Multimedia Gallery

Why does the GEDI orbit footprint look the way it does? GEDI produces high resolution laser ranging observations of the Earth's forests and topography. GEDI was deployed to the International Space Station in 2018, and captures data along the ISS orbit shown here. When viewed in two dimensions, the ISS orbit resembles a net of offset waves This animation shows a full GEDI

London Bridge was indeed falling down. Set to be torn apart and replaced in the 1960s, this bridge across the River Thames was purchased by businessman Robert McCulloch in April 1968 and shipped across the Atlantic, to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, billed as the world's largest antique. USGS aerial photos show the location in 1969, and in 1972, before and after the bridge's

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, gives an overview of activity at Yellowstone during April 2020.
 

Bored with nothing to do? Not enough “tiger” shows to watch? How about exploring something new? Try The National Map Corps!

Discover new places, learn new things along with contributing to our national mapping efforts. And, for your submissions, you will earn points toward virtual badges. What are you waiting for?

JOIN TODAY

Bored with nothing to do? Not enough “tiger” shows to watch? How about exploring something new? Try The National Map Corps!

Discover new places, learn new things along with contributing to our national mapping efforts. And, for your submissions, you will earn points toward virtual badges. What are you waiting for?

JOIN TODAY

The Staten Island Industrial Park in New York is now home to warehouse and distribution centers for companies like Amazon and IKEA, seen here in imagery from Europe's Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite. But aerial imagery from 1995 shows large oil storage tanks in the same location. The observed changes in this industrial zone highlight an interesting evolution from an

The study of the Earth's natural life cycles is known as phenology. Scientists track the emergence of shoots and leaves, blooming flowers and pollinators as phenological signals every spring. Spring has sprung earlier than usual in much of the United States this year. The USA National Phenology Network notes that much of the country has seen spring come 3 to 4 weeks faster

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, gives an overview of activity at Yellowstone during March 2020.
 

This video is a brief but informative introduction to the life and work of Florence Bascom, the first woman hired by USGS! It describes the significance of her accomplishments at USGS and the legacy of her work beyond geology. This video was produced by the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center a USGS science center recently renamed in honor of Bascom and organized within the

Antarctica has been the source for a host of fascinating satellite imagery in recent months. We've offered scenes from the southern solstice, images of icebergs adrift, and shots of pooling meltwater during some of the warmest days on record for the frozen continent. An international team of scientists onboard a U.S. research vessel recently made another discovery related

This Landsat 8 image from May 24th, 2017 shows an enthralling New Zealand landscape. Snow-capped mountain peaks, forests, farmland, and fog highlight the picturesque view of New Zealand's North Island. The scene was downloaded on March 9th, 2020 one of over 29,000 Landsat scenes downloaded worldwide that day. But this scene is special. It marks the 100 millionth downloaded

Landsat recently captured the most widespread meltwater pooling ever recorded on Antarctica's George VI Ice Shelf. Some melting is expected during the Antarctic summer, but the sheer extent of the stunning aqua ponds that have appeared amid the continent's warmest summer on record is remarkable.

Ponds appeared two years earlier in some of the same locations

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, gives an overview of activity at Yellowstone during February 2020.
 

This video introduces audiences to research that the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is leading on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) of minerals and gemstones in conflict zones and during complex emergencies. The research is done in

This video introduces audiences to research that the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is leading on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) of minerals and gemstones in conflict zones and during complex emergencies. The research is done in

This video introduces research that Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) scientists are conducting on the 500,000 year history of Arctic sea ice to assess changes in weather, sea ice extent, temperature and ecosystems. The research informs decision makers on

This video introduces research that Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) scientists are conducting on the 500,000 year history of Arctic sea ice to assess changes in weather, sea ice extent, temperature and ecosystems. The research informs decision makers on

The Florence Bascom Geoscience Center conducts geologic research using digital elevation models to map karst systems and sinkhole hazards in the United States. Understanding these complex geologic systems helps to inform land use planning and development decisions. The 

The Florence Bascom Geoscience Center conducts geologic research using digital elevation models to map karst systems and sinkhole hazards in the United States. Understanding these complex geologic systems helps to inform land use planning and development decisions. The

This video explains how scientists from the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center research paleo-environmental wetland conditions and explain how studying these environments is valuable to better understand past changes and responses to disturbance, such as fire, sea-level rise, and permafrost

This video explains how scientists from the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center research paleo-environmental wetland conditions and explain how studying these environments is valuable to better understand past changes and responses to disturbance, such as fire, sea-level rise, and permafrost

The USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is at the leading edge of scientific research addressing critical societal issues and providing unbiased data and information to decision makers and the public. This video highlights geologic framework

The USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is at the leading edge of scientific research addressing critical societal issues and providing unbiased data and information to decision makers and the public. This video highlights geologic framework

The USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is at the leading edge of scientific research addressing critical societal issues and providing unbiased data and information to decision makers and the public. This video highlights the pollen laboratory

The USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is at the leading edge of scientific research addressing critical societal issues and providing unbiased data and information to decision makers and the public. This video highlights the pollen laboratory

This video highlights paleoecology and ecosystems restoration science being conducted by the USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC). The video provides a brief introduction to how scientists research questions of freshwater availability and

The USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is at the leading edge of scientific research addressing critical societal issues and providing unbiased data and information to decision makers and the public. This video highlights the scientists, staff, labs, and fieldwork conducted by the FBGC with the goal of providing unbiased scientific information to the public.

