug 26, 2017

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Garden and Hog Islands, Michigan
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Garden and Hog Islands, Michigan

An archipelago in northern Lake Michigan has little in the way of human settlement. However, offshore ridges offer ideal breeding ground for trout.

Published Aug 25, 2013

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Red Sprites Above the U.S. and Central America
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Red Sprites Above the U.S. and Central America

Within three minutes, astronauts acquired two photographs of elusive red sprite emissions above thunderstorms.

Published Aug 24, 2015

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So Many Ways to View an Eclipse
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So Many Ways to View an Eclipse

The total solar eclipse proved spectacular whether seen from space, the ground, or mid-flight.

Published Aug 23, 2017

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Ice Island Calves off Petermann Glacier
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Ice Island Calves off Petermann Glacier

In August 2010, a NASA satellite tracked the chunk of ice as it slowly migrated down the fjord.

Published Aug 22, 2010

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Widespread Fires in the Pacific Northwest
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Widespread Fires in the Pacific Northwest

The U.S. Forest Service and National Interagency Fire Center used a new tool to help monitor active wildfires across the entire United States and decide how to best combat them.

Published Aug 21, 2001

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A Nearly Ice-Free Northwest Passage
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A Nearly Ice-Free Northwest Passage

By mid-August 2016, the famed high-latitude sea route in the Arctic Ocean was open.

Published Aug 20, 2016

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First Map of Antarctica’s Moving Ice
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First Map of Antarctica’s Moving Ice

Scientists mapped the motion of Antarctica’s ice sheets and revealed unexpected patterns.

Published Aug 19, 2011

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Bloom in the Barents Sea
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Bloom in the Barents Sea

MODIS caught a clear view of an explosion of phytoplankton—a rare treat since the Barents Sea is cloud-covered roughly 80 percent of the summer.

Published Aug 18, 2011

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Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan
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Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan

In one year, the refugee camp became the fourth largest population center in Jordan.

Published Aug 17, 2013

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European Heat Wave
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European Heat Wave

In July 2003, Europe experienced an historic heat wave that killed at least 3,000 people.

Published Aug 16, 2003

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Tracking the Chelyabinsk Meteor Plume
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Tracking the Chelyabinsk Meteor Plume

Satellite instruments and computer models help NASA scientists dissect the atmospheric impact of the February 2013 bolide explosion over Russia.

Published Aug 15, 2013

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NASA Satellites Pinpoint Volcanic Eruption
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NASA Satellites Pinpoint Volcanic Eruption

A plume and floating pumice revealed the date and location of the eruption of a remote seamount.

Published Aug 14, 2012

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Fresh Craters on the Moon and Earth
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Fresh Craters on the Moon and Earth

Throughout their histories, both the Moon and Earth have been bombarded by meteorites and asteroids, which often leave behind dramatic impact craters.

Published Aug 13, 2009

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How Farms Affect the Chesapeake Bay’s Water
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How Farms Affect the Chesapeake Bay’s Water

While farms remain a major source of water pollution, signs of improvements are beginning to emerge.

Published Aug 12, 2016

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Hurricane Alberto
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Hurricane Alberto

The SeaWiFS instrument captured the data for this composite view of an August 2000 hurricane while it was near Bermuda.

Published Aug 11, 2000

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Noctilucent Clouds
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Noctilucent Clouds

An astronaut on the ISS caught a glimpse of a sliver of the setting Moon and some clouds that shine at night.

Published Aug 10, 2003

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Antarctic Icebergs Chipped off by Japan Tsunami
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Antarctic Icebergs Chipped off by Japan Tsunami

Scientists observed the calving of several large icebergs from the Sulzberger Ice Shelf in Antarctica as a result of the March 2011 tsunami half a world away in Japan.

Published Aug 9, 2011

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Mount Tongariro Erupts
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Mount Tongariro Erupts

A new satellite captured the eruption of a volcano at night on New Zealand's North Island.

Published Aug 8, 2012

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Night View of Fires in Siberia
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Night View of Fires in Siberia

The Suomi NPP satellite carries an instrument so sensitive to low light levels that it can detect wildfires in the middle of the night.

Published Aug 7, 2012

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The Dark Side and the Bright Side
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The Dark Side and the Bright Side

The Deep Space Climate Observatory captured a unique view of the Moon as it passed between the spacecraft and Earth. The Artemis mission will soon take us back for closeups.

Published Aug 6, 2015

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Chernobyl, Ukraine
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Chernobyl, Ukraine

Twenty-three years after the explosion at Reactor Number Four, a NASA satellite glimpsed the remains.

Published Aug 5, 2009

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Ash Plume Streams from Mt. Etna, Sicily
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Ash Plume Streams from Mt. Etna, Sicily

The record of historical volcanism of Mt. Etna is one of the longest in the world, dating back to 1500 BC.

Published Aug 4, 2001

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Flooding in Pakistan
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Flooding in Pakistan

In August 2010, entire villages were washed away, more than 1,100 people died, and an estimated 2.5 million people were affected by dramatic monsoon rains.

Published Aug 3, 2010

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Mount Kilimanjaro Closeup
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Mount Kilimanjaro Closeup

Most scientists agree that the glaciers of Mt. Kilimanjaro will be gone by the year 2020, but there is less agreement as to why they are now receding.

Published Aug 2, 2004

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The Many Hues of London
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The Many Hues of London

While a typical digital camera takes one picture of a scene based on information from the visible spectrum, Landsat generates multiple views of everything it images.

Published Aug 1, 2012

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July

Earth from the Moon
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Earth from the Moon

From orbit around the Moon, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of Earth in June 2010.

Published Jul 31, 2010

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Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico
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Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico

Acquired in the months after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, this natural-color image shows possible oil patches near the Mississippi Delta.

Published Jul 30, 2010

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Tracing Aerosols to their Smoky and Sandy Sources
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Tracing Aerosols to their Smoky and Sandy Sources

The aerosol index offers a way to see the long reach of forest fires and dust storms.

Published Jul 29, 2014

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Comet Atlantis
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Comet Atlantis

Space Shuttle Atlantis streaked across the sky to its final landing at Kennedy Space Center.

