National Aeronautics and Space Administration,update

National Aeronautics and Space Administration                             February 2026 EARTHDATA DISCOVERY Open Access for Open Science                     Working with Non-Cloud-Optimized NASA Earth Science Data Just Got Easier           NASA Earthdata continues to evolve its data ecosystem to meet diverse research needs. Recent updates bring new earthaccess and VirtualiZarr capabilities that make working with non-cloud-optimized datasets simpler and more consistent.                   Use earthaccess and download NASA Earth science data with just a few lines of code. ➞                       Articles & News                 NISAR L-Band Data Products are Now Available The NASA-Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Mission Team issued the first public release of NISAR Level 1 to Level 3 L-band data. While the NISAR project continues its early-stage refinement, these sample data are intended to help users prepare for managing NISAR’s large data volumes and refine processing pipelines as the archive grows.           Improving Cloud Predictions in Atmospheric Models A new study by researchers from NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) compares model cloud data with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), CloudSat, and other real-world Earth observation data from NASA to refine future models and improve cloud predictions.           New PACE Imagery Services in ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World Eleven Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) data products are now available through NASA’s Earthdata Geographic Information Systems imagery services and Esri’s ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World.           Cloud-Optimized HDF5 Boosts Access to ICESat-2 Data Cloud-optimized Hierarchical Data Format version 5 (HDF5) enables faster, more efficient access to Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) data by allowing users to stream only the data they need directly from the cloud. This approach reduces download times, lowers barriers to access, and improves usability for a broad range of Earth science applications.                   Webinars & Events                     Visualizing Land Cover and Land Use Change with NASA Satellite Imagery February 24 and 26, 2026           Learn how to use NASA data to assess land cover and land use change (LCLUC) during this two-part ARSET training. Participants will see examples of supervised and unsupervised classification models implemented in the R coding language and improve their understanding of how these models can be used to produce maps and metrics of LCLUC.                     NASA PACE Applications Workshop March 11 and 12, 2026 The NASA PACE Applications Workshop is a free, virtual two-day event. Through practical tutorial demonstrations and presentations, attendees will learn how PACE capabilities can serve their science and applications needs across ocean, land, and atmospheric domains.               Second ESA-NASA International Workshop on AI Foundation Model for Earth Observation May 19-22, 2026 Join an in-person workshop hosted by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) focused on further strengthening cross-agency and cross-disciplinary collaboration between the Earth observation, artificial intelligence (AI), and foundation models (FM) communities to advance the transition of FMs from research prototypes to operational, trustworthy, and impactful Earth science tools. This workshop will be live streamed and the recordings will be published after the event.               NASA ASDC's Role in Advancing PREFIRE's Insights on Polar Radiation January 30, 2026 Explore Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment (PREFIRE) mission insights into Earth's energy balance during this interactive two-hour webinar with NASA’s Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC).                         Learning Resources           PACE-PAX: By Air, Land, and Sea This StoryMap highlights the PACE-PAX field campaign and its multidimensional approach to validating PACE satellite data.           Visualizing a Surprise Snowstorm Near Mt. Everest with NASA Data Users of NASA’s precipitation and land data assimilation products applied the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS) and Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) data to visualize a surprise Snowstorm that stranded hikers near Mt. Everest.           Open Science Essentials Training NASA offers a freely accessible open science training course designed for learners who are seeking a broad overview of open science concepts. The course provides introductory knowledge of the principles, practices, and tools necessary to conduct open science, and covers key topics such as open data, open peer review, and collaborative research practices.                     Data Alerts           Level 2 and Level 3 GEO-LEO Dark Target Aerosol Collections Released           Collocated OCO-3 and ECOSTRESS Data Released           New Products and Features Available in AppEEARS           EMIT Methane and Carbon Dioxide Plume Version 2 Data Products Released           VIIRS Monthly Burned Area Product Now Available in AppEEARS           EMIT L2B Fractional Cover Version 1 Data Product Released           CERES GEO Edition 4 Version 1.4 Collections Released           VIIRS Version 2 Surface Reflectance Data Products Released           Version 2.5 Suomi NPP OMPS LP L2 AER Data Product Released                   Track Data Outages and New Dataset Releases ➞                     Worldview Images of the Week           Ice in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays A buildup of ice in the Chesapeake and Delaware bays in the eastern United States, caused by sub-freezing temperatures, is visible in true-color corrected reflectance images from the MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra platform.           Effects of Back-to-Back Winter Storms over Eastern U.S. and the Bahamas An image captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard the joint NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) platform shows ice and snow from recent storms that hit the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.           Flooding in Mozambique A radiometric terrain corrected (RTC) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter image from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1A platform shows extensive flooding resulting from heavy rainfall in southern Mozambique.           Aurora Borealis Over North America A beautiful Black Marble Nighttime Blue/Yellow Composite (Day/Night Band) false-color image acquired by VIIRS aboard the joint NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP platform shows the Aurora Borealis over North America.                 NASA's Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Program oversees the life cycle of NASA’s Earth science data and seeks to maximize the scientific return from missions and experiments.                 Contact Us                       NASA | 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771