NASA's EARTHDATA DISCOVERY

 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration                             April 2025 EARTHDATA DISCOVERY Open Access for Open Science                     GLIMS Database Advances Glacier Monitoring from Space           Using NASA’s Global Land Ice Measurements from Space (GLIMS) Glacier Database, researchers worldwide can map and monitor glaciers to assess climate trends, natural hazard risk, sea level rise, freshwater resource availability, and ecosystem health and stability.                   Explore more than 200,000 glaciers around the world. ➞                       Articles                 NOAA 21 Captures Dust Moving Across the United States Spring has been an unusually active period for dust storms over the Southwestern U.S., and imagery from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) help researchers monitor and track aerosol movement in near real-time.           Sea Ice Estimates Hit New Lows According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), the Arctic sea ice extent maximum for 2025 was the lowest maximum in the satellite record (starting in 1979), and the Antarctic sea ice extent minimum for 2025 was effectively tied for second-lowest in the 47-year satellite record. Both sea ice extent estimates were based on passive microwave sea ice data archived at NASA’s NSIDC Data Active Archive Center (NSIDC DAAC).

NASA Earthdata

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

March 2025 EARTHDATA DISCOVERY Open Access for Open Science

Esri Fed GIS 2025: Katie Baynes Delivers the Plenary           In her address to the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) community, our Earth Data Officer, Katie Baynes, highlights the many ways NASA’s Earth science data informs crucial action on the ground—including disaster management, agriculture planning, and air quality monitoring. View the StoryMap for a full recap.                   Earthdata provides a range of tutorials, data recipes, tools, and services to help GIS users analyze data, create maps, and develop applications. ➞                       Articles

The Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 Project Releases Vegetation Indices NASA’s Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) project released two new products: the Landsat 30-meter Vegetation Index and Sentinel-2 30-meter Vegetation Index. Each product contains a suite of nine vegetation indices with applications including, agriculture, forest monitoring, vegetation health, and wildfire.

ΝΑSA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

February 2025 EARTHDATA DISCOVERY Open Access for Open Science

Meeting the Demand for Data on Urban Areas           NASA released 12 new datasets that demonstrate how the synthesis of Earth science and socioeconomic data can help decision-makers address real-world concerns in urban populations, which are projected to increase by 2.5 billion people by 2050.                   Use NASA’s POPGRID Viewer data tool to explore population counts and settlement mapping from leading global data sources. ➞                       Articles

NASA Begins Final ASTER Data Processing Campaign The final processing of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data will make its entire archive—4.5 million scenes for each of ASTER’s 11 data products—freely available and easily accessible in the Earthdata Cloud.           COWVR and TEMPEST V10 Datasets Available in First Public Release The V10 Compact Ocean Wind Vector Radiometer (COWVR) and Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems (TEMPEST) datasets are now available. They provide co-located wind vector measurements and integrated water measurements at the air-sea interface, which are immensely beneficial for users in weather forecasting and climate research.

NASA EARTHDATA DISCOVERY..

 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

December 2024 EARTHDATA DISCOVERY Open Access for Open Science

First SAR Data Products Certified to Plug-and-Play Metadata Standard           In a first for NASA, a set of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) products now follow new metadata standards that make them ready for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis, related software, and optical imagery. The certified products allow researchers to seamlessly analyze optical imagery from platforms such as Landsat and Sentinel-2 with data from SAR instruments.                   SAR is an observation technique that uses the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. SAR can penetrate cloud cover and “see through” darkness and weather, allowing a unique view of changes on Earth’s surface. ➞                       Articles

