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A Glacial Lake’s Evolution
Image of the Day Aug 4, 2025

A Glacial Lake’s Evolution

The outlet of Berg Lake, dammed by the Steller Glacier in Alaska, has been reconfigured after decades of ice retreat.
Sweeping Vistas Above the Great Salt Lake
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Sweeping Vistas Above the Great Salt Lake

The lake in northwestern Utah displays striking red and green waters that contrast with the region’s surrounding desert, salt flats, and mountainous terrain.

Published Aug 3, 2025

Image of the Day Land Water

Antarctic Iceberg Downsizes
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Antarctic Iceberg Downsizes

Iceberg A-23A continued to lose sizable pieces of ice during the 2025 austral winter, but it remained the planet’s largest freely floating berg.

Published Aug 2, 2025

Image of the Day Snow and Ice

Advanced U.S.-India Radar Mission Lifts Off
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Advanced U.S.-India Radar Mission Lifts Off

The NISAR satellite will detect the movement of land and ice surfaces with centimeter precision, aiding in a range of applications from disaster response and infrastructure monitoring to agricultural management.

Published Jul 31, 2025

Image of the Day Human Presence

Múlajökull Glacier and Its Palette of Lakes
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Múlajökull Glacier and Its Palette of Lakes

Glacial retreat in central Iceland has uncovered an undulating topography riddled with colorful bodies of water.

Published Jul 30, 2025

Image of the Day Snow and Ice

The Enigmatic Echimamish River
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The Enigmatic Echimamish River

The waterway in Manitoba flows from the middle out, connecting two rivers bound for Hudson Bay.

Published Jul 29, 2025

Image of the Day Water

How to Rotate Crops
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How to Rotate Crops

That’s a key question for many farmers, and new research may make it easier to develop growing season plans.  

Published Jul 28, 2025

Image of the Day Land Remote Sensing

Mutnovsky Volcano
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Mutnovsky Volcano

Located on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, the peak’s lofty altitude and chilly latitude help it hang onto snow and glaciers all year long.

Published Jul 27, 2025

Image of the Day Land

Buccaneer Archipelago
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Buccaneer Archipelago

A maze of islands, reefs, and rugged coastline creates dazzling patterns in ocean waters near King Sound in Western Australia, a region known for its powerful tides.

Published Jul 26, 2025

Image of the Day Water

Fire
Global Maps Mar 2000 — May 2025

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

Vegetation
Global Maps Feb 2000 — May 2025

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

More Lava Fills Kilauea Crater
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More Lava Fills Kilauea Crater

The latest in a string of episodic eruptions produced voluminous fiery flows at the Hawaiian volcano’s summit.

Published Jul 24, 2025

Image of the Day Heat Land Volcanoes

A BIG Moment for Apollo 11
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A BIG Moment for Apollo 11

Well-wishers in Hawaii welcomed the astronauts on July 26, 1969, after they landed on the Moon, splashed down in the Pacific, and traveled by aircraft carrier to Pearl Harbor.    

Published Jul 24, 2025

Image of the Day Atmosphere Life

Blue Marble Next Generation
Article

Blue Marble Next Generation

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

Published Oct 13, 2005

Atmosphere Land Water Snow and Ice

Land Surface Temperature Anomaly
Global Maps Feb 2000 — May 2025

Land Surface Temperature Anomaly

These 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.

Heat Land

Brilliant Bloom in the Baltic Sea
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Brilliant Bloom in the Baltic Sea

An explosion in the numbers of cyanobacteria transformed the Baltic Sea into a swirling canvas of green in summer 2025.

Published Jul 22, 2025

Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Water Color

July Puzzler
Earth Matters

July Puzzler

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

Published Jul 22, 2025

World of Change
Article

World of Change

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

Published Apr 29, 2009

Atmosphere Heat Land Life Human Presence Snow and Ice

Whirling Dust and Ancient Floods
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Whirling Dust and Ancient Floods

Now a flat and dusty desert playa, Oregon’s Alvord Desert once held an expansive lake that was the source of catastrophic outburst flooding.

Published Jul 22, 2025

Image of the Day Land

2024 North Atlantic Hurricane Season
Article

2024 North Atlantic Hurricane Season

Hurricane season in the basin runs from June 1 to November 30.

Published Jul 1, 2024

Atmosphere

Water Vapor
Global Maps Jul 2002 — Jun 2025

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

Carbon Monoxide
Global Maps Mar 2000 — Oct 2024

Carbon Monoxide

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.

Atmosphere

Renewable and Alternative Energy
Article

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.

Published May 10, 2024

Land Human Presence

Mission: Biomes
Article

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.

Published Aug 28, 2020

Land Life

Air Quality
Article

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.

Published Apr 8, 2024

Atmosphere Human Presence

Temperature Extremes 2024
Article

Temperature Extremes 2024

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

Published Mar 26, 2024

Heat

2024 Fires in the Northern Hemisphere
Article

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.

Published Feb 27, 2024

Atmosphere Land Human Presence

Sea Surface Temperature
Global Maps Jul 2002 — Jun 2025

Sea Surface Temperature

Ocean temperatures can influence weather, such as hurricane formation, and climate patterns, such as El Niño. These maps show the temperature at the surface of the world’s seas and oceans.

Heat Water

Earth at Night
Article

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.

Published Apr 12, 2017

Atmosphere Land Human Presence Remote Sensing

How to Interpret a Satellite Image: Five Tips and Strategies
Article

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.

Published Nov 18, 2013

Remote Sensing

Temperature Extremes 2023
Article

Temperature Extremes 2023

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

Published Aug 15, 2023

Heat