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2013-05-22 13:59:33 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 30 +1s)

It's time for our May Puzzler! What do you think the horizontal line is on the upper part of the image? The tan areas below? The blue-black blotches on the right? And what part of the world does this image show?

Please post your answers in the comments of our Earth Matters blog or in the comment thread on Google+. Read more at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2013/05/21/may-puzzler/?src=googleplus

2013-05-21 17:21:12 (0 comments, 8 reshares, 37 +1s)

On May 20, 2013, a supercell thunderstorm in central Oklahoma spawned a destructive tornado that passed just south of Oklahoma City. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image of the storm system at 2:40 p.m. Central Daylight Time (19:40 Universal Time), just minutes before the devastating twister touched down. Read more at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=81197&src=googleplus

2013-05-21 15:06:51 (0 comments, 4 reshares, 33 +1s)

Ice in Motion

While pack ice gets jostled by winds and currents in the open ocean, fast ice usually clings to land masses in shallow areas. View a close-up and read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81193&src=googleplus

2013-05-20 14:48:32 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 30 +1s)

Korangi, Pakistan

This highly urbanized and industrialized area stands in stark contrast next to dense green mangrove forests and waterways of the Indus River Delta. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81183&src=googleplus

2013-05-19 14:41:24 (0 comments, 5 reshares, 57 +1s)

Two Niles Meet

The main tributaries of the world’s longest river meet in Khartoum, Sudan. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81186&src=googleplus

2013-05-18 14:09:55 (1 comments, 8 reshares, 53 +1s)

A Scene of Ice and Fire: Pavlof Volcano

Explosive interactions between lava and snow mark the evolving eruption of Alaska’s Pavlof Volcano. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81190&src=googleplus

2013-05-17 19:01:07 (0 comments, 7 reshares, 24 +1s)

Best of the Archives: May 17

The Jwaneng Diamond Mine, in south-central Botswana, sits atop the convergence of three kimberlite pipes—diamond-rich geologic formations. Because the pipes meet just below the surface and cover some 520,000 square meters (128.5 acres) at ground level, the diamonds are mined from an open pit rather than a mine tunneled below the surface. The Enhanced Thematic Plus+ on Landsat 7 captured this image of the mine on May 17, 2001. Read more about it at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=35585&src=googleplus

2013-05-17 18:52:25 (1 comments, 3 reshares, 22 +1s)

Measuring how much it rains in your backyard can be done with a plastic rain gauge. But if you were to add up all the official meteorological rain gauges throughout the world, they would cover the area of about two basketball courts. Scientists need more data, more frequently, over more of Earth’s surface. Enter the Global Precipitation Measurement mission, a joint effort between NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and other international partners.
 
Most climate models predict that in a warming world, wet areas will get wetter and dry areas will get drier. But scientists will need comprehensive rain observations going into the future to see what changes are taking place. The GPM mission will ultimately swarm Earth with nine satellites and be able to measure nearly all global rainfall every three hours. The GPM Core satellite, which will unify the measurements into one globalda... more »

2013-05-17 14:27:16 (1 comments, 3 reshares, 25 +1s)

Lingering Ice on Minnesota Lakes

A cool spring left several lakes in northern Minnesota covered in ice, weeks beyond the norm. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81179&src=googleplus

2013-05-16 22:04:03 (1 comments, 8 reshares, 34 +1s)

On April 12, 2013, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) reached its final altitude of 705 kilometers (438 miles). One week later, the satellite’s natural-color imager scanned a swath of land 185-kilometers wide and 9,000 kilometers long (120 by 6,000 miles)—an unusual, unbroken distance considering 70 percent of Earth is covered with water. That flight path—depicted on the globe below—afforded us the chance to assemble 56 still images into a seamless, flyover view of what LDCM saw on April 19, 2013.
 Read more at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/LDCMLongSwath/?src=googleplus

2013-05-16 17:04:33 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 42 +1s)

Come Fly with Me

Fifty-six images were stitched together to present a seamless mosaic of what the newest Landsat saw on April 19, 2013. Come browse the mosaic at the highest resolution on GigaPan http://gigapan.com/gigapans/9741ab68dda60a8b05b9c1bfce147500

2013-05-15 19:29:59 (2 comments, 13 reshares, 41 +1s)

