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It measures about half the size of a football field and it is so small that you cannot see it on Google maps. This barren bit of rock off the coast of Canada has an unusual namesake: the Landsat 1 satellite. Hear about the discovery in the words of the woman who found it in satellite imagery.
A blast of cold air from Canada is fueling lake effect snow in several states.
Fjords and funnel-shaped bays and inlets are often the scene of dramatic tidal changes and sediment loads.
Published Dec 6, 2019
A recent report synthesizes what scientists have learned about the ecological effects of high sediment flows from the Susquehanna River on the Chesapeake Bay.
Published Dec 6, 2019 in Earth Matters
A phytoplankton bloom appeared in one of the world’s busiest oil waterways.
Published Dec 5, 2019
Circulation around a jet streak—a fast-moving pocket of air within the jet stream—formed this distinctive arc of clouds.
Published Dec 4, 2019
Bushfires continued in early December to produce smoke along the the country's eastern coast.
Published Dec 4, 2019
Every night, under the cover of darkness, countless small sea creatures swim from the ocean depths to feed near the surface, then descend out of sight again before daybreak.
Published Dec 3, 2019
A powerful typhoon brought violent winds and torrential rainfall, causing thousands to evacuate.
Published Dec 2, 2019Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water Severe Storms Remote Sensing
These maps depict anomalies in land surface temperatures (LSTs); that is, how much hotter or cooler a region was compared to the long-term average. LST anomalies can indicate heat waves or cold spells.
Japan’s Daisenryo Kofun looks like a forest on a hill, but it is actually one of the largest tombs in the world.
Published Nov 27, 2019
In a recent article, we showed satellite imagery of road expansion in the Congo Basin. Now view those changes with images taken from inside the rainforest.
Published Nov 27, 2019 in Earth Matters
A winter storm brought flash flooding, heavy snow, and hurricane-force winds to the Pacific Northwest.
Published Nov 27, 2019
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.
The grid-like pattern that spreads across the encompassing flatlands is typical of the Great Plains region and of Nebraska in particular.
Published Nov 27, 2019
An undersea eruption at Lateiki Island in late October 2019 has brought new life to an older island in the Tonga chain.
Published Nov 26, 2019
Rising waters are swallowing up another island in Chesapeake Bay.
Published Nov 26, 2019
Lake Hachirō in northern Honshu was once Japan’s second largest lake.
Published Nov 26, 2019
Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what we are looking at, where it is, and why it is interesting.
Published Nov 26, 2019 in Earth Matters
Road networks in the Congo rainforest have significantly increased over the past decades, but not all paths lead to long-term destruction.
Published Nov 25, 2019
A mountain-building event lifted up this area between 40 and 70 million years ago.
Published Nov 22, 2019
Hundreds of scientific papers have come out of NASA’s Operation IceBridge, which ended this week.
Published Nov 22, 2019
About 80 percent of South Korea’s oysters are grown in these waters.
Published Nov 22, 2019
Decades of satellite data make it possible to map how deforestation has evolved over time.
Published Nov 21, 2019
Scientists are working to mitigate hazards for people in vulnerable communities.
Published Nov 20, 2019 in Earth Matters
12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.
Published Oct 13, 2005
As fires continue to rage in southern and eastern Australia, the smoke has risen high and far across the atmosphere.
Published Nov 20, 2019Image of the Day Atmosphere Heat Land Drought Fires Remote Sensing
All those sparkly lights reveal a lot about where and how people live on Earth – everything from population, to disaster recovery, to where people are celebrating.
Published Nov 20, 2019 in EO Kids
Against the odds, the landmass that exploded and oozed into existence in early 2015 is now nearly five years old.
Published Nov 19, 2019
Satellites detected what appears to be wildfires in the mountainous region.
Published Nov 19, 2019
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.
As global and regional warming continues, winter emissions of carbon dioxide from Arctic lands are offsetting what plants absorb in the summer.
Published Nov 18, 2019
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
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
Industrialization has brought incredible societal advances and difficult pollution problems. From space, we can see skies clearing in some regions and darkening in others. The thin blue line of our atmosphere is still quite vulnerable.
Published Jun 24, 2014
Vegetation is withering across Central Chile.
Published Nov 15, 2019
Different lens sizes and camera angles provide wildly different views of Madagascar.
Published Nov 15, 2019
Cold air moving over relatively warm ocean water produced a pattern of clouds that lined up in organized rows.
Published Nov 14, 2019
There is no running water, no sewage system, and no garbage disposal, but La Rinconada has one resource worth its weight.
Published Nov 14, 2019
The air-LUSI instrument, designed to take accurate measurements of the Moon to improve Earth observing sensors, demonstrated its capabilities aboard the ER-2.
Published Nov 14, 2019 in Notes From the Field
These maps depict how much hotter or cooler an ocean basin was compared to the long-term average. Temperature anomalies can indicate changes in ocean circulation or the arrival of patterns like El Niño and La Niña.
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.
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.
Published Sep 24, 2019
NASA has a unique vantage point for observing the beauty and wonder of Earth and for making sense of it. The images in this book tell a story of a 4.5-billion-year-old planet where there is always something new to see.
Published Aug 28, 2019
There is no award for completing the hike from Mexico to Canada through the western United States. But it is clear from the ground and space that the journey through 48 wilderness areas and demanding terrain will change you.
Published Aug 1, 2019
Swirling white clouds, deep blue oceans, and multicolored landscapes come to life on the pages of NASA’s new photo essay Earth, a collection of dramatic images captured by satellites.
Published Jun 4, 2019
Our world is constantly changing. We have evolved with it.
Published May 7, 2019
