Multimedia Gallery

An earthquake and tsunami in March of 2011 leveled cities and left 18,000 people dead along the east coast of Japan. The government responded with a plan to build hundreds of sea walls in hopes of protecting coastal communities from future disasters. Rikuzentakata was among the cities fortified after the tragedy. It was nearly destroyed by the tsunami and that damage is

On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 pm a magnitude M6.9 earthquake struck near Loma Prieta, California. It was a tragic reminder of the destructive power of earthquakes. However, it was also a watershed moment in seismic research. 30 years later, we revisit the earthquake through the eyes of the scientists who experienced it. And studied it. These are their stories. In Part 4 (of

On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 pm a magnitude M6.9 earthquake struck near Loma Prieta, California. It was a tragic reminder of the destructive power of earthquakes. However, it was also a watershed moment in seismic research. 30 years later, we revisit the earthquake through the eyes of the scientists who experienced it. And studied it. These are their stories. In Part 3 (of

On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 pm a magnitude M6.9 earthquake struck near Loma Prieta, California. It was a tragic reminder of the destructive power of earthquakes. However, it was also a watershed moment in seismic research. 30 years later, we revisit the earthquake through the eyes of the scientists who experienced it. And studied it. These are their stories. In Part 2 (of

On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 pm a magnitude M6.9 earthquake struck near Loma Prieta, California. It was a tragic reminder of the destructive power of earthquakes. However, it was also a watershed moment in seismic research. 30 years later, we revisit the earthquake through the eyes of the scientists who experienced it. And studied it. These are their stories. In Part 1 (of

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

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists Matt Patrick and Jim Kauahikaua talk about the water that appeared at the bottom of Halemaʻumaʻu, a crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, in July 2019 and continues to rise today. They address why it appeared, how it’s monitored, and its potential hazards.
 

Abnormally high spring rainfall and subsequent flooding in the Midwest had a season-long impact on cropland production. In these Landsat images of South Dakota growing vegetation is shown as green and unplanted areas appear pink. The difference between 2018 and 2019 is striking.

A designation of "prevented planting" is given to unplanted acres as a signal to crop

In July, satellite imagery from Landsat 8 captured a major melting event in Greenland. 

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

Research Physical Scientist Dean Gesch shares an overview of USGS/EROS surveying efforts in the mangrove forests of Pohnpei.
 

Daytime and nightime imagery from Earth-observing satellites reveal dramatic changes in North Dakota during the Bakken oil boom.
 

During Aug. 4-8, 2019, U.S. Geological Survey women scientists, university researchers and Mount St. Helens Institute staff led 25 middle-school girls from Washington and Oregon in the fifth annual “GeoGirls” outdoor volcano science program at Mount St. Helens, Washington.
 

Iceland had 269 named glaciers as of the year 2000 but ice has retreated in the face of warming temperatures. By 2014, OK Glacier in western Iceland had lost so much mass that it was no longer considered one at all. Icelanders now refer to it simply as OK, the name of the volcano upon which it rests.
 

Mule deer are an important part of the Western landscape and are coveted among big-game hunters throughout the country. These animals draw outdoor enthusiasts to states, such as Wyoming, where nearly 800,000 people hunted, fished, and viewed wildlife, and contributed $1.1 billion to the state’s economy. Balancing a growing infrastructure in the west that includes housing

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

Satellite imagery shows the rupture and shifting of land near Ridgecrest, CA from the July 2019 earthquakes.
 

US Navy Captain Paul Dale discusses the collaborative efforts between the USGS and Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake after the Ridgecrest earthquake sequence. 
 

Science is done by those who "do." Thank you women in science for all your contributions to USGS and the sciences, as a whole.
 

Before landing on the surface of the moon in 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin needed a training ground that matched their destination's cratered surface.

In the U.S., that turned out to be northern Arizona. Starting in 1967, the U.S. Geological Survey used hundreds of pounds of dynamite to blast holes into the surface of ancient lava fields south of

A Landsat satellite image captured the flooding in Dell Rapids, SD in the Spring of 2019. It's remarkably similar to an aerial photograph of flooding 50 years earlier. 
 

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

The Marsh Arabs of southeastern Iraq have spent millennia traversing the waterways at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The recent history of those wetlands, however, has been one of forced loss and uneven recovery. 

The marshes once stretched across nearly 5,800 square miles. This Landsat 5 image from 1986 shows lush vegetation and dark waters both

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

Global Mapper is a software package for visualizing, analyzing, manipulating, and exporting a wide variety of GIS data. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to open LiDAR point cloud LAS data files in Global Mapper, turn on all or specific LiDAR point Classes, visualize the data in 2-D and 3-D, and change the visualization using toolbar functions.
 