This video highlights paleoecology and ecosystems restoration science being conducted by the USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC). The video provides a brief introduction to how scientists research questions of freshwater availability and

The USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center (FBGC) is at the leading edge of scientific research addressing critical societal issues and providing unbiased data and information to decision makers and the public. This video highlights the scientists, staff, labs, and fieldwork conducted by the FBGC with the goal of providing unbiased scientific information to the public.

This video demonstrates a simulation of how storms can impact sandy coastlines through processes such as erosion. This demonstration is conducted at outreach events by scientists at the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center. The activity can also be re-created at home or in the classroom. Learn more about USGS hurricane

In 2019, a December storm dropped around five inches of snow over northeast China near Baicheng. If conditions on the ground are right, a snow pattern can reveal a storm's path with remarkable detail. Landsat 8 captured this image of the area, revealing a distinct division between snow cover and clear ground. This stark divide is rare when trees and mountains are present,

A USGS Hydrologic Technician is briefly shown calibrating the compass on a remote controlled Qboat. The Qboat is then sent across the Millers River near South Royalston, Massachusetts to collect discharge data. This video shows the Qboat making several passes across the river.
 

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, gives an overview of activity at Yellowstone during January 2020.

My name is Kate Allstadt. I’m a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado, and I'm here in Puerto Rico in the city of Ponce with some colleagues and we're here to map the ground failure that occurred due to this earthquake so we're mapping things like Rock Falls and landslides and liquefaction, as well as lateral spreading which is what we

Dr. Elizabeth Vanacore talks about the installation of temporary seismic stations in southwest Puerto Rico.

The Shishaldin Volcano on the eastern edge of Alaska's Aleutian Island chain erupted with activity in January of 2020. The eruption on the island of Unimak sent an ash cloud nearly 5 miles into the sky on January 7th, sparking ash alerts for aviators, mariners, and residents of nearby communities. Landsat 8 captured both day and night imagery of the event as it happened.

It's winter in the northern hemisphere, but in Antarctica, summer has just begun. At Zucchelli Station the summer solstice occurred on December 22nd, 2019 at 5:19pm local time. The high temperature that day was a balmy 34 degrees Fahrenheit. These images from Landsat 8 show the distinct difference in sun angles cause by the change in seasons. The September image is from

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, gives an overview of activity at Yellowstone during 2019, with an emphasis on the month of December.

The smell of a fresh cut Christmas tree can evoke visions of majestic evergreen forests teeming with winter wildlife. In truth, more than half of U.S. Christmas trees come from farms in Oregon, North Carolina, or Michigan. Cut Christmas Trees area commodity, tracked by the U.S. Department of Agriculture just like corn or soybeans. These USDA aerial images show tree harvest

Fires burned across California in late 2019. Fall is the state's most dangerous season for wildfires, propelled by dry and windy conditions. In recent years however, the fall fire season has been starting earlier and ending later. A series of images from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites show the Kincade Fire in northern California. This fire started on

The USGS has developed Landsat-derived Level 2 and Level 3 science products that reduce the amount of time users spend on data processing and provide research quality, applications-ready information to monitor, assess and project how changes in the Earth's surface may affect communities and ecosystems. The Landsat Program is a series of Earth-observing satellites co-

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, describes activity at Yellowstone during the month of November 2019.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists Frank Younger and Patricia Nadeau talk about sampling the water at the bottom of Halemaʻumaʻu, a crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. The water appeared in July 2019 and has steadily risen since then. On October 26, 2019, an unoccupied aerial system (UAS) was used to collect a sample of the water to investigate its source

Wildfires burned across Lebanon in mid-October, 2019. A pair of images taken just ten days apart by the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2A satellite show the burn scar from one of the larger wildfires. North of the fire scar is the country's capital, Beirut. The October 18th image reveals several bright spots on the city's streets from numerous fires of a different type.

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, describes activity at Yellowstone during the month of October 2019
 

Retrospective interview with USGS Geophysicist Susan Hough about her early earthquake work during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The interview covers how the Cypress Structure collapse in Oakland, CA, served as a site response study for seismic research.