Once upon a time Landsat images were expensive (Landsat 7 data was $600 per scene, and the earlier satellites were even pricier) and difficult to find. Now the data—which dates to 1972—is free, and reasonably easy (or at least not painfully difficult) to browse and download from the Global Visualization Viewer, or even the Google […]
Two more images that don’t quite fit on the main site: Nabro Volcano and the Riley Road Fire near Houston. Nabro VolcanoThis long-dormant Eritrean volcano began erupting in June, but it’s so remote (at least for western media and scientists) that there’s been no news from the area for months. Unfortunately it’s often been […]
Written by Jesse Allen, EO data visualizer… Recently while doing something work-related (yes, really!), I stumbled upon a fascinating story. I found the Gates of Hell. It turns out that they are in Turkmenistan. They were built — in a manner of speaking — by the former Soviet Union in 1971. In 1971, Turkmenistan was a […]
Sometimes I’ll find a surprise in a satellite image. In this case, kilometer-tall letters that spell out “LUECKE” near Austin, TX (Near the Bastrop Fire): Although this could have just been a curiosity for passing pilots and astronauts, it turns out that Johnson Space Center scientists used the letters to estimate the maximum resolution of […]
As the world reflects on the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, the Earth Observatory team has been struggling with what to say and do. Like so many other media outlets, we felt compelled to say something, to show something. Our data visualization team found this: a previously unpublished […]
Post from Paul Przyborski, EO programmer… For the past few weeks, we have quietly implemented a new way of viewing images on Earth Observatory. Some of you may have noticed that there is now a “view image comparison” button on some of our Natural Hazards images, as well as on this Image of the Day. You […]
Behold the Mesmerizing Flow of Antarctic Ice The first complete map of the speed and direction of ice flow in Antarctica slid off Science’s presses last month and hit the media with a splash. The BBC, New York Times, Climate Central and dozens of other publications highlighted the news and linked to this striking visualization […]
Of all the Earth sciences, geology has the strongest tradition of visual communication. It’s probably because mapping is fundamental to the field, and geologists have 200 years of practice at it. As a result, they tend to create well designed imagery. Two exemplary techniques geologists use: they almost always include a scale, and they often […]
We recently received this question from Jeff, a reader in Colorado: We’ve been having lots of hazy days in Colorado. I’m sure it’s common over most of the U.S., Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Most likely, it’s also over Europe. I saw your images of fires burning in Russia. Could it be that a lot of […]
At Earth Observatory, we try to bring you views of as many natural events as we can fit into a day. Some days, the satellites don’t have a good view. And other days, we have to leave the office because of an earthquake… While most of the U.S. East Coast is talking about the […]
