Water on Earth

Earth
Earth Science
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)
Water on Earth
In a first, a space mission led by NASA and France has tracked Earth’s rivers swelling and shrinking from month to month over the course of a year and found significantly less of a swing than previous model-based estimates. A record drought in the Amazon likely influenced the tally made by the Surface Water and […]
Posted March 4, 2026
Earth
Water on Earth
During a stretch of frigid weather in late January 2026, ice choked the Hudson River along Manhattan’s western shore. The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured this image of the wintry landscape around midday on Jan. 28. This image uses representational color to distinguish ice (light blue) from open water and snow.
Posted February 9, 2026
Earth
Goddard Space Flight Center
Human Dimensions
Landsat
Oceans
PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem)
Water on Earth
NASA satellites are helping Maine oyster farmers pick better sites and plan when oysters will be ready to harvest.
Posted January 15, 2026
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Earth
Goddard Space Flight Center
Human Dimensions
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Water on Earth
Wildfires
When wildfires scorch a landscape, the flames are just the beginning. NASA is helping U.S. communities foresee and prepare for what can follow: mudslides, flash flooding, and contaminated water supplies.
Posted September 24, 2025
Tsunamis
Earth
Earth Science
Earthquakes
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Natural Disasters
Oceans
Water on Earth
A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami off Russia in late July tested an experimental detection system that had deployed a critical component just the day before. A recent tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula sent pressure waves to the upper layer of the atmosphere, NASA scientists have reported.
Posted September 12, 2025
Droughts
Earth
Life on Earth
Natural Disasters
Water on Earth
When Uruguay faced its worst drought in nearly a century, the nation’s water authority turned to NASA satellite data and trainings to build a reservoir-monitoring tool.
Posted September 10, 2025
EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation)
Earth
Earth Science Technology Office
Human Dimensions
International Space Station (ISS)
Oceans
Water on Earth
Proof-of-concept results from the mouth of the Tijuana River in San Diego County show how an instrument called EMIT could aid wastewater detection. An instrument built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory  to map minerals on Earth is now revealing clues about water quality.
Posted June 12, 2025
Droughts
Earth
Floods
Water on Earth
NASA’s radar-equipped jet is detecting ground movements to track snowmelt’s journey into California’s depleted groundwater aquifers.
Posted March 20, 2025
Goddard Space Flight Center
People of Goddard
Water & Energy Cycle
Water on Earth
Peyman Abbaszadeh works with researchers around the world to model and estimate the ways in which water flows above and below the surface of the Earth.
Posted February 10, 2025
SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Water on Earth
Data from the U.S.-European Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission gives researchers a detailed look at lakes and reservoirs in a U.S. watershed. The Ohio River Basin stretches from Pennsylvania to Illinois and contains a system of reservoirs, lakes, and rivers that drains an area almost as large as France.
Posted December 17, 2024
Sign up for our newsletter:

Categories

9
1
1
387
62
17
1
11
7
Io
5
6
4
17
27
1
113
4
1
14
1
202
1
6
6
663
1
29
13
1
2
11
2
10
1
13
59
1
14
67
211
30
14
3
2
3
46
1
10
3
18
159
20
6
1
13
1
2
3
14
4
3
1
3
1
1
8
281
235
5
1
1
10
1
364
21
1
2
1
3
3
2
38
6
4

Recent Posts

Newsletter Archive