Come Fly With the Newest Landsat: Satellites don't take videos; they capture still images. But in a new mosaic, 56 stills have been stitched together to present a seamless video flyover of what LDCM saw one day in April 2013. Read more, and browse the entire swath in high resolution at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/LDCMLongSwath/?src=googleplus

2013-05-15 14:57:35 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 31 +1s)

Dust Plumes off Argentina

Dust plumes blew out of southern Argentina and over the Atlantic Ocean in early May 2013. The dust blew out of the Patagonian Desert, and many of the plumes arose from sediments around a shallow lake. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81120&src=googleplus

2013-05-14 17:56:19 (5 comments, 11 reshares, 53 +1s)

My 15 Favorite Commander Hadfield Photos

Commander Hadfield has returned to Earth after 2,336 orbits, 62 million miles traveled, and thousands of photographs snapped. Any other shots that you liked?

Read more on the Earth Matters blog at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2013/05/14/my-15-favorite-commander-hadfield-photos/?src=googleplus

2013-05-14 17:54:35 (1 comments, 16 reshares, 37 +1s)

Same physics, different scale. Von Karman vortices in a puddle and over the Pacific Ocean. See the full puddle image on Earth Science Picture of the Day at
http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2013/05/small-scale-von-karman-vortices.html

And see the Pacific Ocean image at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=78380&src=google+

Learn more about von Karman vortices from GES DISC at
http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/education-and-outreach/additional/science-focus/ocean-color/science_focus.shtml/vonKarman_vortices.shtml

2013-05-14 15:01:37 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 26 +1s)

View of the Great Salt Lake from Skylab

America's first space station was launched forty years ago. Astronauts on Skylab conducted some the first comprehensive visual studies of Earth’s surface. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81112&src=googleplus

2013-05-13 19:09:28 (0 comments, 4 reshares, 33 +1s)

Today we're remembering Skylab, America's first space station. It was launched aboard the last of the Apollo-era Saturn V rockets on May 14, 1973. Read more about Skylab at
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/skylab.html

And find out how you can find more Skylab imagery at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/elegantfigures/2013/05/13/skylab-with-tips-for-searching-the-nasa-earth-observations-photo-database/?src=googleplus

2013-05-13 14:43:17 (0 comments, 5 reshares, 34 +1s)

Laguna Verde

High in the Andes Mountains in Argentina, this salt lake hosts microbes that give the lakes distinct colors. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81106&src=googleplus

2013-05-11 13:38:36 (2 comments, 4 reshares, 39 +1s)

Jervis Bay, New South Wales

Rising and falling seas and ancient rivers formed a bay lined with the whitest sands in the world. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81109&src=googleplus

2013-05-10 20:53:16 (0 comments, 5 reshares, 40 +1s)

After loading and testing GROVER's radar and fixing a minor communications glitch, tests began on the ice on May 8, in spite of winds that blew up to 23 miles (37 kilometers) per hour and temperatures that were as low as -22 degrees Fahrenheit (-30 degrees Celsius). Read more about NASA's rover in Greenland at

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2013/05/10/meet-grover-nasas-rover-in-greenland/?src=googleplus

2013-05-10 15:36:30 (2 comments, 4 reshares, 29 +1s)

Lake Powell Low Despite Spring Snow

The last decade has been a rough one for the reservoir at the heart of the intricate water storage system that sustains a large swath of the western United States. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81095&src=googleplus

2013-05-09 17:14:23 (3 comments, 8 reshares, 35 +1s)

Two views of the vivid colors of Yellowstone National Park's Grand Prismatic Spring: one from the ground and one from space. The ground photograph was taken by Marco Zante; the space image comes from the Ikonos satellite. We're partial to the satellite view. Which do you prefer?

Read more about the ground view from the Earth Science Picture of the Day at
http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2013/05/yellowstone-national-parks-prismatic-pool.html

Read more about the space view on the Earth Observatory
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=4523&src=googleplus

2013-05-09 14:43:05 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 22 +1s)

Mapping the Severity of Springs Fire from Space

As wildfires wind down, teams of scientists hit the field to assess the damage. In many cases, they have help from satellites. See the area before the fire and read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81085&src=fb

2013-05-08 14:47:48 (1 comments, 5 reshares, 42 +1s)

Tropical Climate History...Shrinking

Perched high in the Andes, Peru’s Quelccaya Ice Cap stores centuries of climate change history in its ice. Its melting edges tell a more immediate climate story. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80925&src=googleplus

2013-05-08 10:32:15 (2 comments, 12 reshares, 44 +1s)

Dust blows from what was once the Aral Sea floor. Tragic mismanagement of a natural resource...via the Twitter feed of Commander Chris Hadfield on the International Space Station. 

