Images

Heavy spring rains and widespread flooding has killed more than 150 people and displaced thousands in Kenya this year.

New fissures opened up on Hawaii’s Big Island in early May 2018, spouting lava that destroyed homes in the Leilani Estates neighborhood.

The 2018 fire season is already active in the western United States. One of the larger wildfires so far is the Rattlesnake Fire. 

Decades of consistent data from Landsat help scientists monitor the growth of urban areas in a world where more than half of the population lives in cities.

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.

Images from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) onboard NASA's Terra satellite show how one area in South Korea transformed from mountainous forest to a world-class downhill skiing venue to get ready for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala erupted on January 31, 2018, and Landsat 8 acquired an image of the eruption a day later.

A three-year drought is threatening to cause city officials in Cape Town, South Africa, to shut off the tap water. The growing city of nearly 4 million relies mostly on reservoirs for its water supply. While drought is part of the cause of the current crisis, an increasing population is also straining water resources.

Over the past few years, black smoke has been seen in satellite images billowing from various locations in Iraq. As Iraqi forces drive ISIS away, the terrorist group has been setting oil wells on fire as it retreats.

If you like being connected to the world everywhere you go with a smartphone or other device, then you have a desolate salt flat in northern Chile to thank.

A massive iceberg broke off Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica, in September 2017. Instead of drifting out to sea after calving, sea ice impeded the iceberg’s movement, and it cracked up into countless pieces nearly on the spot. Even though it broke up relatively quickly for an iceberg, it is more of a slow-motion shattering.

Cattle roam and forage across Montana’s wide-open spaces, with the beef
industry fueling the State’s economy. Landsat data are used to help guide
decisions on invasive species management, like controlling cheatgrass. Montana
researchers also use Landsat satellite data to map persistent snow and ice cover
in Glacier National Park.

Paired images for East Timbalier Island (Louisiana) showing land mass difference over time.

South Dakota is home to the fabled “Black Hills.” Seen from a distance, these pine-covered hills, rising several thousand feet above the surrounding prairie, appear black.

Capital Pierre

Image Source Landsat 8

Population 886,667

Paired images for East Timbalier Island (Louisiana) showing land mass difference over time.

Tourists are drawn to the Texas coastline, but it is a frequent target of hurricanes.
Landsat documents storm damage and long-term coastal changes. Landsat data
are also used to study the urban heat island effect, helping communities identify
hotspots where human lives are at risk of heat-related illnesses. Because nearly

A large outbreak of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) caterpillars attacked the hardwood forests of the northeastern United States in 2016. A fungus (Entomophaga maimaigaM) introduced from Japan has kept gypsy moth populations at relatively low levels since the late 1980s.

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.

In 1934, the summit of Mount Washington in New Hampshire’s White Mountains experienced a wind gust of 231 miles per hour, the highest surface wind speed ever recorded. 

Capital Concord

Image Source Landsat 8

Population 1,377,529

Santa Ana winds rapidly spread wildfires through shrubland, tall grasses, and brush in southern California in December 2017. As of January 2, 2018, the Thomas Fire burned 281,893 acres since starting on December 4. The fire is almost entirely contained, but not before becoming the largest fire in California’s modern history.

As Hurricane Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012, the storm’s waves and wind cut a breach in a narrow part of Fire Island, a barrier island south of Long Island, New York.