USGS Storm Tide Sensors are specialized scientific instruments used to measure the depth and duration of storm surge during coastal storms. The data these sensors collect before, during and after a storm will help public officials assess storm damage, and improve computer models used to forecast storm surge and coastal change. FEMA and other federal, state and local

USGS scientists are studying water-quality conditions and harmful algal blooms—known as HABs—in Owasco, Seneca and Skaneateles lakes in New York. The USGS monitoring effort will provide a better understanding of HAB growth and severity and allow for near instantaneous detection of changing water-quality conditions that might be indicative of HAB development. This will

Scientists with the USGS Yellowstone Volcano Observatory use satellite and aerial imagery to map hot springs, geothermal vents, and geysers at Yellowstone National Park. They recently found an entirely new thermal area miles from the nearest trailhead. Landsat 8's thermal infrared sensors captured the change in a nighttime image from April of 2017. Aerial images reveal a

A short video on why the ocean is salty.

A short video on information related to coral reefs and the USGS.

A short video on how carbon can get into the atmosphere. 

What is water up to? Keeping the pulse on the Nation’s streams - USGS Streamgaging and the Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program.
 

Story Items in order:

1. [Photo of Broken Arch in Arches National Park with a heart shape drawn around the arch.]
   Text reads: PLEASE...Don't break our Arch (crying, laughing face emoji)
2. [Photo of a lava arch eruption that is duplicated and flipped to look like a heart shape].
   Text reads: We LAVA you! No it didn't actually do this (smile face

This video is an introduction to the partnership between the USGS Arizona Water Science Center and the Arizona Department of Transportation, or ADOT, as it is referred to throughout the video. These two agencies are working together, using cutting edge technology and methods, to understand how flood flows interact with and impact critical infrastructure. These data will

This video is an introduction to the partnership between the USGS Arizona Water Science Center and the Arizona Department of Transportation, or ADOT, as it is referred to throughout the video. These two agencies are working together, using cutting edge technology and methods, to understand how flood flows interact with and impact critical infrastructure. These data will

The 2018 Kīlauea Volcano eruption marked the first time the federal government used Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to assist in an eruption response in the United States. The UAS were used to survey areas otherwise inaccessible or too hazardous for field crews or manned aircraft, collect multiple types of data, and provide 24/7 real-time situational awareness at Kīlauea

The 2018 Kīlauea Volcano eruption marked the first time the federal government used Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to assist in an eruption response in the United States. The UAS were used to survey areas otherwise inaccessible or too hazardous for field crews or manned aircraft, collect multiple types of data, and provide 24/7 real-time situational awareness at Kīlauea

This short video provides a quick demonstration of the Point Sample using the Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AρρEEARS). 

AppEEARS provides a simple and efficient way to subset, transform, and visualize geospatial data distributed from a variety of federal archives. The following topics are discussed in the video: how to submit a

Biography of scientist featured in Circular 1443 about STEM and related careers in USGS, to be used for recruitment into STEM careers.
 

This video showcases the latest polar bear point-of-view footage to date along with an interview of the research scientist who is responsible for the project. Released in conjunction with a new scientific study led by the USGS. 
 

EarthExplorer helps users get to exactly the scenes they want. The Additional Criteria tab helps users pick scenes that meet specific requirements. 

This video will show you how to utilize the Additional Criteria tab in EarthExplorer.

You can find additional videos on tools and types of imagery available on this website: 

Unlike the South Pole, the geographic North Pole does not lie on a land mass. The Earth’s northern axis of rotation is in the Arctic Ocean, covered by shifting sea ice.

Landsat does not image the North Pole, which makes it an imperfect investigative tool for the detection of Santa’s workshop. 

It does, however, collect imagery over North Pole, Alaska, a small

In the 5th edition of Earth as Art, we continue to display the Earth as our eyes cannot see it—in creative combinations of visible and infrared light. 

These unreal views of farmland, coastlines, and snowscapes remind us of the powerfully artistic qualities of Earth’s land features.

Download these images for free at 

Lake Meredith National Recreation Area takes its name from the water body it surrounds in the Texas Panhandle. The Amarillo-area lake sees more than a million visitors a year.

Visitor numbers were much smaller just a few years ago. More than a decade of drought shrank water levels at Lake Meredith until a rush of rain in 2017 brought a turnaround.

Each week,

Route 66 was established in November 1926. Named “The Mother Road” by John Steinbeck, the route is a cultural icon of America, symbolizing mobility and freedom.

We mark the route with this satellite mosaic and a combination of historical aerial photos and current aerial imagery from the USGS EROS Center archive.

Each week, the Earth Resources Observation and

Antarctica’s interior is circled by glacial ice flows that move outward from the frozen continent’s surface.

Imagery collected over Antarctica by satellites like Landsat is typically marked by highly reflective snow and ice, but isolated pockets of wind-swept glacial ice glow with a distinct blue.

Each week, the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS)

Satellites have captured views of the numerous major fires burning in California.

An image acquired on November 9, 2018, from NASA’s MODIS sensor on the Terra satellite shows smoke pouring out of two major fires, the Camp Fire and the Woolsey Fire, which both ignited the day before.

In the north, the Camp Fire quickly became the deadliest wildfire in the