A Wide View of Tasmanian Terrain

The island is Australia's smallest state, but its mainland fills the frame of this astronaut photograph.

Image of the Day Land

NASA Returns to the Beach: How Cancún Grew into a Major Resort

Once one of the poorest regions of Mexico, Cancún is now a bustling tourist city with millions of visitors each year.

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

NASA Returns to the Beach: Sands and Mats at Padre Island

The barrier island in Texas has much to teach about barrier islands and Martian life.

Image of the Day Water

NASA Returns to the Beach: Assateague on the Move

Assateague, Chincoteague, and Wallops provide a rare example of overlapping barrier islands. All of them are constantly in motion.

Image of the Day Land Water Human Presence

NASA Returns to the Beach: Wide Wildwood Beaches

For many people, there is great joy and good summer business to be found on the widest beach in New Jersey and one of the widest on any coast.

Image of the Day Water Human Presence

NASA Returns to the Beach: Eighty Mile Beach

This stretch of coastline in Western Australia is a popular recreational site for people and an important stopover site for migratory birds.

Image of the Day Land Water

NASA Returns to the Beach: Bright Beaches in Florida

The white sands of Florida’s Emerald Coast beaches are primarily comprised of quartz grains from the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Image of the Day Human Presence

NASA Returns to the Beach: Taking Stock of Sandy Beaches

Sandy beaches are growing in some parts of the world and shrinking quickly in others, including one-third of marine protected areas.

Image of the Day Land Water Human Presence

Land Surface Temperature

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.

Heat Land

A River Runs Through Fayzabad

Flanked by mountains, the capital of the Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan lies along a sharp bend in a valley sculpted by the Kokcha River.

Image of the Day Land Human Presence

Home Reef Volcano Grows

Plumes of volcanic material traveled by air and by sea as the small Pacific island erupted in June 2024.

Image of the Day Water Volcanoes

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

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

In the Grip of Global Heat

Heat waves rolled through parts of Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia, leaving vulnerable populations at risk.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Human Presence Temperature Extremes

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

Stately Mount Siple

A striking plume trailing from the topographic prominence in West Antarctica is likely an orographic cloud.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Snow and Ice

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

First Stop: Sampling the 2023 Fires in Quebec

A year after Canada's largest wildfire season on record, scientists are collecting field measurements to quantify the fires' carbon emissions.

Heat

Blue Marble Next Generation

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

Atmosphere Land Water Snow and Ice

World of Change

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

Atmosphere Heat Land Life Human Presence Snow and Ice

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.

Remote Sensing

Total Rainfall

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.

Atmosphere

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.

Atmosphere Land Human Presence Remote Sensing

June Puzzler

Your challenge is to tell us the location of the satellite image and why it is interesting.

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.

Land Human Presence

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.

Atmosphere Human Presence

Temperature Extremes 2024

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

Heat

Water Vapor

These maps show the average amount of water vapor in a column of atmosphere by month. Water vapor is the key precursor for rain and snow and one of the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Atmosphere

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.

Atmosphere Land Human Presence

Temperature Extremes 2023

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

Heat

North Atlantic Hurricane Season

The 2023 season runs from June 1 to November 30, with peak activity generally occurring in September.

Atmosphere Remote Sensing