Published Jul 28, 2011

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Lagoons and Reefs of New Caledonia
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Lagoons and Reefs of New Caledonia

This French-governed archipelago contains the world’s third-largest coral reef structure.

Published Jul 27, 2008

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Carrizozo Lava Flow
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Carrizozo Lava Flow

In south-central New Mexico, a charcoal-brown scar undulates across the arid landscape.

Published Jul 26, 2009

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Satellites Observe Widespread Melting Event on Greenland
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Satellites Observe Widespread Melting Event on Greenland

In July 2012, satellites observed melting on nearly 97 percent of the ice sheet surface.

Published Jul 25, 2012

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Global Groundwater Basins in Distress
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Global Groundwater Basins in Distress

About one third of Earth’s large groundwater basins are being rapidly depleted by human consumption even though we have little accurate data about how much water remains in them.

Published Jul 24, 2015

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First of Three Million
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First of Three Million

This image of the Dallas metro area was the very first image in the archives of the Landsat mission, launched in 1972.

Published Jul 23, 2012

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Following a Raindrop from New York to Newport News
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Following a Raindrop from New York to Newport News

A drop of water that falls in central New York takes a long ride to the sea. It flows past some extraordinary natural features that help tell the story of how the Chesapeake Bay came to be.

Published Jul 22, 2016

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Sun Rising on the Final Shuttle Mission
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Sun Rising on the Final Shuttle Mission

Astronauts supplied the International Space Station with a new logistics module; tested tools, technologies, and techniques to refuel satellites in space; and collected old equipment.

Published Jul 21, 2011

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Apollo 11 Landing Site
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Apollo 11 Landing Site

Forty years after the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of the descent stage of the Eagle lunar module.

Published Jul 20, 2009

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Looking Beyond the Visible
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Looking Beyond the Visible

By using satellite sensors that detect infrared radiation, scientists have started to map the mineralogy of debris on glaciers.

Published Jul 19, 2013

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Smoke Goes Around the World
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Smoke Goes Around the World

Wildfires in Alaska and Canada send smoke plumes wafting in opposite directions around the Northern Hemisphere.

Published Jul 18, 2015

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Drought Grips the United States
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Drought Grips the United States

In a dry spell of historic proportions, more than half of the country faced severe or moderate drought.

Published Jul 17, 2012

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Apollo 11 Launch Pad
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Apollo 11 Launch Pad

By launching from the east coast of Florida, NASA took advantage of both geography and physics.

Published Jul 16, 2009

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Jakobshavn Glacier Retreat
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Jakobshavn Glacier Retreat

Acquired in 2001 and 2010, these natural-color images show substantial retreat in the Jakobshavn Glacier.

Published Jul 15, 2010

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Eruption of Raung Volcano
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Eruption of Raung Volcano

One of the most active volcanoes on the Indonesian island of Java spewed fresh ash and gases in early July 2015.

Published Jul 14, 2015

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Palm Island Resort
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Palm Island Resort

The Islands were constructed on reclaimed land off of Dubai’s Persian Gulf coast.

Published Jul 13, 2003

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Wildfires in Siberia
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Wildfires in Siberia

Thick smoke billowed from fires in Yakutia on July 10, 2012.

Published Jul 12, 2012

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Brazilian Dune Fields
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Brazilian Dune Fields

Sand dunes sprawl along the coast of northeastern Brazil, sometimes extending kilometers inland.

Published Jul 11, 2010

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Elusive Sprite Captured from the International Space Station
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Elusive Sprite Captured from the International Space Station

Red sprites, short-lived flashes caused by intense lightning, are rarely captured on camera.

Published Jul 10, 2012

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Atlantis Rides Into History
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Atlantis Rides Into History

In July 2011, the Space Shuttle Atlantis lit its rockets and roared into space for the 135th and last flight of the U.S. space transportation system.

Published Jul 9, 2011

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A Global Garden: Plants Storing Carbon
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A Global Garden: Plants Storing Carbon

By providing a measurement of all of the carbon being stored in Earth’s plants, maps like these help scientists figure out what happens to the carbon people release by burning fossil fuels.

Published Jul 8, 2011

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Alaska’s Biggest (Ice) Losers are Inland
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Alaska’s Biggest (Ice) Losers are Inland

Glaciers in a region of Alaska are losing about 75 billion tons of ice per year, but not all glaciers contribute equally.

Published Jul 7, 2015

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U.S. Climate: The New Normal
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U.S. Climate: The New Normal

These maps compare January minimum temperatures and July maximum temperatures in the U.S. Climate Normals, a 30-year frame of reference. The new normal reflects a warming world.

Published Jul 6, 2011

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Eruption of Sarychev Peak, Kuril Islands
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Eruption of Sarychev Peak, Kuril Islands

A pair of before-and-after images shows how the June 2009 eruption of Sarychev Peak Volcano transformed Matua Island.

Published Jul 5, 2009

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The Birthplace of the United States
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The Birthplace of the United States

It was here the founders shaped the future of American government.

Published Jul 4, 2017

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150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg
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150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg

Modern remote sensing tools are helping to shed new light on the historic battle.

Published Jul 3, 2013

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The World’s Newest Capital City
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The World’s Newest Capital City

Juba, a port city on the White Nile, is the capital of the new nation of South Sudan and is one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

Published Jul 2, 2012

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Yellowstone Recovers from 1988 Fires
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Yellowstone Recovers from 1988 Fires

In 1988, wildfires raced through Yellowstone National Park, consuming hundreds of thousands of acres. This series of Landsat images tracks the landscape’s slow recovery through 2008.

Published Jul 1, 2009

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June

First Complete Day from MODIS
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First Complete Day from MODIS

This image of Earth is a composite of the first full day of data gathered by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on the Terra spacecraft.

Published Jun 30, 2000

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Oil Slick Around Mississippi Barrier Islands
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Oil Slick Around Mississippi Barrier Islands

On June 26, 2010, oil was visible in the waters surrounding Horn and Petit Bois Islands following the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Published Jun 29, 2010

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Detailed Views of Erupting Nabro Volcano
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Detailed Views of Erupting Nabro Volcano

This pair of satellite images was among the first detailed pictures of the erupting vent and lava flows.

