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Earth Perspectives : Feature Articles

Earth Perspectives

Say NASA, and many images may come to mind: a white-clad man leaping

awkwardly, joyfully across the surface of the moon; probes gliding into the

depths of the solar system, sending back pictures of distant worlds; two

tenacious robots exploring the red rock surface of Mars, uncovering evidence of a

wet past; the horrifying disintegration of the Challenger and Columbia space

shuttles.

For some, another image comes to mind: a tiny blue and white planet, a fragile

oasis in the black vastness of space. Recalling his thoughts while orbiting the

Moon during the landmark Apollo 8 mission, astronaut Bill Anders said, “We

came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we

discovered the Earth.” (Quoted in The Societal Impact of Space Flight, p.55.)

Venturing into space has taught us about our Sun, solar system, and the universe

beyond, but it has also given us a new perspective on our home planet, Earth. In

2008, as NASA celebrates 50 years of existence as an agency and 40 years since

man first left Earth’s orbit, the Earth Observatory asked a number of Earth

scientists what unique insights space flight has given us about Earth. Some

emphasized revolutionary technology, others mentioned specific discoveries and

observations of important Earth events, while others highlighted the power of

NASA Earth ObservatoryHome Image of the Day Feature Articles News Natural Hazards Global Maps

by Holli Riebeek

November 4, 2008

NASA astronaut photograph AS10-34-

5036.

● by Holli Riebeek

● design by Robert Simmon

● November 24, 2008

●

Search

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satellite images to make us understand the interconnectedness of people and

places around the globe. A selection of their responses follows.

Piers SellersBiospheric scientist and astronaut

Piers Sellers remembers admiring the intricate details visible from the orbiting

space shuttle. “It was like someone spent forever building a tiny model.” He was

surprised by the thinness of the atmosphere, a delicate mist glued to Earth’s

surface, and delighted in seeing the edges of the clouds curl up towards space,

something that isn’t obvious in two dimensional satellite images.

Apart from letting humanity see Earth differently than ever before, the view from

space has also expanded our understanding of how the planet works, and just in

time to grasp the impact humanity is having on the planet and its climate system,

says Sellers. For the first time, we see our planet as a whole, a system of

intricately connected parts that interact—and can be perturbed—in ways humans

had not previously glimpsed. For example, the view from space was necessary to

understand how much carbon moves through ocean and land plants every year

during photosynthesis, says Sellers. “You need a global view to understand global

processes like the carbon cycle.”

Astronauts and cosmonauts have

taken thousands of photographs of

the Earth, including Mt. Everest (left),

Cuba (center), and clouds over South

America (right). (NASA astronaut

photographs ISS008-E-6146, ISS017-

E-14060, and ISS017-E-13859.)

Global measurements of the carbon

stored by plants (net primary

productivity) during photosynthesis

are an important piece of the climate

change puzzle. Scientists need to

know how much of the carbon dioxide


http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS008&roll=E&frame=6146http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS017&roll=E&frame=14060http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS017&roll=E&frame=14060http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS017&roll=E&frame=13859


Moustafa T ChahineAIRS/Aqua Science Team Leader, Senior Research Scientist

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

We view Earth now as a planet, not unlike Mars or Venus. Prior to the advent of

space exploration, we could only look at the planets from a great distance but

now robotic spacecraft like rovers and landers are enabling us to observe them

up close. For Earth it was quite the opposite. Heretofore, we could only observe

our immediate surroundings like lands, oceans, clouds, mountains, etc. The view

from space allows us to observe the entire Earth as a planet.

Scientifically, NASA initiated the concept of “Earth System Science” to describe

that the Earth’s climate system is an interactive system with many feedbacks

[connections]. What happens in one part affects the rest. NASA went on to

collect individual measurements like sea surface temperature, outgoing

radiation, soil moisture, etc. and integrated measurements from different

sounders and imagers to study the feedbacks among the various individual

measurements.

