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Once the fourth-largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea has been slowly disappearing since the 1960s. View how the lake has shrunk over the past few decades.
A break in the clouds revealed a wintry landscape around the Midwest and Great Lakes.
The milky green and blue phytoplankton developed where warmer, saltier coastal waters from the subtropics meet colder, fresher waters flowing from the south.
Published Dec 21, 2018
Stepping off the airplane onto the ice runway for the first time is a breath-taking experience.
Published Dec 20, 2018 in Notes From the Field
The Aïr Mountains stand out, aesthetically and geologically, from the surrounding low-lying plains to support unique wildlife.
Published Dec 20, 2018
See where shallow groundwater has responded to the unusually wet conditions this year.
Published Dec 19, 2018
As NASA's latest care package heads toward the International Space Station, it traveled over beautiful Earth landscapes—from scenic snowscapes to desolate deserts.
Published Dec 19, 2018
A fishing town became a bustling city after Malawi’s president moved the capital there.
Published Dec 18, 2018
New elevation measurements will give researchers an unprecedented understanding of the thickness of sea ice, which will be used to help improve climate modeling and forecasts.
Published Dec 17, 2018
Pioneering agricultural projects were planned to encourage people to leave the very heavily populated Nile Delta and to seek economic opportunities in the desert.
Published Dec 15, 2018
A pair of sounding rockets took aim at the aurora over Svalbard, Norway, to help scientists understand how Earth loses oxygen into space.
Published Dec 14, 2018
Civilization’s footprint on this Caribbean island has been relatively light.
Published Dec 14, 2018
Melting and thinning of high-mountain glaciers makes them flow less due to gravity.
Published Dec 13, 2018
The hurricane took a disproportionate toll on power supplies in remote areas of Puerto Rico.
Published Dec 12, 2018Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Severe Storms Human Presence
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.
12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.
Published Oct 13, 2005
Carbon flows between the atmosphere, land, and ocean in a cycle that encompasses nearly all life and sets the thermostat for Earth's climate. By burning fossil fuels, people are changing the carbon cycle with far-reaching consequences.
Published Jun 16, 2011
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
New elevation measurements span the continent’s icy surfaces, from the flat Ross Ice Shelf to the rugged Transantarctic Mountains.
Published Dec 11, 2018
Satellites detect changes in the height and velocity of ice in an area that was thought to be relatively stable and quiet.
Published Dec 10, 2018
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 Oct 5, 2000
Hydroxyl radicals are critical for offsetting concentrations of methane in the air.
Published Dec 7, 2018
Farms and feedlots are a key source of the pollutant.
Published Dec 7, 2018
The peaks of these mountains are a dramatic expression of massive tectonic forces pushing continents together.
Published Dec 7, 2018
A powerful hurricane wiped away a remote island in the Hawaiian chain.
Published Dec 6, 2018
It was cold across the eastern part of North America, but the opposite was true in other parts of the world.
Published Dec 5, 2018
Hurricanes and typhoons cause vast amounts of heat to sink into the sea, which might have implications for seasonal and long-term climate.
Published Dec 4, 2018
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.
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.
Greenness is an important indicator of health for forests, grasslands, and farms. The greenness of a landscape, or vegetation index, depends on the number and type of plants, how leafy they are, and how healthy they are.
As November 2018 came to a close, mountain areas saw their first significant snowfall of the season.
Published Dec 3, 2018
The Hiawatha Impact Crater in northwest Greenland was detected through some creative detective work and innovative instruments that can see through the ice.
Published Nov 30, 2018
Momotombo in western Nicaragua is an active stratovolcano and a source of renewable energy.
Published Nov 30, 2018
June is a time of transition around the New Siberian Islands as snowmelt uncovers the sea ice and gives way to bare land.
Published Nov 30, 2018
A November blizzard snarled transportation and disrupted power across a wide area.
Published Nov 28, 2018
During a recent bout of activity, Veniaminof volcano rumbled and spit out ash, lava, and volcanic gases.
Published Nov 28, 2018
These maps depict monthly total rainfall around the world. Rainfall is the primary source of fresh water for humans, plants, and animals. Rain also moves heat between the atmosphere, oceans, and land.
NASA scientist Doug Rowland travels with his team to Svalbard, Norway, for the VISIONS-2 sounding rocket campaign. The team will launch two suborbital rockets in order to understand how the aurora heats the atmosphere and “boils” oxygen off into space.
Published Nov 21, 2018 in Notes From the Field
Land surface temperatures rise and fall with the heat of the Sun, and they represent how hot or cold the surface would feel to touch. These maps show daytime land temperatures as measured from space.
Here are eight places on Earth where the fall foliage wowed us.
Published Oct 23, 2018
In summer 2018, wildfires across western North America disrupted the lives of millions. Smoke from some of the blazes was so pronounced it was visible from space.
Published Sep 11, 2018
From 1988 to the present, Landsat satellites have seen changes in shape, size, and position of the Padma River in Bangladesh. View the river's transformations over the past three decades.
Published Aug 21, 2018
One of the major rivers of Bangladesh has been growing in size, transforming in shape, and changing in location for decades. Each twist and zigzag of the river tells a different geologic story about the power of erosion.
Published Jul 31, 2018