Published Jun 28, 2011

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Okavango Swamp, Botswana
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Okavango Swamp, Botswana

Sometimes called the Jewel of the Kalahari, the area is an enormous, pristine wetland that almost miraculously appears out of a desert.

Published Jun 27, 2011

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Astronaut View of Fires in Colorado
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Astronaut View of Fires in Colorado

The West Fork Complex fire was so hot that it spawned numerous pyrocumulus clouds.

Published Jun 26, 2013

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Polar Mesospheric Clouds, Northern Hemisphere
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Polar Mesospheric Clouds, Northern Hemisphere

“Night-shining” clouds form at high altitudes in late spring and early summer.

Published Jun 25, 2012

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Tornadoes Spawn near Deshler, Nebraska
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Tornadoes Spawn near Deshler, Nebraska

The image shows the tops of the thunderheads with their characteristic anvil clouds.

Published Jun 24, 2003

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Volcanoes, Clouds, and Swirling Winds
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Volcanoes, Clouds, and Swirling Winds

An image from the remote South Sandwich Islands shows how volcanic emissions can create clouds, while the islands themselves deform those clouds.

Published Jun 23, 2012

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Sarychev Peak Eruption, Kuril Islands
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Sarychev Peak Eruption, Kuril Islands

A fortuitous orbit of the International Space Station in 2009 offered the astronauts a striking view of the volcano in an early stage of eruption.

Published Jun 22, 2009

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Lake Eyre Filling Peaks
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Lake Eyre Filling Peaks

By mid-June 2009, the rare filling of this lake in Australia’s Simpson Desert appeared to have reached its peak.

Published Jun 21, 2009

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Todhia Arable Farm in Saudi Arabia
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Todhia Arable Farm in Saudi Arabia

Satellites can help farmers make the most of the limited water resources at a farm in the Arabian Desert.

Published Jun 20, 2015

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Laguna Mellquina, Andes Mountains
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Laguna Mellquina, Andes Mountains

This depiction of an area south of San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina, was the first Shuttle Radar Topography Mission view of the tallest mountain chain in the western hemisphere.

Published Jun 19, 2001

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Ash from Puyehue-Cordón Caulle
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Ash from Puyehue-Cordón Caulle

This series of images tracks ash from a Chilean volcano that made a nearly complete circle around the world.

Published Jun 18, 2011

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Fogo, Cape Verde Islands
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Fogo, Cape Verde Islands

The volcano was almost continuously active from the 1500s until 1760.

Published Jun 17, 2009

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A Monster Slide
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A Monster Slide

A landslide in eastern Tibet backed up the Yigong River for two months.

Published Jun 16, 2012

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Tiny Shrimp, Big Changes
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Tiny Shrimp, Big Changes

Aquaculture along the coast of the Gulf of Fonseca shows the delicate balance between coastal development and conservation.

Published Jun 15, 2012

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Sunset from the International Space Station
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Sunset from the International Space Station

Astronauts aboard the ISS see sixteen sunrises and sunsets per day.

Published Jun 14, 2010

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Lava Consumes Vacationland and Kapoho Bay
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Lava Consumes Vacationland and Kapoho Bay

Kilauea erupted enough lava to fill 45,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Published Jun 13, 2018

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A Measure of Salt
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A Measure of Salt

One year after its launch, the Aquarius instrument is giving ocean sciences its first global view of sea surface salinity.

Published Jun 12, 2012

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A Long Look at El Paso and Ciudad Juarez
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A Long Look at El Paso and Ciudad Juarez

When the Landsat archive is combined with modern computing power, scientists can view the planet not just across space, but also time.

Published Jun 11, 2013

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Clouds and Global Warming
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Clouds and Global Warming

High, cold clouds radiate less thermal energy to space than low, warm clouds.

Published Jun 10, 2010

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Remembering a Monster Eruption
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Remembering a Monster Eruption

It was the largest eruption of the 20th century, but you've probably never heard of it.

Published Jun 9, 2012

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Remembering Yoram Kaufman
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Remembering Yoram Kaufman

Kaufman served as program manager for NASA’s Earth Observatory from its launch in April 1999, through January 2006.

Published Jun 8, 2006

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Viewing the Transit of Venus from Space
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Viewing the Transit of Venus from Space

For the first time in history, and the last time for a century, astronauts captured images of the planetary transit as viewed from orbit.

Published Jun 7, 2012

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Canyonlands’ Grabens
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Canyonlands’ Grabens

Sinking blocks of rock created this distinctive network of valleys.

Published Jun 6, 2014

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Gross Primary Productivity
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Gross Primary Productivity

This map of plant photosynthesis was the first of its kind from the MODIS instrument, which was launched in December 1999 on the Terra spacecraft.

Published Jun 5, 2000

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Lay of the Land Between Old River and the Mississippi
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Lay of the Land Between Old River and the Mississippi

This model of the land elevation between the Mississippi, the Atchafalaya, and the Old River show the uphill fight to control river flow.

Published Jun 4, 2011

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Subsidence in New Orleans
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Subsidence in New Orleans

In the three-year period prior to Hurricane Katrina, the city subsided 8 millimeters per year relative to global mean sea level.

Published Jun 3, 2006

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Sulfur Dioxide Plume from Grímsvötn
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Sulfur Dioxide Plume from Grímsvötn

A NASA satellite caught this glimpse of a plume rising and drifting from the Icelandic volcano in May 2011.

Published Jun 2, 2011

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Zambezi Flood Plain, Namibia
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Zambezi Flood Plain, Namibia

Originating in swampy wetlands, the river tumbles over one of the world’s largest waterfalls, flows through deep gorges, and spreads across broad floodplains.

Published Jun 1, 2010

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May

City Lights at Night along the France-Italy Border
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City Lights at Night along the France-Italy Border

Moonglint and the lights of Torino, Lyon, and Marseille glitter in this nighttime astronaut photo of the Italy-France border region.