My favorite image of Earth is the composite view of Earth at night, which shows

the light over the USA East and West Coasts, Europe, Japan and along the Nile

river. It is one of very few space observations that demonstrates “intelligent life

exists on our planet.”

released by burning fossil fuels the

biosphere can absorb and how much

will linger in the atmosphere. (NASA

map by Robert Simmon and Reto

Stöckli, based on MODIS data.)


http://modarch.gsfc.nasa.gov/


Marc ImhoffProject Scientist for NASA’s Terra satellite

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

We have come to realize how thin and fragile our atmosphere is, how finite our

resources are, and how interconnected we are with everyone else on the planet.

Scientifically, the view from space has enabled us to see how human activities

can interact with natural cycles to cause important changes. For the first time,

we have observed the melting of ice and sea level rise, and how ocean circulation

works.

My favorite view of Earth from space is the global city lights at night. Nothing

shows how much impact we are having as a species on this planet better than

that composite image.

The view of city lights at night is one

of very few space observations that

demonstrates “intelligent life exists

on our planet,” says Moustafa

Chahine. On the other hand, says

Marc Imhoff, “nothing shows how

much impact we are having as a

species on this planet better than that

composite image.”

(NASA image by Robert Simmon,

based on MODIS Blue Marble and

Defense Meteorological Satellite

Program city lights data.)


http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/BlueMarble/http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dmsp/global_composites_v2.html


Harrison SchmittApollo Astronaut, Geologist

As a geologist, my perspective of the Earth as a planet in space did not change

with the opportunity to view it on the way to the Moon. But I was impressed by

how well I could observe and forecast weather patterns during those three days,

with the help of a 10X monocular. The Apollo views of the full Earth disk have

stimulated thought on the value of continuous monitoring the full disk from the

Moon as inherently different than the views from Earth orbit.

Lee-Lueng FuSenior Research Scientist, Project Scientist for the TOPEX/Poseidon,

Jason-1, and OSTM/Jason-2 Missions.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

First of all, seeing Earth from space has a psychological impact on human’s

awareness of the planet we are all sharing. It heightens our sense of the global

Apollo astronauts captured a series of

over 700 photographs of the Earth’s

disk on their way to and from the

moon. A crew member of Apollo 10

snapped this shot while he was

100,000 nautical miles (185,000

kilometers) from Earth on May 18,

1969. (Astronaut Photograph AS10-

34-5026.)


http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/PhotoIdSets/PhotoIdSets.pl?set=EarthDischttp://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/PhotoIdSets/PhotoIdSets.pl?set=EarthDischttp://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=AS10&roll=34&frame=5026http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=AS10&roll=34&frame=5026


impact of both natural processes and human activities.

Scientifically, observing Earth from space has revolutionized our understanding

of Earth as a system. For the first time we are able to see how the world’s

landscape has been changing on a scale not amenable to ground-based

observations. We begin appreciating the ocean’s effects on weather on land

through dramatic events like El Niño. We are seeing the minute change of global

sea level as well as the rapidly disappearing Arctic sea ice as a consequence of

global warming. By comparing measurements of topography taken at different

times, we can delineate the slow change of the surface of Earth that results from

the tectonic movement of Earth’s crust. We are even able to detect the minute

change of Earth’s gravity field caused by the melting of ice on Greenland and

Antarctica as well as by the seasonal change of ground water on land.

El Niño and La Niña are characterized

by large-scale changes in equatorial

Pacific Ocean currents. The TOPEX/

Poseidon satellite monitored changes

in sea-surface height during the

record 1997 El Niño and subsequent

1999 La Niña. In October 1997, warm

water piled up off the west coast of

South America, raising sea level

(red), while in March 1999, the cool

waters of La Niña dropped the sea

level below normal (blue). (Maps by

Robert Simmon, based on TOPEX/

Poseidon data from the World Ocean

Circulation Experiment.)


http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/PRODUCTS/p172.htmlhttp://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/PRODUCTS/p172.html


Viewing Earth from space enabled the following scientific discoveries, not in

ranked order and surely biased by my own perspective:

● Direct observations of the ozone hole leading to the understanding of its

formation and fluctuations;

● Observations of the fluctuations of sea ice coverage leading to the

understanding of its dynamics and relation to global climate change;

● Direct measurement of the change of global mean sea level, showing sea

level rise during the last decade at a rate twice that during the preceding

100 years;

● First direct measurement of the effects of change in Earth’s hydrosphere

[water systems] and cryosphere [snow and ice] on Earth’s gravity field.

