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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.
Dozens of fires raged in the southern part of the Siberian region.
Every June, the Kolyma River thaws and carries organic materials that stain the Arctic Ocean.
Published Jul 12, 2019
July 2019 brought the latest display of a phytoplankton bloom that occurs every year in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Published Jul 12, 2019
Use your eyes and your research skills to figure out the location shown in this satellite image.
Published Jul 12, 2019 in Earth Matters
Nearly two years after a rare wildfire in western Greenland, satellites spotted new smoke plumes streaming from the same region.
Published Jul 11, 2019
Scientists gathered in Kenya to discuss how satellite data can best be used to promote farmer and pastoralist resilience to drought.
Published Jul 10, 2019 in Notes From the Field
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.
12 months of high-resolution global true color satellite imagery.
Published Oct 13, 2005
A new NASA project improves landslide inventories with data from the public.
Published Jul 10, 2019
Record-breaking heat has exacerbated clusters of wildfires burning throughout the state.
Published Jul 9, 2019
Smoke from fires burning along the Ontario border dipped south into the United States.
Published Jul 8, 2019
The record-breaking belt of brown algae stretches from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico, and it is likely here to stay.
Published Jul 8, 2019Image of the Day Water Remote Sensing World of Change Water Color
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
In late June 2019, a potent atmospheric river event carried soaking rain into southern Chile, dropping nearly a month’s worth of precipitation in just 48 hours.
Published Jul 5, 2019
The river drains water and sediment from 31 U.S. states, delivering both to the Gulf of Mexico via the Atchafalaya and Mississippi River deltas.
Published Jul 5, 2019
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.
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.
The enormous slab of ice poised to break away from the Brunt ice shelf is still hanging on.
Published Jul 3, 2019
Are you distracted by unusual colors in satellite images? They are not photographs, and understanding the difference between them is the key to unlocking the power of false-color images.
Published Mar 4, 2014
Ship tracks are a common atmospheric occurrence. Scientists are now combining machine learning and satellites to detect them automatically.
Published Jul 3, 2019Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Unique Imagery Human Presence Remote Sensing
When 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.
On July 2, 2019, a NASA satellite captured an image of the Moon’s shadow off of South America.
Published Jul 3, 2019
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.
A tiny island birthed by an earthquake and a mud volcano has faded into the sea.
Published Jul 3, 2019
Millions of people have been watching the 2019 Women's World Cup in France, setting a record number for viewers. At least three of those spectators are watching from space.
Published Jul 2, 2019 in Earth Matters
The summer dry season has lengthened by about 10 days per decade within rainforest boundaries.
Published Jul 2, 2019
Harnessing 30 years of Landsat data, researchers have created the first three-dimensional model of Australia’s entire coastline.
Published Jul 1, 2019
The heat has broken temperature records in several parts of the continent.
Published Jun 28, 2019Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Human Presence Remote Sensing Temperature Extremes
Makgadikgadi Pan is one of the largest salt flats in the world.
Published Jun 28, 2019
Timber production has etched a checkerboard pattern in the forests surrounding the town.
Published Jun 28, 2019
Nearly 65 percent of the country’s reservoirs were running dry in June 2019.
Published Jun 27, 2019
Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what we are looking at and why it is interesting.
Published Jun 26, 2019 in Earth Matters
As spring turns to summer in the northern hemisphere, unusual streaks of clouds form high in the atmosphere around sunset.
Published Jun 26, 2019
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.
The structure that prevents sea ice from exiting the Arctic Ocean through the Nares Strait crumbled months earlier than usual.
Published Jun 25, 2019
An unexpected series of blasts from a remote volcano in the Kuril Islands sent ash and volcanic gases streaming high over the North Pacific Ocean.
Published Jun 24, 2019
Downstream of the Lusi mud flow, mangrove forests are expanding onto new land and shrimp farmers are adjusting to a muddier reality.
Published Jun 21, 2019
With sixteen sunrises and sunsets, astronauts have a lot of chances to see our nearest solar system neighbor.
Published Jun 21, 2019
With limited resources to monitor often-unpredictable blooms, water managers are turning to new technologies to detect and keep track of hazards.
Published Jun 21, 2019
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
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
Pine Island Glacier is one of the fastest-retreating glaciers in Antarctica. This timeline highlights the most notable calving events of the past two decades.
Published Apr 9, 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 Feb 20, 2019
After thinning at alarming rates in the 1980s and 90s, the ozone layer over Antarctica is starting to recover. Watch how ozone concentrations in the stratosphere have changed from 1979 through 2018.
Published Feb 13, 2019Atmosphere Human Presence Remote Sensing World of Change Videos