Published May 31, 2010

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Landsat 7 Reveals Large-scale Fractal Motion of Clouds
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Landsat 7 Reveals Large-scale Fractal Motion of Clouds

Clouds off the Chilean coast show a unique pattern called a “von Karman vortex street.”

Published May 30, 2000

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Sichuan Landslides
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Sichuan Landslides

These images show changes in the landscape before and after an earthquake struck on May 12, 2008.

Published May 29, 2008

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Permafrost on Mars and Earth
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Permafrost on Mars and Earth

This pair of images shows the similarities between the surface of Mars and permafrost near Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

Published May 28, 2008

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Tierras Bajas Deforestation, Bolivia
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Tierras Bajas Deforestation, Bolivia

The area east of Santa Cruz was originally dry tropical forest.

Published May 27, 2001

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Arctic Amplification
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Arctic Amplification

Temperatures are warming faster in the Arctic than anywhere else in the world. Here’s why.

Published May 26, 2013

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Nighttime Ash Tracking with CALIPSO
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Nighttime Ash Tracking with CALIPSO

A satellite records a vertical profile of the atmosphere and reveals the altitude of ash clouds.

Published May 25, 2010

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New Landsat Finds Clouds Hiding in Plain Sight
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New Landsat Finds Clouds Hiding in Plain Sight

One of LDCM’s sensors can detect faint cirrus clouds that can slightly alter a scene.

Published May 24, 2013

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Pavlof Volcano, Alaska Peninsula
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Pavlof Volcano, Alaska Peninsula

Three striking photographs of Pavlof Volcano reveal the three-dimensional structure of the eruption plume.

Published May 23, 2013

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Irrawaddy Delta, Burma
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Irrawaddy Delta, Burma

The clearing of the natural mangrove forests has left low-lying cropland and villages exposed to the sea.

Published May 22, 2008

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Lake Powell and The Rincon, Utah
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Lake Powell and The Rincon, Utah

Man and nature have both altered the course of a southwestern U.S. river.

Published May 21, 2012

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Driving Ban Lowers Beijing Pollution
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Driving Ban Lowers Beijing Pollution

In an effort to control smog during the 2008 Olympics, Beijing officials instituted a number of pollution-curbing measures.

Published May 20, 2007

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Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico
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Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico

Acquired May 17, 2010, this natural-color image shows the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico extending a long arm toward the southeast.

Published May 19, 2010

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30th Anniversary of the Eruption of Mt. St. Helens
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30th Anniversary of the Eruption of Mt. St. Helens

A trio of images documents the devastation and recovery of the landscape around Mt. St. Helens Volcano following its cataclysmic 1980 eruption.

Published May 18, 2010

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Changes to the Saemangeum Estuary, South Korea
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Changes to the Saemangeum Estuary, South Korea

Satellite imagery illustrates the beginning of a land reclamation project that will transform one of the largest tidal estuaries along the Yellow Sea into farmland and a fresh-water reservoir.

Published May 17, 2007

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Come Fly with Me
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Come Fly with Me

Fifty-six images were stitched together to present a seamless mosaic of what the newest Landsat saw on April 19, 2013. Here are some highlights of the satellite tour.

Published May 16, 2013

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El Gezira, Sudan
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El Gezira, Sudan

South of Khartoum, where the White and Blue Nile Rivers join, a dizzying arrangement of irrigated fields stretches out across the land.

Published May 15, 2008

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Ship Tracks in the Sky
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Ship Tracks in the Sky

In recent years, scientists have turned their attention to the ways in which human-produced aerosol pollution modifies clouds.

Published May 14, 2002

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Lake Powell, Utah
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Lake Powell, Utah

In the early twenty-first century, Lake Powell faced the combined threats of drought and rapid water withdrawals.

Published May 13, 2009

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Crop Circles in the Desert
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Crop Circles in the Desert

Over the course of 25 years, farms have sprouted in the Arabian Desert, fueled by deep and old groundwater.

Published May 12, 2012

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Los Alamos Fires From Landsat 7
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Los Alamos Fires From Landsat 7

On May 9, 2000, the Landsat 7 satellite acquired an image of the area around Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Published May 11, 2000

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Ice Melting on Lake Baikal
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Ice Melting on Lake Baikal

People and satellites keep an eye on when ice on the world’s deepest lake melts each year.

Published May 10, 2012

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A Rare Cyclone on the Equator
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A Rare Cyclone on the Equator

Storms like Typhoon Vamei are not supposed to happen.

Published May 9, 2003

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Cloudy Earth
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Cloudy Earth

Data collected by a sensor on the Aqua satellite reveals the global distribution of clouds.

Published May 8, 2015

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Malvinas Current, South America
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Malvinas Current, South America

This offshoot of the Circumpolar Current carries cool water north along the coast of South America until it encounters water pouring out of the Rio de la Plata.

Published May 7, 2005

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Flooding at the Junction of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers
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Flooding at the Junction of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers

Floods blanket farmland around the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in this Landsat image from May 3, 2011.

Published May 6, 2011

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The Shrinking Aral Sea
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The Shrinking Aral Sea

The sequence of images shows the dramatic changes to the Aral Sea between 1973 and 2000.

Published May 5, 2001

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Smoke from Fires in Central America Drifts over Texas
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Smoke from Fires in Central America Drifts over Texas

Smoke from fires in tropical Mexico and Central America drifted over the U.S. Gulf States.

Published May 4, 2002

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Connecting Islands in the Pacific
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Connecting Islands in the Pacific

The eruption of an undersea volcano gave rise to new real estate between two islands in the kingdom of Tonga.

Published May 3, 2015

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Finding the Hottest Spots on Earth by Satellite
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Finding the Hottest Spots on Earth by Satellite

The Sun heats not only the air around us, but the land we walk on. Scientists are interested in the difference between the two.

Published May 2, 2012

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Height and Motion of the Chikurachki Eruption Plume
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Height and Motion of the Chikurachki Eruption Plume

Early data from the MISR instrument helps decipher the dynamics of the gas and ash emerging from a volcano.