● First direct measurement of the movement of Earth’s crust in relation to

tectonics, and its effects on earthquakes.

● Discovery of the global population of ocean eddies. Like storms in the

atmosphere, ocean eddies are storms in ocean currents. Eddies carry 90

percent of the energy of ocean circulation and play a key role in

transporting heat and nutrients around the world.

Robert BindschadlerChief scientist, Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory


My favorite image is a rather poor quality image by today’s standards. It made

the cover of Eos (an Earth science journal) because it was the “Ah-Hah!” image

that gave us the very first view of fast moving ice streams in the midst of the

Antarctic ice sheet. We could identify them because their surfaces were rougher

(bumpier) than the much slower flowing ice on either side. Prior to this image we

only knew they were there, but we had no effective means to map their extent.

Seeing this image come up on the screen and knowing I was looking at

something significant that no one had ever seen before remains one of the most

memorable days of my scientific career.

From my particular field of ice sheet dynamics, satellite observations have given

us the ability to see how fast ice sheets move, how the ice funnels into outlet Flowing glaciers of the Antarctic ice

cap. (NASA image courtesy Robert



glaciers, and (from the ability to see subtle flow features) tell how the ice flowed

in the millennial past.

Satellite data have revolutionized glaciology. It’s as simple as that. We know

more about what is going on at the remote high latitudes and high altitudes from

the satellite observations of the past 50 years than we would have every known

from hundreds of years of ground observations.

Bindschadler, Goddard Space Flight

Center.)

Colors indicate the speed of flowing

ice in Antarctica’s outlet glaciers. The

glaciers move relative slowly (one or

two meters per year) in the interior

and speed up tremendously as they

approach the sea. This image

includes data from several orbiting

radar instruments. (NASA image

courtesy Eric Rignot, Jet Propulsion

Laboratory.)

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Harrison Schmitt

Apollo Astronaut, Geologist

As a geologist, my perspective of the Earth as a planet in space did not change

with the opportunity to view it on the way to the Moon. But I was impressed by

how well I could observe and forecast weather patterns during those three days,

with the help of a 10X monocular. The Apollo views of the full Earth disk have

stimulated thought on the value of continuous monitoring the full disk from the

Moon as inherently different than the views from Earth orbit.

Lee-Lueng Fu

Senior Research Scientist, Project Scientist for the TOPEX/Poseidon,

Jason-1, and OSTM/Jason-2 Missions.

Apollo astronauts captured a series of

over 700 photographs of the Earth’s

disk on their way to and from the

moon. A crew member of Apollo 10

snapped this shot while he was

100,000 nautical miles (185,000

kilometers) from Earth on May 18,

1969. (Astronaut Photograph AS10-

34-5026.)


http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/PhotoIdSets/PhotoIdSets.pl?set=EarthDischttp://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/PhotoIdSets/PhotoIdSets.pl?set=EarthDischttp://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=AS10&roll=34&frame=5026http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=AS10&roll=34&frame=5026


NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

First of all, seeing Earth from space has a psychological impact on human’s

awareness of the planet we are all sharing. It heightens our sense of the global

impact of both natural processes and human activities.

Scientifically, observing Earth from space has revolutionized our understanding

of Earth as a system. For the first time we are able to see how the world’s

landscape has been changing on a scale not amenable to ground-based

observations. We begin appreciating the ocean’s effects on weather on land

through dramatic events like El Niño. We are seeing the minute change of global

sea level as well as the rapidly disappearing Arctic sea ice as a consequence of

global warming. By comparing measurements of topography taken at different

times, we can delineate the slow change of the surface of Earth that results from

the tectonic movement of Earth’s crust. We are even able to detect the minute

change of Earth’s gravity field caused by the melting of ice on Greenland and

Antarctica as well as by the seasonal change of ground water on land.

