Southeast China Braces for Yagi

After hitting the Philippines, the powerful storm is churning toward landfall near China’s Hainan Island.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Severe Storms

Floods Swamp Sudan  

Flash flooding has inundated villages, swamped farmland, and damaged infrastructure.

Image of the Day Land Water Floods

Wildland Fires Scorch Idaho Wilderness

Burning for weeks, the Wapiti and Middle Fork Complex fires have charred tens of thousands of acres.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Fires

A Series of Rare Disturbances in the Stratosphere

The polar vortex elongated and weakened over Antarctica, causing rare warming events.

Image of the Day Atmosphere

Laboring at Big Bend Tunnel

The setting for John Henry’s legendary contest with a steam-powered drill may have been this tunnel through Big Bend Mountain in West Virginia.

Image of the Day Human Presence

Mountains and Coastal Living Along the Gulf of Policastro

Smooth beaches meet rugged alpine terrain along this section of coastline in southwestern Italy.

Image of the Day Land Water

Typhoon Shanshan Pummels Japan

The powerful storm triggered landslides, power outages, and flooding in southern parts of the country.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water Severe Storms

Blue Marble Next Generation

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

Atmosphere Land Water Snow and Ice

Aftermath of a Landslide-Triggered Tsunami

The 56-foot wave in Pedersen Lagoon, on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, damaged trees and left a mark on the landscape.

Image of the Day Land Landslides

Dust Pours Off the Moroccan Coast

Desert winds kicked up a cloud of dust from northern Africa.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Dust and Haze

Storms Line the Northeast Pacific

Hurricane Hone brought soaking rains to Hawaii when it passed south of the island chain, and more storms brewed to the east.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water Severe Storms

Constructing Egypt’s New Capital

The country’s government is relocating to a brand-new city in the desert outside of Cairo.

Image of the Day Human Presence

Total Rainfall

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.

Atmosphere

How to Interpret a Satellite Image: Five Tips and Strategies

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

Remote Sensing

The Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment (ARCSIX) in Greenland

Excerpts from a scientist's emails home to family provide a glimpse of what life was like on one of the world’s most northern scientific outposts in the world.

Atmosphere Climate Indicators Land Snow and Ice

Under the Ash: Glacier Science at a Volcano

Researchers trekked to Alaska’s Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes to better understand the icy volcanic landscapes on Earth, Mars, and beyond.

Aerosol Size

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

Atmosphere

World of Change

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

Atmosphere Heat Land Life Human Presence Snow and Ice

Fire

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

Land

August Puzzler

Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us where it is, what we are looking at, and why it is interesting.

2024 North Atlantic Hurricane Season

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

Atmosphere

Mission: Biomes

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

Land Life

Renewable and Alternative Energy

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

Land Human Presence

Water Vapor

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

Atmosphere

Snow Cover

Snow and ice influence climate by reflecting sunlight back into space. When it melts, snow is a source of water for drinking and vegetation; too much snowmelt can lead to floods. These maps show average snow cover by month.

Snow and Ice

Air Quality

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

Atmosphere Human Presence

Earth at Night

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

Atmosphere Land Human Presence Remote Sensing

Temperature Extremes 2024

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

Heat

2024 Fires in the Northern Hemisphere

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

Atmosphere Land Human Presence

Temperature Extremes 2023

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

Heat

Chlorophyll

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

Life Water