Published May 1, 2003

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April

Plankton and Sulfur in the Benguela Current
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Plankton and Sulfur in the Benguela Current

Ocean currents and nutrient-rich waters conspire to create a boon for some ocean species and a dead zone for others.

Published Apr 30, 2014

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Urbanization of Dubai
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Urbanization of Dubai

This development of Palm Jumeirah is one of the world’s most conspicuous examples of engineered coastlines.

Published Apr 29, 2009

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River Piracy in the Yukon
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River Piracy in the Yukon

The Kaskawulsh River stole most of the water from the Slims River, dramatically reshaping the region’s drainage.

Published Apr 28, 2017

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Oil Leak from Damaged Well in Gulf of Mexico
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Oil Leak from Damaged Well in Gulf of Mexico

These satellite images were among the first revealing the scope of the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Published Apr 27, 2010

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Volcanoes near Usulután, El Salvador
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Volcanoes near Usulután, El Salvador

Differences in size and surface features reveal the histories of four adjacent volcanoes.

Published Apr 26, 2010

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A Rare Clear Day on Mount Washington
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A Rare Clear Day on Mount Washington

The tallest peaks in New England face some pretty nasty weather.

Published Apr 25, 2017

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Sediment Plume in Northern Kazakhstan
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Sediment Plume in Northern Kazakhstan

Winds occasionally loft fine dust into the air from the shores of Ozero Siletiteniz.

Published Apr 24, 2012

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Ice Scours the North Caspian Sea
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Ice Scours the North Caspian Sea

Curious gouges on the shallow seafloor were formed by ice that topped the sea in wintertime.

Published Apr 23, 2016

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Global Views of Our Planet, Then and Now
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Global Views of Our Planet, Then and Now

Before there was a Blue Marble photograph or composite image of Earth, there was TIROS IX.

Published Apr 22, 2015

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Hot spots on Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull Volcano
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Hot spots on Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull Volcano

A NASA satellite spied the eruption plume and the heat signature of lava at the summit.

Published Apr 21, 2010

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The Gulf Stream
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The Gulf Stream

One of the strongest ocean currents on Earth ferries heat from the tropics into the far North Atlantic and toward Europe.

Published Apr 20, 2005

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Spring Paints the Piedmont Green
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Spring Paints the Piedmont Green

The timing of seasons in North America is changing.

Published Apr 19, 2012

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Bassas da India in Sunglint
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Bassas da India in Sunglint

A photograph of an uninhabited atoll in the Indian Ocean has an almost surreal quality due to varying degrees of sunglint.

Published Apr 18, 2011

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Mapping Minerals with Light
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Mapping Minerals with Light

A combo of infrared and visible wavelengths exposes the mineral geology around China’s Piqiang Fault.

Published Apr 17, 2014

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Otherworldly Salt Lakes and Lagoons in Crimea
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Otherworldly Salt Lakes and Lagoons in Crimea

False-color satellite images offer a new perspective on familiar features.

Published Apr 16, 2016

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Aurora Australis
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Aurora Australis

Reds and greens dominate this view of the northern lights as photographed from the Space Shuttle in May 1991.

Published Apr 15, 2001

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Grand Canyon Geology Lessons on View
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Grand Canyon Geology Lessons on View

You can almost sense the invisible tectonic forces within the Earth when you look at this geological icon from space.

Published Apr 14, 2014

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Night Light Maps Open Up New Applications
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Night Light Maps Open Up New Applications

By removing natural and stray light sources, researchers get a clearer picture of the human footprint on Earth.

Published Apr 13, 2017

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The Hottest Spot on Earth
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The Hottest Spot on Earth

For five out of seven years studied, the Lut Desert in Iran sweltered like no other place on the planet.

Published Apr 12, 2012

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Larsen B Ice Shelf Collapse
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Larsen B Ice Shelf Collapse

Warm summer temperatures likely caused meltwater to fill crevasses and intensify pressure within the ice sheet.

Published Apr 11, 2002

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Hobet Mine, West Virginia
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Hobet Mine, West Virginia

Multiple layers of coal lie underground in ancient rocks. In some places, miners remove mountaintops to get at it.

Published Apr 10, 2011

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Russia’s Bay of Whales
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Russia’s Bay of Whales

Few people live around the Ulbanskiy Bay. Whales, however, are plentiful.

Published Apr 9, 2017

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Wilkins Ice Bridge Collapse
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Wilkins Ice Bridge Collapse

A narrow ice bridge connecting Charcot Island and Latady Island broke apart in April 2009.

Published Apr 8, 2009

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Fog Blankets the Yellow Sea
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Fog Blankets the Yellow Sea

A layer of warm, moist air over cooler sea water triggered thick fog along the Korean Coast.

Published Apr 7, 2012

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Wet Season Transforms the Zambezi
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Wet Season Transforms the Zambezi

Flowing down a gentle gradient, the river often spills onto floodplains during the rainy season.

Published Apr 6, 2013

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“Hurricane” Catarina hits Brazil
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“Hurricane” Catarina hits Brazil

Until March 2004, only two tropical cyclones had ever been recorded in the South Atlantic Basin, and no hurricanes.

Published Apr 5, 2004

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Dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental
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Dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental

Large linear dunes stretch across the Great Eastern Sand Sea of northern Algeria.

Published Apr 4, 2016

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50th Anniversary of the TIROS Satellite
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50th Anniversary of the TIROS Satellite

The first satellite designed to observe clouds was launched on April 1, 1960.

Published Apr 3, 2010

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A California Desert Erupts in Wildflowers
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A California Desert Erupts in Wildflowers

From space, a hint of green betrayed the revival of plant life.

Published Apr 2, 2017

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Earth’s Crust Exposed in Oman
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Earth’s Crust Exposed in Oman

The mountains of northeastern Oman are high and dry, but millions of years ago, they were underneath an ocean.

Published Apr 1, 2012

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March

Kavir Desert, Iran
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Kavir Desert, Iran

The lack of soil and vegetation allows parallel lines and sweeping curves of geological structure to appear quite clearly.

