Videos

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.

A burrowing owl regurgitates an owl pellet at the LAX Dunes Preserve caught by a wildlife camera.
 

Fire is the dominant ecological disturbance process in boreal forests (coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches) and fire frequency, size and severity are increasing in Alaska owing to climate warming.

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.

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.

This video presents a visualization of how the Atwood Building in Anchorage, Alaska, shook during the Mw 7.0 November 30, 2018, Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake. The building was instrumented by the U.S. Geological Survey to obtain data to study its behavior and performance during strong shaking.

This video presents a visualization of how the BP Exploration Building in Anchorage, Alaska, shook during the moment magnitude (Mw) 7.0 November 30, 2018, Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake. The building was instrumented by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to obtain data to study its behavior and performance during strong shaking.

This video presents a visualization of how the Frontier Building in Anchorage, Alaska, shook during the moment magnitude (Mw) 7.0 November 30, 2018, Anchorage, Alaska, earthquake. The building was instrumented by U.S. Geological Survey to obtain data to study its behavior and performance during strong shaking.

A warming climate will have fundamental impacts on freshwater, a critical driver of tropical island ecosystems.

Title: The Least Bell's Vireo - A flagship species for riparian ecosystem conservation

The Least Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) is a songbird that is endangered in California:

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.

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

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.

The USGS groundwater modeling program MODFLOW 6 uses three angles to help specify three components of hydraulic conductivity. This video provides a visual explanation of these three angles.
 

Another large iceberg recently broke off Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica. According to the U.S. National Ice Center, this iceberg, named B-46, has an area of 87 square miles. That’s slightly larger than the iceberg that previously separated from the glacier in September 2017.

This 3D model of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō's crater was created from thermal images during an overflight of the cone. The deepest portion of the crater is about 320 meters (1050 feet) below the crater floor that existed prior to April 30.

This 3D model of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō's crater was created from thermal images during an overflight of the cone. The deepest portion of the crater is about 320 meters (1050 feet) below the crater floor that existed prior to April 30.

In September 2011, the largest dam removal project in U.S. history began. 



Two dams built on the Elwha River in the early 1900s created two reservoirs in northwestern Washington. They also greatly reduced the amount of sediment flowing to the river’s delta and blocked salmon migration upstream into Olympic National Park.

Digital 3D reconstruction of lake bottom using 10 photo frames taken by the dive camera system. This reconstruction allows us to gain more insight about the lake bottom since elevation has been added to the photographs.
 

Digital 3D reconstruction of lake bottom using 50 photo frames taken by the dive camera system. This example shows an arc since the sampling transect is a circle. This reconstruction allows us to gain more insight about the lake bottom since elevation has been added to the photographs.
 

Drone footage of Whiskeytown National Recreation area in Northern California in October 2018, captured by drone pilot and USGS WERC ecologist Chase Freeman.