Images

The main feature here, near Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, is the Schooner Cays shoal complex. The tidal sand ridges, parabolic bars, and intervening channels explode in a blue rhythm. The Bahamas have the third most extensive coral reef in the world.

Image of the Week, Land Resources carousel

Ice covering Beaufort Sea near the Arctic Ocean typically reaches full-blown breakup by late May each year as air and water temperatures warm, and as daylight turns longer. But 2016 has been dramatically different.

Using shortwave infrared, near infrared, and visible bands, these Landsat images provide a before and after look at the 350 Complex and Anderson Creek fires.

In shallow waters surrounding the Tyuleniy Archipelago in the Caspian Sea, chunks of ice were the artists. The 3-meter-deep water makes the dark green vegetation on the sea bottom visible. The lines scratched in that vegetation were caused by ice chunks, pushed upward and downward by wind and currents, scouring the sea floor.

A serene gradient from red to smoky blue-gray seems to mask a chaotic scene underneath, expressing a wide range of emotion. Looking like a NASA closeup of Jupiter, this image reveals sediment in the Gulf of America off the Louisiana coast.

Image of the Week: Landsat imagery shows a dramatic change in lakes Azuéi and Enriquillo, inland saltwater lakes on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola that are known for their crocodiles and iguanas.

Landsat images used by Colombia's Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) determined that total forest land cover in the country has dropped from 56.8 percent in 1990 to 52.6 percent by 2012, or almost 5 million hectares.

In a world becoming increasingly urbanized, few cities have seen growth as dramatic as that occurring in India's capital of New Delhi.

These Landsat images show the remarkable transformation of desert sand in 1986 into green, circular fields—some as large as 1 kilometer across—by 2016

Three images showing Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes on the island of Hawaii; 2016 satellite image mosaic

Though the park celebrates its 100th anniversary on August 1, 2016, its main attractions-Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes-have been adding to the land mass of Hawaii’s “Big Island” for at least 400,000 years.

Most of this image is in the Simpson Desert Regional Reserve of South Australia. The shallow lakes, appearing in colors ranging from nearly black to aqua blue, are dry most of the time. Here, they seem to stretch with the sand dunes, which extend for hundreds of kilometers.

Collection: Earth As Art 5

The total area (land and water) of Rhode Island is only 1,545 square miles. The state measures about 37 miles east-west, and about 48 miles north-south.

Capital Providence

Image Source Landsat 8

Population 1,097,379

Number of Pixels 3,162,631

Variously shaped fields of crops decorate the rich Canterbury Plains on New Zealand's South Island. This 2015 Landsat image shows the farmland abutting the  Waimakariri River that winds down toward the city of Christchurch and ultimately the Pacific Ocean.

The Salar de Atacama in Chile is a large, dry salt flat surrounded by mountain ranges and is one of the driest places on Earth. Parts of the Atacama Desert have gone without rain for as long as people have been keeping track, but water rich in dissolved salts lies beneath this flat surface. The Salar is particularly rich in lithium salts.

Earth Science reminds us that the study of Earth and its biological processes can occur anywhere—whether we realize it or not.

High Resolution Orthoimagery archived at the USGS EROS Center and inset into the larger image show the New Jersey coastal town of Mantoloking five years before Sandy made landfall, as well as the slow recovery three years after the storm.

The exterior of the Earth Resources Observation and Science Center near Sioux Falls, SD, USA. 

External view of the EROS Center on a fall day. Watch and hear a video regarding the Center at this URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE_vsuGxso8

The Haruj Volcanic Field in central Libya was created from basaltic lava flows that erupted over time from multiple volcanoes. The volcanic craters and lava flows are evidence of a previous active eruption period. Many of the bright spots within the darker colored basalt flows are depressions covered with silt and fine sand.