Published Mar 31, 2014

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Eruption of Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka Peninsula
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Eruption of Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka Peninsula

Satellites usually capture images of volcanic ash plumes as they are blowing away. This image is different.

Published Mar 30, 2007

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Extensive Ice Fractures in the Beaufort Sea
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Extensive Ice Fractures in the Beaufort Sea

A combination of winds, currents, storms, and young ice came together to produce a wave of fractures in Arctic sea ice off the coast of northern Alaska.

Published Mar 29, 2013

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Submarine Eruption in the Tonga Islands
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Submarine Eruption in the Tonga Islands

New land emerged in the South Pacific after the dramatic eruption of an undersea volcano.

Published Mar 28, 2009

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Tassel n’Ajjer National Park
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Tassel n’Ajjer National Park

Part of the Sahara Desert, the rocky plateau is rich in geologic and human history.

Published Mar 27, 2011

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Bigger Thunderstorms are Bringing More Rain to the Tropics
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Bigger Thunderstorms are Bringing More Rain to the Tropics

The increase around the wettest regions of Earth comes from a rise in large, well-organized thunderstorms.

Published Mar 26, 2015

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Kilimanjaro—The Shining Mountain
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Kilimanjaro—The Shining Mountain

Glaciers covered most of the summit during the first half of the 20th century, but have shrunk dramatically since then.

Published Mar 25, 2001

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Lake Erie, Stirred Up
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Lake Erie, Stirred Up

Sediments and algae swirled across the lake surface on the first day of spring.

Published Mar 24, 2012

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Sensing Lightning from the Space Station
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Sensing Lightning from the Space Station

Bolts light up Earth’s atmosphere 4 million times a day. Scientists hope to observe a few.

Published Mar 23, 2014

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First View from the New Landsat Satellite
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First View from the New Landsat Satellite

One of the satellite’s first uncalibrated images showed where the Front Range meets the Great Plains in Colorado.

Published Mar 22, 2013

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Cat Island, Bahamas
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Cat Island, Bahamas

Once named San Salvador, the island may be where Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in the Americas.

Published Mar 21, 2011

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First ASTER Visible/Near-Infrared Image
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First ASTER Visible/Near-Infrared Image

A key instrument on NASA’s new Earth-observing Terra satellite observed the San Francisco River region of Brazil.

Published Mar 20, 2000

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Paraná River Floodplain, Brazil
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Paraná River Floodplain, Brazil

Merging rivers paint the landscape with muddy sediment.

Published Mar 19, 2012

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Greening the Princess Astrid Coast
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Greening the Princess Astrid Coast

Is it colored ice, a plankton bloom, both, or neither?

Published Mar 18, 2012

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Sprawling Shanghai
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Sprawling Shanghai

Shanghai is one of several cities on the Yangtze River Delta that has experienced unprecedented growth.

Published Mar 17, 2017

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Harvesting Sunlight in California
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Harvesting Sunlight in California

Situated in the Mohave Desert, Ivanpah solar power station became the world’s largest thermal power tower system.

Published Mar 16, 2014

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A Global View of Methane
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A Global View of Methane

Methane is one of the most potent—and surprising—greenhouse gases.

Published Mar 15, 2016

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The Big Muddy, Western Edition
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The Big Muddy, Western Edition

Flowing past the city of Vancouver, the Fraser River delivers a thick plume of sediment to the Strait of Georgia.

Published Mar 14, 2012

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Wreckage and Recovery in Ishinomaki, Japan
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Wreckage and Recovery in Ishinomaki, Japan

Acquired in March 2011 and February 2012, these images document the recession of flood waters after the Tohoku tsunami.

Published Mar 13, 2012

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Sediments Betray Hidden Shipwrecks
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Sediments Betray Hidden Shipwrecks

Archaeologists and navigators have a new tool for locating shipwrecks in near-shore waters.

Published Mar 12, 2016

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An EPIC Eclipse
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An EPIC Eclipse

The DSCOVR satellite captured the shadow of the Moon marching across Earth’s sunlit face.

Published Mar 11, 2016

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Closeup of Tsunami Damage, Rikuzentakata
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Closeup of Tsunami Damage, Rikuzentakata

Acquired 3 days after the Tohoku earthquake, this image shows the remains of a town that was nearly erased by the 2011 tsunami.

Published Mar 10, 2012

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Twinkle, Twinkle Little Earth
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Twinkle, Twinkle Little Earth

The Curiosity rover on Mars looked up and saw home on the horizon.

Published Mar 9, 2014

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Ship Tracks off the California Coast
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Ship Tracks off the California Coast

The narrow clouds form when water vapor condenses around tiny particles of pollution.

Published Mar 8, 2012

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People Cause Most U.S. Wildfires
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People Cause Most U.S. Wildfires

Researchers also found that human-ignited fires tripled the length of the wildfire season.

Published Mar 7, 2017

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River Discharge Alters Arctic Sea Ice
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River Discharge Alters Arctic Sea Ice

Satellites and scientists capture the Mackenzie River in the act of warming the ocean and breaking up ice in the Beaufort Sea.

Published Mar 6, 2014

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Eruption at Momotombo
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Eruption at Momotombo

The Nicaraguan volcano erupted for the first time in more than a century.

Published Mar 5, 2016

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Earthquake Shakes Ice from New Zealand Glacier
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Earthquake Shakes Ice from New Zealand Glacier

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake that ravaged Christchurch also broke 30 million tons of ice off the Tasman Glacier.

Published Mar 4, 2011

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Growth of Mountaintop Mine, West Virginia, 1984-2009
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Growth of Mountaintop Mine, West Virginia, 1984-2009

Landsat 5 observed the growth of one of the largest surface mines in the state it expanded from ridge to ridge.

Published Mar 3, 2010

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The Solar Ring of Fire
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The Solar Ring of Fire

Earth-observing satellites follow the shadow of an annular eclipse.

Published Mar 2, 2017

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Grounded in the Caspian Sea
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Grounded in the Caspian Sea

A diamond-shaped piece of ice is a stranger amid thin ice.

Published Mar 1, 2017

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February

Flying Through a Crack in the Ice
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Flying Through a Crack in the Ice

Scientists merged photographs and laser altimetry data to create a virtual journey through the crack in Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier.