See the photograph at
http://pic.twitter.com/Tm2Xmfuhu3

Read more about the Aral Sea and see how it has changed over time at 
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/aral_sea.php?src=googleplus

2013-05-07 20:47:43 (2 comments, 6 reshares, 45 +1s)

This photograph, taken by Piero Armando, shows the sinuous Aletsch Glacier from near the summit of Eggishorn (9,600 ft or 2,926 m), in the eastern Bernese Alps. The Aletsch Glacier is the longest glacier in the Alps Mountains, stretching to a length of nearly 14 mi (23 km). Read more about it on Earth Science Picture of the Day and Kids Earth Science Picture of the Week at

http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2011/12/aletsch-glacier-in-switzerland.html
http://epod.usra.edu/kepow/2012/12/glacier01.html

And see the same area from space at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=1860&src=googleplus

2013-05-07 14:46:07 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 25 +1s)

Thermal Sensor Lights Up from Volcanic Heat

The TIRS instrument on the new Landsat Data Continuity Mission satellite helps scientists pinpoint fine differences in temperature. View a natural color image of this scene and read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81067&src=googleplus

2013-05-06 16:21:14 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 41 +1s)

The Best of the Archives: May 6, 2010

On most days, the Earth Observatory presents our planet in close-up, filling your screens with its oceans and mountain ranges, clouds and rivers. But occasionally, satellites help us all take a step back to ponder the big picture of our place in the solar system and universe. Such a view of Earth and our Moon was beamed back by NASA’s Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft three years ago. Messenger was 183 million kilometers (114 million miles) from Earth when it acquired this image. Read more at

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=45710&src=googleplus 

2013-05-06 14:53:05 (1 comments, 4 reshares, 27 +1s)

San Diego-Tijuana Region

Straddling the border between the United States and Mexico, this metropolitan area is home to more than 5 million people. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81053&src=googleplus

2013-05-05 14:51:31 (2 comments, 7 reshares, 54 +1s)

Ship Tracks and Vortices over the North Pacific Ocean

Ships and islands contributed to an intricate cloud pattern over the northern Pacific Ocean in April 2013. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81061&src=googleplus

2013-05-04 14:22:08 (0 comments, 5 reshares, 47 +1s)

Springs Fire, California

On May 2, 2013, the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite captured this image of wildfire burning near Los Angeles, California. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81049&src=googleplus

2013-05-03 14:41:28 (1 comments, 3 reshares, 32 +1s)

A May Day snowstorm deposited snow from Colorado to Minnesota, likely toppling single-day snowfall records in multiple states. Some parts of Colorado and Wyoming received more than a foot of snow, including 16 inches of snow in Ft. Collins, and just over 12 inches of snow in Boulder. The snowfall total in Boulder was a record for the date and possibly the largest May snowfall for that city since 1978. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81044&src=googleplus

2013-05-03 10:35:36 (2 comments, 5 reshares, 41 +1s)

The Galapagos…just far enough apart to give Darwin something to think about. Photo by Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Chris Hadfield. Hadfield is currently in the midst of a five-month mission on the International Space Station.

See his Twitter feed (@Cmdr_Hadfield) for more space photography:
https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield

See other satellite imagery of the Galapagos at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=39384&src=googleplus
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=2324&src=googleplus

And a blog about traveling to the Galapagos at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/category/journey-to-galapagos/?src=googleplus

2013-05-02 14:55:09 (0 comments, 4 reshares, 46 +1s)

Bring Your Camera

Scientists on NASA’s P-3B research plane get eye-popping views of rarely seen or photographed ice. The latest round of Operation IceBridge flights concluded on May 2, 2013. View more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81035&src=googleplus

2013-05-02 10:45:01 (2 comments, 5 reshares, 55 +1s)

GROVER Set To Explore Greenland Ice Sheet

The robot known as GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, will roam the frigid landscape collecting measurements to help scientists better understand changes in the massive ice sheet.

