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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.
An analysis of Landsat imagery shows big colonies of penguins on the Danger Islands are declining.
Published Dec 12, 2018 in Earth Matters
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
Scientists are analyzing the first radar images returned from a new instrument designed to measure the water content in snowpacks.
Published Dec 4, 2018 in Notes From the Field
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
These maps show the ‘metabolism” of Earth’s plants and trees. Net primary productivity is the difference between the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed during photosynthesis minus the amount released by respiration.
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
Scientists and engineers are ready to fly a new instrument designed to measure the water contained within a snowpack.
Published Nov 30, 2018 in Notes From the Field
Explore a shrinking glacier in Alaska from space and make your own "mountain" glacier.
Published Nov 29, 2018 in EO Kids
Snow and ice influences 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.
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
Researchers analyzed more than 40,000 fires between 1950 to 2017 to learn how wildfire frequency, size, and location has changed. Here's what they learned.
Published Nov 29, 2018 in Earth Matters
Like the isbjørn (polar bears), we are ambush hunters. Our prey are atmospheric fountains, jets of gas being shot into space under the impact of the cusp aurora.
Published Nov 29, 2018 in Notes From the Field
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
Dozens of fires raged in northeastern Australia during the last week of November.
Published Nov 27, 2018
November flash floods displaced tens of thousands of people.
Published Nov 27, 2018
Record-setting fire activity in 2018 fits with a longer trend of larger and more frequent California fires since 2000.
Published Nov 27, 2018
Your challenge is to tell us what we are looking at and why it is interesting.
Published Nov 27, 2018 in Earth Matters
Erosion has produced a striking landscape east of the Andes Mountains in Chubut Province.
Published Nov 26, 2018
We fly to honor the sacrifices that we each have made, and the dedication we all feel to each other, in our three-year journey from project inception to field campaign.
Published Nov 26, 2018 in Notes From the Field
Without the regular rising and setting of the Sun to bring a sense of duration, the long winter nights in Ny-Ålesund can seem timeless.
Published Nov 24, 2018 in Notes From the Field
It is sometimes overlooked that Plymouth, Massachusetts, was not the first stop—nor the intended destination—of the Pilgrims.
Published Nov 22, 2018 in Earth Matters
12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.
Published Oct 13, 2005
As sea ice around Russia’s New Siberian Islands thins and breaks-up each summer, it takes on the appearance of stained glass.
Published Nov 21, 2018
Alpine in character and perennial in flow, the river is a crucial resource for hydroelectricity, irrigation, transportation, and tourism.
Published Nov 21, 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
This coastline is rugged, with mountains, dry river beds, a small delta, and steep cliffs that cast shadows on the landscape.
Published Nov 21, 2018
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
Coronal holes sparked brilliant auroras over Alaska and Canada during this solar minimum.
Published Nov 20, 2018
A spacecraft looked homeward while making its way to the asteroid Bennu.
Published Nov 19, 2018
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.
As the destructive California fire nears full containment, it has left behind an expanse of charred land.
Published Nov 19, 2018
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
Without enough fresh snow to replenish it, Alaska’s Yakutat Glacier is in trouble.
Published Nov 19, 2018
Large phytoplankton blooms tend to occur at intersections: between land and sea, between different ocean currents, and between seasons.
Published Nov 16, 2018
A NASA project is providing maps of satellite data to emergency response teams during the Woolsey Fire.
Published Nov 16, 2018
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.
Putting low-cost air quality sensors in the hands of citizen scientists complement satellite observations of air quality during wildfires.
Published Nov 14, 2018 in Earth Matters
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
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.
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