Published Feb 29, 2012

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Baby, It’s Cold Outside
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Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Record-setting cold temperatures iced up harbors and waterways across the eastern United States.

Published Feb 28, 2015

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Argentina’s Changing Chaco Forest
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Argentina’s Changing Chaco Forest

Ranching and farming operations have left a distinctive grid on the landscape.

Published Feb 27, 2016

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An Intersection of Land, Ice, Sea, and Clouds
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An Intersection of Land, Ice, Sea, and Clouds

Cold winter winds helped paint a lovely scene off the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland.

Published Feb 26, 2018

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Northeastern USA Coastline in Sunglint
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Northeastern USA Coastline in Sunglint

Reflected sunlight highlights the Atlantic Ocean, Buzzards Bay, and Long Island Sound in this photo from the space station.

Published Feb 25, 2013

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Ash Plume from the Cleveland Volcano
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Ash Plume from the Cleveland Volcano

One of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands erupted in February 2001.

Published Feb 24, 2001

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Gypsum on Earth and Mars
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Gypsum on Earth and Mars

Mexico’s Cuatro Ciénegas Basin is one of the best places on Earth to investigate what life might have looked like on Mars.

Published Feb 23, 2013

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London at Night
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London at Night

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station take special care to acquire crisp night shots.

Published Feb 22, 2016

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A Great Freeze Over the Great Lakes
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A Great Freeze Over the Great Lakes

Ice cover surpassed 80 percent for the first time in 20 years.

Published Feb 21, 2014

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Astronauts’ New Window on the World
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Astronauts’ New Window on the World

Primarily designed to give astronauts a way to see the outside of the ISS, it also provides stunning panoramic views of Earth and space.

Published Feb 20, 2010

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Volcanoes Erupt Simultaneously on Kamchatka
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Volcanoes Erupt Simultaneously on Kamchatka

False-color images show Klyuchevskaya and Bezymianny releasing plumes over the snowy Kamchatka Peninsula.

Published Feb 19, 2010

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Record Melting in Greenland during 2010
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Record Melting in Greenland during 2010

The ice-covered island’s melt season lasted 50 days longer than average.

Published Feb 18, 2011

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A Long View of the Arctic
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A Long View of the Arctic

Colorful lakes and retreating glaciers are among the beautiful scenes waiting to be discovered within an image mosaic of the Arctic.

Published Feb 17, 2015

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El Hierro Submarine Eruption
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El Hierro Submarine Eruption

The underwater volcano near the Canary Islands is growing ever closer to the water surface.

Published Feb 16, 2012

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Glacial “Aftershock” Spawns Antarctic Iceberg
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Glacial “Aftershock” Spawns Antarctic Iceberg

Pine Island Glacier has shed another block of ice into Antarctic waters.

Published Feb 15, 2017

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Emi Koussi Volcano, Chad
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Emi Koussi Volcano, Chad

At 3,415 meters above sea level, the summit is the highest of Africa’s Sahara region.

Published Feb 14, 2011

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A Rope Ahead of a Cold Front
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A Rope Ahead of a Cold Front

Downdrafts from thunderstorms sometimes fuel thin bands of cumulus clouds that race ahead of cold fronts.

Published Feb 13, 2016

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New Land on the Louisiana Coast
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New Land on the Louisiana Coast

While most of the Mississippi River’s delta plain is losing ground, new land is forming at the mouths of the Wax Lake Outlet and the Atchafalaya River.

Published Feb 12, 2015

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The Blue Marble
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The Blue Marble

Using a collection of satellite images and data, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of Earth’s land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic.

Published Feb 11, 2002

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Sun-Earth Selfie
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Sun-Earth Selfie

The STEREO A spacecraft looked back from the far side of the Sun to capture an image of Earth and Mercury.

Published Feb 10, 2015

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CALIPSO Spies Polar Stratospheric Clouds
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CALIPSO Spies Polar Stratospheric Clouds

Also known as nacreous clouds, they play an important role in the depletion of stratospheric ozone.

Published Feb 9, 2011

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A Satellite’s View of Ship Pollution
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A Satellite’s View of Ship Pollution

Elevated levels of nitrogen dioxide popped out over certain shipping lanes when observed by Aura.

Published Feb 8, 2013

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Antarctica’s Changing Larsen Ice Shelf
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Antarctica’s Changing Larsen Ice Shelf

When this closely watched slab of floating ice births a giant iceberg, it will not be the first time it has seen dramatic change.

Published Feb 7, 2017

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Open- and Closed-Cells over the Pacific
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Open- and Closed-Cells over the Pacific

Whether a patch of clouds contains open or closed cells offers a clue about whether rain is falling below.

Published Feb 6, 2016

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New Lava Dome Grows on Shiveluch
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New Lava Dome Grows on Shiveluch

The summit of an active volcano is one of the most dynamic places on Earth, with changes apparent from one week to the next.

Published Feb 5, 2014

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High-Latitude Forest Fires Behave Differently in North America and Eurasia
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High-Latitude Forest Fires Behave Differently in North America and Eurasia

Research shows that very similar boreal landscapes produce very different types of fires.

Published Feb 4, 2015

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Oil Seeps in the Gulf of Mexico
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Oil Seeps in the Gulf of Mexico

Oil slicks stood out in the glare of the Sun in May 2006 on the Gulf of Mexico.

Published Feb 3, 2009

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Our Reach Should Exceed Our Grasp
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Our Reach Should Exceed Our Grasp

Astronauts on the last voyage of the space shuttle Columbia captured this view of clouds over the Atlantic Ocean.

Published Feb 2, 2013

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Deforestation in Brazil
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Deforestation in Brazil

Just months after coming online, the ASTER instrument captured a view of forest clearing in Rondonia.

Published Feb 1, 2001

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January

Volcanic Fertilizer
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Volcanic Fertilizer

An eruption in the Aleutian Islands prompts a bloom of plankton 2000 miles downwind. The ocean soaks up carbon dioxide in the process, but not as much as you'd think.