This autonomous, solar-powered robot carries a ground-penetrating radar to study how snow accumulates, adding layer upon layer to the ice sheet over time. Read more at http://1.usa.gov/15a6stG

2013-05-01 20:37:55 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 22 +1s)

NASA and Iowa Flood Center staff started setting up the NASA Polerametric precipitation radar (NPOL) on April 25. Four days later, it was looking pretty darn good. The radar is the centerpiece of a field campaign that will have scientists measuring exactly how much rain is falling near Waterloo, Iowa. The ultimate goal: develop a reference that can be used to check the accuracy of satellite measurements of rainfall.  Read more about the campaign at

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/2013/04/30/npol-radar-site-near-traer-iowa/?src=googleplus

and

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GPM/news/iowa-ground-campaign-floods.html

2013-05-01 14:56:48 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 27 +1s)

Burning Fields in Eastern Russia

In the Amur region of Russia, spring means farmers burn their fields to prep for the coming season. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81022&src=googleplus

2013-04-30 18:09:56 (1 comments, 8 reshares, 49 +1s)

From the Archives: April 30, 2012

A year ago, Expedition 31 astronauts on the International Space Station captured this view of an elusive red sprite. Read more at

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=78487&src=googleplus

2013-04-30 14:56:00 (0 comments, 2 reshares, 26 +1s)

A Dynamic Landscape, a Dynamic Sensor

The Cascade Mountains and nearby forests and lakes provide a good test of the visual range of the new LDCM satellite. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80998&src=googleplus

2013-04-29 16:41:58 (2 comments, 8 reshares, 54 +1s)

Where do we get most of the imagery we post on our site? Here's where. Check out the Earth Observing System Project Science Office website to find out more about NASA's fleet of Earth-observing satellites. Notice the handy interactive timeline of satellites at the bottom of the page.

http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/

2013-04-29 14:46:51 (0 comments, 7 reshares, 40 +1s)

South Georgia Island

Astronauts capture a view of the South Atlantic Island that looks like it has been taken from an airplane. Mountains and glaciers stand in stark relief against the sea. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80994&src=googleplus

2013-04-28 14:09:21 (0 comments, 4 reshares, 52 +1s)

Ash and gas presage a paroxysm (small eruption) at Italy’s Mount Etna. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80955&src=googleplus

2013-04-27 14:48:24 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 28 +1s)

The Human Dimension of Thetford Forest

To celebrate Earth Day, Earth Observatory released a series of five puzzlers. Except for Thetford forest, all showed landscapes relatively untouched by human society. Read more about this image and the answers to this week's puzzler onslaught at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81008&src=googleplus

2013-04-26 14:47:05 (0 comments, 5 reshares, 38 +1s)

Drought in New Zealand

Lush green landscapes in New Zealand’s North Island took on a browner hue in summer 2013, as the area contended with one of the worst droughts in decades. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80990&src=googleplus

2013-04-26 12:33:02 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 24 +1s)

Last puzzler of the week to cap off our Earth Day puzzler bonanza...and it is an easy one. Recognize this place? And did you get all five locations? Remember to send your answers in before 6 p.m. EDT tonight. Read more about the puzzler at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2013/04/26/earth-week-puzzler-5/?src=google+

2013-04-25 14:44:28 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 33 +1s)

Penetrating Tree Cover to See the Forest Floor

JPL’s airborne radar instrument opens up a view of tropical wetlands and forest around the Napo River. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80982&src=googleplus

2013-04-25 12:03:23 (16 comments, 27 reshares, 26 +1s)

It's day four of Puzzler Week. What part of the world do you think this scene shows? And what are those odd shapes throughout the image?

Read more about the puzzler and post your comments at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2013/04/25/earth-week-puzzler-4/?src=googleplus

2013-04-24 18:24:35 (0 comments, 4 reshares, 38 +1s)

NASA scientist Lora Koenig is back after two weeks on the ice in Greenland where she and her team were studying the water content of the ice sheet. Read more about her work in the field at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/category/greenland-aquifer-expedition/?src=googleplus

2013-04-24 15:02:52 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 25 +1s)

Flood Waters along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers

Acquired April 20, this image shows conditions along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, where flooding struck in the spring of 2013. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80964&src=googleplus

2013-04-24 14:00:48 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 16 +1s)

Can you go five for five? We're releasing a new puzzler every day this week in celebration of Earth Day. Here's the third of the batch. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what part of the world we are looking at, when the image was acquired, and why the scene is interesting. We’ll post the answer to all five puzzlers at 6 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 26.

Read more at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2013/04/24/earth-week-puzzler-3/?src=googleplus