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Spatial Analysis

The 2015 earthquakes caused great damage in Bhakatpur, Nepal. These photos are overlaid on a damage proxy map derived from COSMO-SkyMed satellite data. Colors show increasingly significant change in terrain/building properties (including surface roughness and soil moisture). Red is most severe. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Google/DigitalGlobe/CNES/Astrium/Amy MacDonald/Thornton TomasettiThe 2015 earthquakes caused great damage in Bhakatpur, Nepal. These photos are overlaid on a damage proxy map derived from COSMO-SkyMed satellite data. Colors show increasingly significant change in terrain/building properties (including surface roughness and soil moisture). Red is most severe. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Google/DigitalGlobe/CNES/Astrium/Amy MacDonald/Thornton Tomasetti

Developing Earthquake Damage Maps from Satellite Imagery

Spatial Analysis

Researchers are working on developing remotely sensed maps that may assist locals in assessing damage and managing the aftermath with future earthquakes.

GIS Data

GRACE based shallow groundwater drought indicator map for July 7, 2014. Source: NASA.GRACE based shallow groundwater drought indicator map for July 7, 2014. Source: NASA.

Using Remote Sensing to Measure the Affect of Drought on Ground Water

GIS Data

This map shows a comparison of modeled relative amount of water stored in underground aquifers in the continental United States for July 7, 2014 as compared to the average for comparable weeks for the sixty year average water storage.  

GIS Data

This image is a portion of the first Landsat 8 scene acquired May 12, 2013 (Path 107, Rows 70-71) in Western Australia. Geoscience Australia, a Landsat International Cooperator and a Landsat Science Team Member, produced this enhanced image. Water and land were masked, separately enhanced, and then reassembled. The water patterns are the result of an RGB display of the Landsat 8 red, blue, and ultra-blue bands (bands 4, 2, 1) and the land is shown using SWIR, NIR, and green (bands 6, 5, 3). The resulting image displays impressive sediment and nutrient patterns in the tropical estuary area, and the complex patterns and conditions in the vegetated areas.

First Landsat Spacecraft Launched – Today in Geospatial – July 23

GIS Data

On July 23, 1972, the first Landsat spacecraft was launched.  At the time it was known as the Earth Resources Technology Satellite and it was the first satellite launched to study the earth’s landmasses.  In 1975, the name was changed to Landsat.  Since then, this program has been continuously monitoring changes […]

GIS Data

Map showing what the soil moisture conditions around the planet were like in August 2013: dry areas are represented in the brown scale, while wetter areas are in blue and green. Image Credit: NASA Goddard's Science Visualization Studio/T. Schindler

Mapping Soil Moisture from Space

GIS Data

Soil moisture might not be considered a critical factor to the health of our planet but a series of satellite missions are proving otherwise. Scientists recently created maps from NASA’s Aquarius satellite of soil moisture, or the amount of water contained within soil particles, across the globe. These maps have […]

GIS Data

First Images from GPM Microwave Imager: The image shows rain rates across a 550-mile (885 kilometer) wide swath of an extra-tropical cyclone observed off the coast of Japan on March 10, 2014. Red areas indicate heavy rainfall, while yellow and blue indicate less intense rainfall. In the northwest part of the storm in the upper left of the image, the blue areas indicate falling snow.

NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement

GIS Data

Water is essential for life on the Earth, and the supply of this precious liquid is constantly being recycled through energy from the sun. This process is known as the hydrologic cycle, and through it water is continuously exchanged between the land, the atmosphere, and the oceans. Precipitation in its […]

GIS Data

Mapping Our World: Interactive Poster Showing Forty Years of NASA Data

Mapping Our World: Interactive Poster Showing Forty Years of NASA Data

GIS Data

Forty years representing over a dozen of Earth observation missions by NASA has led to an invaluable archive of satellite imagery and remote sensing data.  These mission have gathered data about the Earth including its atmosphere, vegetation, ice, land surface, salinity levels, geology, and temperature.  The highlight the datasets developed by […]