From soil conditions to crop productivity, satellite data help inform farmers, scientists, and decision-makers in the U.S. and around the world.
The storm’s arrival in Malawi and Mozambique unleashed destructive floods and mudslides.
The dry, sunny basin is the site of a solar power station that supplies electricity to nearly 2 million Moroccans.
Published Mar 23, 2023
The end-of-winter sea ice extent in March 2023 was the fifth lowest in the satellite record.
Published Mar 22, 2023
The pass now has a flow five times that of New York’s Hudson River.
Published Mar 20, 2023
An astronaut spotted colorful evaporation ponds in Mexico while in orbit over the Baja Peninsula.
Published Mar 19, 2023
Successive atmospheric rivers in March dropped even more rain and snow throughout the state.
Published Mar 17, 2023
NASA research finds that a combination of windblown dust and human-caused particle pollution was associated with nearly 3 million premature deaths in 2019.
Published Mar 17, 2023
The long-term trend for sea ice in the south is still flat, while the global trend points downward.
Published Mar 16, 2023
The mountains of southeastern California are home to a large rare-earth element mine.
Published Mar 15, 2023
As water dropped to critically low levels, electricity production suffered and power outages plagued Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Published Mar 14, 2023
NASA satellites document how our world—forests, oceans, human landscapes, even the Sun—changes over months, seasons, and years.
Published Apr 29, 2009
12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.
Published Oct 13, 2005
The mighty Amazon River carries a huge amount of sediment and occasionally delivers muddy water to nearby lakes.
Published Mar 13, 2023
The Bolivian mining city—one of the highest cities in the world—grew at the foot of an eroded volcano riddled with silver.
Published Mar 12, 2023
These maps show the average amount of water vapor in a column of atmosphere by month. Water vapor is the key precursor for rain and snow and one of the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a different part of the world? What would the weather be like? What kinds of animals would you see? Which plants live there? By investigating these questions, you are learning about biomes.
Published Aug 28, 2020
Days of rain have swollen rivers and lakes in the sparsely populated territory.
Published Mar 10, 2023
Net radiation is the balance between incoming and outgoing energy at the top of the atmosphere. It is the total energy available to influence climate after light and heat are reflected, absorbed, or emitted by clouds and land.
When fuels such as coal, wood, and oil burn incompletely, they produce carbon monoxide. The gas is spread by winds and circulation. These maps show monthly averages of CO in the lower atmosphere.
Satellite images of Earth at night have been a curiosity for the public and a tool of fundamental research for at least 25 years. They have provided a broad, beautiful picture, showing how humans have shaped the planet and lit up the darkness.
Published Apr 12, 2017
Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us where it is, what we are looking at, and why it is interesting.
Published Feb 23, 2023
Ocean temperatures can influence weather, such as hurricane formation, and climate patterns, such as El Niño. These maps show the temperature at the surface of the world’s seas and oceans.
Over the years, astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory have snapped spectacular photographs of Earth’s snow and ice in both hemispheres.
Published Dec 21, 2022
In honor of our site anniversary, we offer a selection of some of the most beautiful, newsworthy, interesting, and scientifically important images from 23 years online — one image for each day of the calendar year.
Published Apr 26, 2022
Airborne aerosols can cause or prevent cloud formation and harm human health. These maps depict aerosol concentrations in the air based on how the tiny particles reflect or absorb visible and infrared light.
In addition to making rain and snow, clouds can have a warming or cooling influence depending on their altitude, type, and when they form. These maps show what fraction of an area was cloudy each month.
For the third time in a decade, the winner hails from the Canary Islands.
Published Mar 1, 2022
What do you do when presented with a new satellite image? Here's what the Earth Observatory team does to understand the view.
Published Nov 18, 2013
As green chlorophyll fades from trees and plants each autumn, other pigments color Earth’s landscapes. Satellites take leaf-peeping to a whole new level.
Published Oct 26, 2021
Summer is beach season in the northern hemisphere. But even if you're a regular at your local swimming hole, you probably haven't seen too many beaches from this perspective. See the satellite and space-station views of various shorelines from across the United States. No sunblock necessary.
Published Jul 22, 2021