El Niño and La Niña are characterized

by large-scale changes in equatorial

Pacific Ocean currents. The TOPEX/

Poseidon satellite monitored changes

in sea-surface height during the

record 1997 El Niño and subsequent

1999 La Niña. In October 1997, warm

water piled up off the west coast of

South America, raising sea level

(red), while in March 1999, the cool

waters of La Niña dropped the sea

level below normal (blue). (Maps by

Robert Simmon, based on TOPEX/

Poseidon data from the World Ocean

Circulation Experiment.)


http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/PRODUCTS/p172.htmlhttp://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/PRODUCTS/p172.html


Viewing Earth from space enabled the following scientific discoveries, not in

ranked order and surely biased by my own perspective:

● Direct observations of the ozone hole leading to the understanding of its

formation and fluctuations;

● Observations of the fluctuations of sea ice coverage leading to the

understanding of its dynamics and relation to global climate change;

● Direct measurement of the change of global mean sea level, showing sea

level rise during the last decade at a rate twice that during the preceding

100 years;

● First direct measurement of the effects of change in Earth’s hydrosphere http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/EarthPerspectives/printall.php (11 of 23)2008.11.26 9:31:13 AM


[water systems] and cryosphere [snow and ice] on Earth’s gravity field.

● First direct measurement of the movement of Earth’s crust in relation to

tectonics, and its effects on earthquakes.

● Discovery of the global population of ocean eddies. Like storms in the

atmosphere, ocean eddies are storms in ocean currents. Eddies carry 90

percent of the energy of ocean circulation and play a key role in

transporting heat and nutrients around the world.

Robert Bindschadler

Chief scientist, Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory


My favorite image is a rather poor quality image by today’s standards. It made

the cover of Eos (an Earth science journal) because it was the “Ah-Hah!” image

that gave us the very first view of fast moving ice streams in the midst of the

Antarctic ice sheet. We could identify them because their surfaces were rougher

(bumpier) than the much slower flowing ice on either side. Prior to this image we

only knew they were there, but we had no effective means to map their extent.

Seeing this image come up on the screen and knowing I was looking at

something significant that no one had ever seen before remains one of the most

memorable days of my scientific career.

From my particular field of ice sheet dynamics, satellite observations have given

us the ability to see how fast ice sheets move, how the ice funnels into outlet

glaciers, and (from the ability to see subtle flow features) tell how the ice flowed

in the millennial past.

Satellite data have revolutionized glaciology. It’s as simple as that. We know

more about what is going on at the remote high latitudes and high altitudes from

the satellite observations of the past 50 years than we would have every known

from hundreds of years of ground observations.

Flowing glaciers of the Antarctic ice

cap. (NASA image courtesy Robert

Bindschadler, Goddard Space Flight

Center.)

Colors indicate the speed of flowing

ice in Antarctica’s outlet glaciers. The

glaciers move relative slowly (one or

two meters per year) in the interior

and speed up tremendously as they http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/EarthPerspectives/printall.php (12 of 23)2008.11.26 9:31:13 AM


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the Earth Observatory is part of the EOS Project Science Office located at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Michael KingEmeritus EOS Senior Project Scientist

Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado

Not a person alive in the U.S. has gone without seeing geosynchronous images of

clouds and the Earth from space. These are used in every TV weather forecast

approach the sea. This image

includes data from several orbiting

radar instruments. (NASA image

courtesy Eric Rignot, Jet Propulsion

Laboratory.)

webmaster: Goran Halusa • NASA official: Lorraine

Remer

last updated: November

24, 2008


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throughout the nation and elsewhere in the globe. Highlights are often shown

during hurricane season and during severe storms or blizzards that ground

aircraft or cripple regions of the country.



A plethora of satellite imagery document natural (or human-caused) disasters,

such as tsunamis, hurricanes and typhoons, fires, severe floods, blizzards,

droughts, and wars, around the world. The interconnection between sometimes

distance places and individual nations becomes clear through satellite imagery.

Views of calving glaciers, sea ice retreat, and other natural and human-

influenced changes have also started to seep into the public’s consciousness.

