This animation is of Acadia National Park in Maine. This animation was done as part of a series of animations to show Landsats view of our National Parks.

SeaWiFS false color data showing seasonal change in the oceans and on land for Africa. The data is seasonally averaged, and shows spring, summer, fall, winter, spring, summer, and fall.

For many years, scientists have believed that the southern expansion of the Sahara has been due to human activity. However, results from the AVHRR instrument and its measurements of vegetation suggest a different explanation: rainfall patterns. In drier years (1984 was one of the driest summers in recorded history in Northern Africa), the Sahara expands south, but in wetter years (such as 1994), vegetation moves back and there is no net expansion of the Sahara as had been previously suggested.

For many years, scientists have believed that the southern expansion of the Sahara has been due to human activity. However, results from the AVHRR instrument and its measurements of vegetation suggest a different explanation: rainfall patterns. In drier years (1984 was one of the driest summers in recorded history in Northern Africa), the Sahara expands south, but in wetter years (such as 1994), vegetation moves back and there is no net expansion of the Sahara as had been previously suggested.

For many years, scientists have believed that the southern expansion of the Sahara has been due to human activity. However, results from the AVHRR instrument and its measurements of vegetation suggest a different explanation: rainfall patterns. In drier years (1984 was one of the driest summers in recorded history in Northern Africa), the Sahara expands south, but in wetter years (such as 1994), vegetation moves back and there is no net expansion of the Sahara as had been previously suggested.

In this web-based, interactive story, Tutangiaq (Too-tang-geye-ack - nicknamed 2T), a Canada Goose, flies across Alaska looking for his family. As he flies, he tells children about the fascinating 49th state. Children learn how Alaska was purchased from the Russians, and other facts about the state. They can also compare the size of Alaska to other states. 2T takes a flight across the volcanic chain in Alaska and helps the students to interactively explore how scientists monitor volcanoes from satellite images in near-real time. At the coast, the bird also meets his Walrus friend who shows him how the sea ice edge has receded and gives an example of an adverse effect on marine life. Finally, 2T arrives in Fairbanks where children use satellite imagery to help 2T find and unite with his family.

A close-up view of a field of snow dunes, then pulling back to show regions of the dunes across the continent.

Animation fly-over of the Fimbul Ice Shelf

Zoom-in from a full continent view to close-up on some snow dunes.

The motion of water vapor in the Earths atmosphere collected from the GOES series of Earth-observing satellites.

This USGS site explains what an aquifer is and defines the different types of aquifers based on six principal lithologies; sandstone, carbonate, sandstone-carbonate, igneous and metamorphic, sand and gravel, and other rock types. The site features maps and descriptions of the major aquifers in the United States as well as general information about groundwater occurrence and quality. The site also provides links to additional maps and data about specific aquifers across the nation.

The Araona Crater (also known as the Iturralde Structure) is a suspected crater from an impactor which struck northern Bolivia approximately 20,000 years ago. The feature is believed to have been caused by a short period comet striking at 70 kilometers per second and splattering into the muddy alluvial flood plain in the Lower Amazon jungle. The impact created a circular depression which is now roughly 8 kilometers across and 3 meters deep. The structure was discovered in 1988 Landsat data, but was not visited successfully until 1998 because the region is inaccessible. Future expeditions hope to finally settle if the feature truly is the impact crater it appears to be, and if so, determine the nature of the impactor. The full Landsat scene of Northern Bolivia includes the Rio Bene running northward through the image (North is up), with the Rio Madidi running across the image from southwest towards the northeast before joining the Rio Bene. The image was constructed from Landsat Thematic Mapper bands 7, 5, and 3 displayed as red, green, and blue respectively. The green tone of the image distinguishes between different types of vegetation with low scrubland in the alluvial flood plain appears as a light green and dense tropical jungle coverage appearing dark green. The close-up of the impact crater uses the same Landsat data, but passed through a sharpening image filter which emphasizes high spatial frequency features and tends to enhance color contrast.

SeaWiFS false color data showing seasonal change in the oceans and on land for Asia. The data is seasonally averaged, and shows the sequence: fall, winter, spring, summer, fall, winter, spring (for the Northern Hemisphere).

A flyby of Atlanta, from Landsat imagery draped over elevation data

Atlanta with opening labels (542). This scene shows Landsat Thematic Mapper data from the shortwave infrared (TM band 5), infrared (TM band 4), and visible green( TM band 2) channels of Atlanta.

A simulation showing the correlation between thermal and visible Landsat data of the Atlanta Heat Island

A comparison of land use and thermal infrared data of Atlanta from Landsat

A animation showing the correlation between thermal and visible Landsat data of the Atlanta Heat Island

A animation showing the correlation between thermal and visible Landsat data of the Atlanta Heat Island