Weather-Making Fire Burns in Southern California
Image of the Day Sep 11, 2024

Weather-Making Fire Burns in Southern California

Intense blazes, including the Line fire, supercharged afternoon convective clouds.
Alaska’s Iconic Columbia Glacier Still Retreats
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Alaska’s Iconic Columbia Glacier Still Retreats

The glacier’s Main Branch pulled away from a stabilizing rocky outcrop, while melting along the West Branch exposed “new gravelly real estate.”

Published Sep 10, 2024

Image of the Day

Bustling Beijing
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Bustling Beijing

China’s capital city boasts a diversity of structures, from its historic city center to the concentric roads and high-speed railway that surround it.

Published Sep 9, 2024

Image of the Day Human Presence

Lake Erie Blooms
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Lake Erie Blooms

Algal communities flourish in Lake Erie’s western basin each summer. Scientists are looking to new NASA technology to better track them from space.

Published Sep 5, 2024

Image of the Day Water Water Color

Southeast China Braces for Yagi
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Southeast China Braces for Yagi

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

Published Sep 5, 2024

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Severe Storms

Floods Swamp Sudan
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Floods Swamp Sudan

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

Published Sep 4, 2024

Image of the Day Land Water Floods

Wildland Fires Scorch Idaho Wilderness
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Wildland Fires Scorch Idaho Wilderness

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

Published Sep 3, 2024

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Fires

A Series of Rare Disturbances in the Stratosphere
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A Series of Rare Disturbances in the Stratosphere

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

Published Sep 3, 2024

Image of the Day Atmosphere

Laboring at Big Bend Tunnel
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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.

Published Sep 2, 2024

Image of the Day Human Presence

Blue Marble Next Generation
Article

Blue Marble Next Generation

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

Published Oct 13, 2005

Atmosphere Land Water Snow and Ice

Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly
Global Maps Jun 2002 — Sep 2011

Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly

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.

Heat Water

Mountains and Coastal Living Along the Gulf of Policastro
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Mountains and Coastal Living Along the Gulf of Policastro

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

Published Sep 1, 2024

Image of the Day Land Water

Typhoon Shanshan Pummels Japan
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Typhoon Shanshan Pummels Japan

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

Published Aug 29, 2024

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water Severe Storms

Snow Cover
Global Maps Mar 2000 — May 2024

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

Aftermath of a Landslide-Triggered Tsunami
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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.

Published Aug 28, 2024

Image of the Day Land Landslides

Aerosol Optical Depth
Global Maps Mar 2000 — Apr 2024

Aerosol Optical Depth

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.

Atmosphere

The Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment (ARCSIX) in Greenland
Notes from the Field

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.

Published Aug 23, 2024

Atmosphere Climate Indicators Land Snow and Ice

Earth at Night
Article

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.

Published Apr 12, 2017

Atmosphere Land Human Presence Remote Sensing

Under the Ash: Glacier Science at a Volcano
Notes from the Field

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.

Published Aug 22, 2024

August Puzzler
Earth Matters

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.

Published Aug 13, 2024

2024 North Atlantic Hurricane Season
Article

2024 North Atlantic Hurricane Season

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

Published Jul 1, 2024

Atmosphere

Renewable and Alternative Energy
Article

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.

Published May 10, 2024

Land Human Presence

World of Change
Article

World of Change

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

Published Apr 29, 2009

Atmosphere Heat Land Life Human Presence Snow and Ice

Fire
Global Maps Mar 2000 — May 2024

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

Air Quality
Article

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.

Published Apr 8, 2024

Atmosphere Human Presence

Temperature Extremes 2024
Article

Temperature Extremes 2024

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

Published Mar 26, 2024

Heat

Mission: Biomes
Article

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.

Published Aug 28, 2020

Land Life

How to Interpret a Satellite Image: Five Tips and Strategies
Article

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.

Published Nov 18, 2013

Remote Sensing

Net Radiation
Global Maps Jul 2006 — Mar 2024

Net Radiation

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.

Heat

2024 Fires in the Northern Hemisphere
Article

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.

Published Feb 27, 2024

Atmosphere Land Human Presence

Sea Surface Temperature
Global Maps Jul 2002 — Apr 2024

Sea Surface Temperature

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.

Heat Water

Temperature Extremes 2023
Article

Temperature Extremes 2023

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

Published Aug 15, 2023

Heat