Air Pollution: Seeing Small Specks from Space

EO Kids is searching for small specks of air pollutants from Space. How clean is our air?

Mangkhut Swamps Luzon

Northern Luzon took a direct hit from the super typhoon, bringing disastrous winds and rainfall.

Atmosphere Floods Severe Storms

Mission to Track Earth's Changing Ice Launches

NASA’s ICESat-2 successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Image of the Day Snow and Ice Remote Sensing

Typhoon Mangkhut Reaches Luzon

The super typhoon made landfall on the northernmost island in the Philippine archipelago.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Severe Storms

The Complex Evolution of Florence’s Winds

The hurricane is among the longest-lived cyclones of 2018, and the storm’s winds had plenty of time to rage and ease as they ran into different environmental conditions.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Severe Storms Remote Sensing

A View Inside Hurricane Florence

Though flying in a lowered orbit, twelve-year-old CloudSat continues to deliver impressive science data that reveals the vertical structure of clouds.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Severe Storms Remote Sensing

Mangkhut Bearing Down on The Philippines

Officials are planning for significant storm surges and rainfall when the storm reaches Luzon on September 15.

Atmosphere Water Severe Storms

Help Make a Better World Land Map with NASA App

Starting this month, you can be part of a project to create more detailed satellite-based global maps of land cover by sharing photos of the world around you in a new NASA citizen science project.

Florence Crossing Warm Waters on the Way to the Carolinas

Forecasters expect the major hurricane to get a boost of energy from the Gulf Stream.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Severe Storms Remote Sensing

Aerosol Size

Sea salt, volcanic ash, dust, wildfire smoke, and industrial pollution are types of airborne aerosols. Natural aerosols tend to be larger than human-made aerosols. These maps show when and where aerosols come from nature, humans, or both.

Atmosphere

Awesome, Frightening Views of Hurricane Florence

The potent category 3 storm is headed for landfall in the southeastern coast of the United States.

Atmosphere Water Severe Storms

Typhoon Mangkhut

The severe storm is predicted to graze the northern Philippines before taking aim at Hong Kong and southeastern China.

Atmosphere Water Severe Storms

Watery Heatwave Cooks the Gulf of Maine

Extreme water temperatures in 2018 fit with a much longer trend in the region, which is among the fastest-warming parts of the global ocean.

Image of the Day Heat Life Water Severe Storms

Circuit Paul Ricard

The famous track in southeastern France has hosted the Grand Prix fifteen times.

Image of the Day Human Presence

Trouble Brewing in the Atlantic

As three hurricanes churn, Florence has forecasters on edge.

Atmosphere Severe Storms

Beached Bergs in Alaska

Glaciers shed icebergs throughout summer, and the icy bodies collect at the beach.

Image of the Day Snow and Ice

Converting Savannahs into Soybeans

In Brazil, vast wild areas have been converted into farms, producing a major protein-packed cash crop but also endangering wildlife.

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Yet Another Fire in Northern California

The fast-moving Delta Fire is one of several that have cast a pall of smoke over the region this summer.

Image of the Day Land Fires Remote Sensing

Demise of a Quake Lake

Erosion is causing the slow disappearance of a lake that formed after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Image of the Day Water

“Snow Swamp” on Lowell Glacier

A large expanse of snow on the Canadian glacier melted in just four days due to warm temperatures.

Image of the Day Heat Land Snow and Ice Remote Sensing

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

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

Japan’s Waters Run Brown after Typhoon Jebi

Rivers and bays were loaded with sediment and mud following the damaging storm.

Water Severe Storms Human Presence

Vegetation

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.

Land Life

Snow Cover

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.

Snow and Ice

Decades of Growth at Port of Busan

The South Korean port is among the busiest in the world.

Image of the Day Land Water Human Presence

Between the Ripples of the Namib Sand Sea

Scattered in a sea of sand, inselbergs in Namibia host ecology uniquely influenced by fog.

Image of the Day Land Water

Summer Ship Tracks in the Pacific

Summer is the time for ship tracks—especially off the west coast of North America.

Image of the Day Atmosphere

River of the Strait

Cars, commerce, and countries connect along the Detroit River.

Image of the Day Human Presence

Vredefort Crater

The world’s oldest and largest known impact structure shows some of the most extreme deformation conditions known on Earth.

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

The Scars of Mendocino

Scarring of the landscape is evident in the wake of the largest wildfire in California history.

Image of the Day Land Fires Human Presence Remote Sensing

August Auroras Light Up North American Skies

An unexpected aurora colored the skies of Canada and northern U.S. states.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Remote Sensing

Living the Mars Life on Mauna Loa

On months-long Mars analog missions in Hawaii, donning mock space suits to explore lava flows and other geological formations is often a high point.

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

August Puzzler

Your challenge is to tell us what we are looking at and why this place is interesting.

Last Glacier Standing in Venezuela

Humboldt Glacier in the remote tropical Andes is going, going, and nearly gone.

Image of the Day Land Human Presence Snow and Ice Remote Sensing

The Carbon Cycle

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.

Atmosphere Land

How Scientists are Tracking Florida's Red Tides with Satellites and Smartphones

Beaches are littered with fish carcasses as Florida confronts one of the worst red tide outbreak in a decade.

The Unsung Woman Who Discovered an Unknown Island

"It took me 20 years to get to the level I should have been hired at, but that doesn't change the fact that I really enjoyed my work." -- Betty Fleming

Padma River: The Shape of Erosion

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.

Land Water

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.

Land Life

World of Change: Padma River

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.

Land Water Remote Sensing World of Change

Patriotic Places from Orbit

On July 4, United States citizens celebrate the nation’s independence. EO does the same by visiting five places with historical significance.

Land Videos

Net Primary Productivity

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.

Land Life

Kilauea From Orbit

In early May 2018, an eruption on Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano began to unfold. Here’s what satellites saw in the first few weeks of the eruption.

Atmosphere Land Videos

April 2018 Highlights

Astronauts regularly shoot photographs of their earthly home. In celebration of National Astronaut Day, NASA Earth Observatory presents some recent eye-catchers from the International Space Station.

Land Water Snow and Ice Videos