Summer is beach season in the northern hemisphere. But even if you're a regular at your local swimming hole, you probably haven't seen too many beaches from this perspective. See the satellite and space-station views of various shorelines from across the United States. No sunblock necessary.
Flash floods have devastated several communities in Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands.
Tour the Australian state’s diverse landscapes and waterscapes.
Published Jul 22, 2021
The idyllic region of Dalarna County is the site of an ancient, powerful collision.
Published Jul 21, 2021
Hot, dry, and windy conditions continue to fan the flames of the largest fire currently burning in the United States.
Published Jul 19, 2021
Sand dunes, ancient rocks, a solar power plant, and the Orange River stand out in this photo from South Africa.
Published Jul 18, 2021
Tampa Bay is teeming with Karenia brevis months before it usually blooms.
Published Jul 17, 2021
Inland areas along rivers and canals where people once raised crops are now dotted with fish and shrimp ponds.
Published Jul 17, 2021
Spor Mountain in Utah is a major source of the stiff, lightweight metal that has been used in the flagship space telescope and several other NASA missions.
Published Jul 16, 2021
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.
Mountain snow melted away nearly a month ahead of schedule, leaving reservoirs without their usual inflow of freshwater.
Published Jul 14, 2021Image of the Day Land Drought Snow and Ice Temperature Extremes
12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.
Published Oct 13, 2005
When conditions are right, microscopic plant-like organisms called phytoplankton reproduce abundantly and create colorful patterns on the ocean surface that satellites can observe from space.
Published Jul 14, 2021
The natural sea ice structure west of Greenland stuck around longer than usual in 2021, despite a recent trend toward earlier breakups.
Published Jul 14, 2021
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 Jul 13, 2021 in Earth Matters
Using satellites, aircraft, and computer models, NASA can aid farmers, reservoir managers, and decision makers as they monitor water needs.
Published Jul 13, 2021 in Earth Matters
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.
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
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
Smoke from Ontario, Canada, has blown south into the United States.
Published Jul 12, 2021
The extraordinary heatwave that scorched the Pacific Northwest in June 2021 has diminished, but substantial fires continued to burn across the region in July.
Published Jul 9, 2021
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
Clouds can be a nuisance when scientists are trying to observe features on Earth's surface. But at other times, clouds are exactly what they want to see. These images highlight some of the more unusual and beautiful clouds observed in recent years from space.
Published Jun 21, 2021
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.
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.
Since 1999, Earth Observatory has published images and stories from all over our planet. Now you can explore more than 11,000 images in a different way: by location.
Published Jun 2, 2021
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 Apr 28, 2021
Click to see the 2021 champion.
Published Mar 8, 2021
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.
For 20 years, astronauts have been shooting photos of Earth from the space station. Like everything the astronauts do, they are trained for this job. And like everything they do, there is purpose and intention behind it.
Published Feb 8, 2021