Published Jan 31, 2013

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Satellites Spot Fields Idled by Drought
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Satellites Spot Fields Idled by Drought

Analysis of Landsat and MODIS data showed where agricultural production was affected by long-term drought in California.

Published Jan 30, 2015

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Melt Season in the Arctic Getting Longer
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Melt Season in the Arctic Getting Longer

Satellite data revealed changes in the average start of spring melting and the first autumn freeze.

Published Jan 29, 2010

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A Decade of Change for Nitrogen Dioxide
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A Decade of Change for Nitrogen Dioxide

From 2005 to 2014, the Aura spacecraft observed increases in the air pollutant in some cities and decreases in others.

Published Jan 28, 2016

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Yellow River Delta, 1989 and 2009
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Yellow River Delta, 1989 and 2009

Chinese engineers changed the main channel through the delta, changing the shape of the land at the river’s mouth.

Published Jan 27, 2010

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India by Night and Day
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India by Night and Day

Two photos, taken 48 years apart, provide contrasting views of southern Asia.

Published Jan 26, 2015

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The Electric Eye of Cyclone Bansi
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The Electric Eye of Cyclone Bansi

Lightning illuminated the center of the storm as the space station flew over at night.

Published Jan 25, 2015

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Tsunami Damage, Northwestern Sumatra
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Tsunami Damage, Northwestern Sumatra

Astronaut photographs illustrate the damage along the southwestern coast of Aceh Province, Indonesia.

Published Jan 24, 2005

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All Dry on the Western Front
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All Dry on the Western Front

From brown landscapes to snow-free mountains, California was startlingly dry as a serious drought prompted a state of emergency.

Published Jan 23, 2014

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Marine Layer Clouds off the California Coast
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Marine Layer Clouds off the California Coast

The Suomi NPP VIIRS “day-night band” makes it possible to view low clouds even at night—something earlier satellites have had difficulty doing.

Published Jan 22, 2013

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The London Array
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The London Array

The world’s largest wind farm was planted just off of the mouth of the River Thames.

Published Jan 21, 2014

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Satellites Map Tsunami Wave Height
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Satellites Map Tsunami Wave Height

Sent into orbit to record the shape of the ocean’s surface, two satellites helped scientists understand a deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

Published Jan 20, 2005

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Channel Beneath Pine Island Glacier
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Channel Beneath Pine Island Glacier

Scientists discovered a deepwater channel that could funnel warm water to the glacier's underbelly and melt it from below.

Published Jan 19, 2011

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Where Are Arctic Soils Defrosting?
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Where Are Arctic Soils Defrosting?

A holey, Swiss cheese-like landscape, thermokarst is distributed widely across the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere.

Published Jan 18, 2017

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North Col of Mount Everest
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North Col of Mount Everest

This astronaut photograph highlights the northern approach to the world’s tallest mountain.

Published Jan 17, 2011

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Faults in Xinjiang
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Faults in Xinjiang

Colliding continents and cracks in the Earth’s crust make for some remarkable scenery in western China.

Published Jan 16, 2014

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An Atlantic Hurricane…in January
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An Atlantic Hurricane…in January

Alex is the earliest hurricane in the North Atlantic since 1938, and one of the farthest northeast on record.

Published Jan 15, 2016

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Different Records, Same Warming Trend
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Different Records, Same Warming Trend

Four independent records are unequivocal: the world has warmed since 1880, and the past decade has been the warmest on record.

Published Jan 14, 2011

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New Seafloor Map Helps Scientists Find New Features
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New Seafloor Map Helps Scientists Find New Features

The recent discovery of the Mammerickx Microplate was made possible by new satellite-derived maps of the ocean floor.

Published Jan 13, 2016

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Cloud Streets over the Bering Sea
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Cloud Streets over the Bering Sea

Most of us prefer our winter roads free of ice, but some cloud formations depend on it.

Published Jan 12, 2012

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Where the Trees Are
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Where the Trees Are

The National Biomass and Carbon Dataset reveals the location and the carbon storage of forests in the United States.

Published Jan 11, 2012

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Booming Growth in Phoenix Suburbs
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Booming Growth in Phoenix Suburbs

Acquired in 1989 and 2009, these images show rapid development of Chandler, Arizona, a “boomburb.”

Published Jan 10, 2010

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Spiral of Plankton
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Spiral of Plankton

Late in 2013, a mid-summer bloom of phytoplankton gave color to a whirling eddy south of Australia.

Published Jan 9, 2014

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Cold-water Upwelling in the Gulf of Tehuantepec
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Cold-water Upwelling in the Gulf of Tehuantepec

In the winter, strong winds drive surface waters away from the shore, and cold water from the deep ocean wells up to replace it.

Published Jan 8, 2005

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Lining Up the Sun, Moon, and ISS
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Lining Up the Sun, Moon, and ISS

While the Moon was busy passing between the Sun and Earth for an eclipse in 2011, the space station made a cameo.

Published Jan 7, 2011

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Floating Forests Revealed
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Floating Forests Revealed

Kelp forests change frequently, and often out of sight from scientists. Infrared imagery changes that.

Published Jan 6, 2015

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Harratt Lunayyir
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Harratt Lunayyir

In northwestern Saudi Arabia lies a field of volcanic lava that contains some 50 cones from the past 10,000 years.

Published Jan 5, 2011

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Fire and the Future of Yellowstone
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Fire and the Future of Yellowstone

More than 20 years after intense fire scorched this national park, the ecosystem is still recovering.

Published Jan 4, 2012

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Tidal Flats and Channels, Long Island, Bahamas
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Tidal Flats and Channels, Long Island, Bahamas

The islands are situated on large depositional platforms composed mainly of carbonate sediments and ringed by reefs.

Published Jan 3, 2011

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Moon Phases Over the Persian Gulf
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Moon Phases Over the Persian Gulf

These satellite images illustrate the effects of moonlight on viewing this desert region.

Published Jan 2, 2013

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Auroras Light Up the Antarctic Night
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Auroras Light Up the Antarctic Night

The “southern lights” were bright enough to illuminate the ice below.

Published Jan 1, 2013

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