Urban Heat, Air Pollution, and Social Vulnerability Houston, Texas, has experienced remarkable urban growth over the past two decades. New data from NASA’s Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) shows that while overall particulate pollution has decreased, social vulnerability from pollution and heat is increasing in more urban areas, demonstrating the environmental and social impacts that come with urban expansion.           Repurposing Data from NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Platform Two months after NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) platform launched in 2015, the satellite’s radar transmitter failed. SMAP researchers moved the receiver’s frequency to the GPS L2 band, successfully retrofitting the instrument to collect GPS signals. However, that data has never been processed—until now. Learn more about the groundbreaking SMAP L1B Polarimetric GNSS Reflectometry dataset and what it tells us about Earth’s surface.           Introduction to the Synergistic Tempo Air Quality Science (STAQS) Field Campaign NASA's STAQS campaign aimed to integrate satellite observations from the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite with traditional air quality monitoring to improve understanding of air quality science and enhance societal benefits. Learn more about the results of the campaign, including efforts to link air quality patterns to socio-demographic data.           The Curious Case of Tropical Cyclone Lincoln Tropical Cyclone Lincoln made dual landfalls in Australia in mid- and late-February 2024, demonstrating unusual behavior as it gained and lost strength over the course of a week. Read more about how researchers used Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG) daily data to capture the evolution of Lincoln’s precipitation structure and characterize how atmospheric factors play a role.           SMAP Data Helps Dig Up Dirt on Unexpected Droughts Traditionally, drought forecasting data are only made available weekly or monthly, making weather forecasting predictability an imperfect science. NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) platform allows researchers to bring drought forecasting to near real-time, a boon for farmers and water resource managers.           OPERA: Mapping Flood Waters in the Face of the Storm When Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm, the Observational Products for End-Users from Remote Sensing (OPERA) team was ready to provide remote sensing imagery to support the disaster response efforts. Learn more about how OPERA systematically produces a suite of analysis-ready surface water extent data products that are useful for mapping inundation (and other surface water needs.           We Celebrated GIS Day 2024 To celebrate international Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day, the Earth Science Data Systems GIS Team (EGIST) solicited across NASA for images and maps that showcase how GIS are being used to support Earth Science. Eighteen of the images were selected and compiled into an eye-catching collage.                   Webinars & Events

Network and Connect with NASA Science at a Pre-AMS Open Workshop January 11, 2025           This free open workshop co-hosted by NASA’s Earth Science Data Systems Program ahead of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting will provide opportunities for Earth science data users from Minority Serving Institutions to network and connect. Register by November 29.                     ESIP January Meeting: Innovation to Impact January 21-24, 2025 Explore Earth science technology and computing with data professionals from federal agencies, industry, and academia at the annual Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) January Meeting.               The Many Layers of City Life: Urban Datasets from NASA's SEDAC Recorded December 4, 2024 Data collected in highly populated cities help researchers make important connections among air pollution, population, and public health. Learn more about urban datasets from NASA's Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) and their potential uses in navigating urban complexities in the context of climate change and sustainable development.               Explore Spire Small Satellite (SmallSat) Data Recorded November 19, 2024 Commercial SmallSats managed by Spire collect radio occultation and reflectometry data that NASA Earth science researchers use to better understand Earth’s interconnected systems. Learn more about Spire data and how to access, use, and work with these data.                         New Data, Tutorials, & Resources           Discover New NASA Earth Science Data NASA’s archive of unrestricted data continues to grow. Read summaries of the latest data products, services, and tools released over the past month.                   Open Science                 Earn Your Open Science Digital Badge Open Science 101 is a free self-paced public training to equip participants with the knowledge and skills to navigate the principles and practices of open science. Scheduled instructor-led virtual training is available, including training in Spanish.                   Worldview Images of the Week           Antarctic Sea Ice Concentration Sea ice plays an important role in Earth's climate system, regulating the exchange of heat between the polar seas and the atmosphere. This imagery shows the percent of sea ice concentration in Antarctica for the past 12 years, using data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) instrument.           Large Bushfire Blazing North of Perth, Australiaa A car crash was the inciting factor for a large bushfire in western Australia that tore through more than 65,000 acres of land in less than a week. Explore interactive imagery of the fire’s spread captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard the joint NASA/NOAA NOAA-21 platform.           Bomb Cyclone Brings Atmospheric River of Moisture to the Pacific Northwest As part of one of the northeast Pacific's strongest storms on record, a bomb cyclone first brought damaging winds, then extended heavy rain and mountain snow. View imagery of the atmospheric river of moisture captured by the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument aboard the GOES-West (GOES-18) platform.           Smog Over Pakistan Smog hovering over Lahore, Pakistan, reduced visibility to the point that it was easily detected by instruments aboard space-based platforms. In this image, captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument with an overlay of the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Aerosol Index layer, dark red colors indicate high aerosol index values.                 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.