The Midwest state has flat land, fertile soils, and the nation’s largest soybean harvest.
With extreme drought gripping the state, firefighters are battling large blazes north of Silver City.
Floodwaters that have coursed through the outback for months are now replenishing a vast inland sea on a scale not seen in decades.
Published Jun 18, 2025The island group off mainland Mozambique is a dynamic marine and island ecosystem shaped by tides and currents.
Published Jun 18, 2025Marine storm cloud zones have shifted poleward and narrowed, and the changes are contributing to our planet’s growing energy imbalance.
Published Jun 17, 2025Sea ice in the gulf, the gateway to the Northwest Passage, is fracturing and drifting westward into the Beaufort Sea.
Published Jun 16, 2025An astronaut photographed Alexandria’s coastal development, agricultural zones, harbors, and salt ponds.
Published Jun 15, 2025Farming of this valuable product has become common in recent decades in the waters of Tanzania’s Pemba Island.
Published Jun 14, 2025A powerful weather system brought heavy snow to southern African mountains, plus high winds and flooding to the lowlands.
Published Jun 12, 2025Image of the Day Land Severe Storms Snow and Ice Temperature Extremes
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.
NASA satellites document how our world—forests, oceans, human landscapes, even the Sun—changes over months, seasons, and years.
Published Apr 29, 2009Hurricane Barbara and Tropical Storm Cosme lined up off the western coast of Mexico.
Published Jun 10, 2025Net 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.
Your challenge is to tell us the location of the satellite image and why it is interesting.
Published Jun 10, 2025
12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.
Published Oct 13, 2005When 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.
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.
One of the strongest tornadoes to hit the area left a long scar across the landscape.
Published Jun 9, 2025Two rivers diverge in a tropical rainforest of South America. And that has made some scientists do a double take.
Published Jun 9, 2025Astronauts have photographed the diminishing lake in Central Africa for decades, most recently in January 2025, as its area remained just a fraction of its past size.
Published Jun 8, 2025Satellite 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, 2017What 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, 2013Have 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, 2020Hurricane season in the basin runs from June 1 to November 30.
Published Jul 1, 2024People 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, 2024From 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, 2024Warmer-than-average temperatures are showing up locally and globally, with consequences for people, landscapes, and ecosystems.
Published Mar 26, 2024Whether 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, 2024In addition to making rain and snow, clouds can have a warming or cooling influence depending on their altitude, type, and when they form. These maps show what fraction of an area was cloudy each month.
Warmer-than-average temperatures are showing up locally and globally, with consequences for people, landscapes, and ecosystems.
Published Aug 15, 2023These 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.