Though not initially discovered from space, seasonal and annual fluctuations of

ozone concentration, especially in the important Antarctic ozone hole, have been

monitored and studied extensively with the aid of space-based observations.

The view from space has enabled the observation of:

● Changes in worldwide sea level over space and time, impossible to

observe from ships and island stations;

● Spatial pattern and time evolution of sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic;

Hurricane Ike made landfall over

Galveston Island on September 13,

2008. The GOES-12 satellite

monitored the storm from its birth in

the mid-Atlantic until its demise over

the central United States. (NASA

Image courtesy GOES Project Science

Office.)

The Total Ozone Mapping

Spectrometer revealed the size and

depth of the ozone hole that first

formed over Antarctica in the 1980s.

Scientists used the data to

demonstrate the need for a ban on


http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/


● The interconnection between population growth and land cover change

and deterioration;

● Deforestation and the seasonal distribution of fires worldwide;

● The long-range transport of aerosols (dust) from one continent to

another, which are not associated with local pollution sources but are

often mistakenly attributed to them;

● Day-of-the-week changes in precipitation and atmospheric chemistry

associated with human activity;

● The influence of hurricanes on the underlying sea surface temperatures

as hurricanes pass over (and extract heat from) the ocean.

I like the view of ship tracks in the eastern Atlantic off the Iberian Peninsula. The

phenomenon of ship tracks is a clear signature of how burning fossil fuels

modifies clouds. A cloud modified by the small particles released when fossil

fuels are burned is brighter when viewed from the vantage point of space.

ozone-destroying chemicals, which

went into effect in 1989. (Images and

data courtesy NASA Ozone Hole

Watch.)


http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/ShipTracks/ship_tracks.phphttp://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/


Steve RunningProfessor/Director, Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group

College of Forestry & Conservation, University of Montana

My favorite picture, the one I start my public talks with, is the Earth taken from

the Moon by the Apollo astronauts. The Earth looks so alone and fragile.

Ship tracks off the Atlantic coast of

Europe. (NASA image by Jacques

Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response

Team.)


http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2003027-0127/France2.A2003027.1340.1km.jpghttp://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/


Until satellites, most terrestrial ecologists could only study their own backyard.

Twenty years ago, more than 90 percent of the papers in the journal Ecology

were on studies from 0.1 hectare plots. Satellites gave us a continental and global

look at the biosphere where we could compare and contrast ecosystems all over

the world and monitor change. Change detection of virtually all the key global

habitability indicators would have been impossible without the repeatability and

consistency of the satellite record. I can sit at my computer and effectively study

any ecosystem on Earth anywhere. That’s pretty cool.

June 17, 1984

Earth from the Apollo 8 Command

Module on December 26, 1968.

(NASA astronaut photograph AS08-

14-2383.)

Satellites make it possible to

regularly collect data over even the

most remote places. These two

Landsat images, acquired in 1984 and


http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=AS08&roll=14&frame=2383http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=AS08&roll=14&frame=2383


July 21, 2005

Claire ParkinsonProject Scientist, Aqua satellite


Satellites have been magnificent in terms of providing us with a global view of

what’s happening on our planet. This has been tremendously important in

2005, show the growth of

Machadinho D’oeste in the Brazilian

state of Rondonia.The town is at

bottom center, surrounded by cleared

rainforest. (NASA images by Robert

Simmon, based on Landsat data from

the University of Maryland Global

Land Cover Facility.)


http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/http://www.landcover.org/http://www.landcover.org/


numerous fields of Earth science. For instance, in sea ice studies, it has allowed

us to monitor the full Arctic and Antarctic sea ice covers every one or two days

for almost the entire period since late 1978. This has provided us with detailed

information about the strongly decreasing Arctic sea ice cover and slightly

increasing Antarctic sea ice cover since 1978 that we simply would not have had

without satellite data.



The book Our Changing Planet: The View From Space is full of impressive

satellite imagery. Some images are global, revealing fascinating aspects of the

Earth system that would not be apparent without the global or near-global view.

For instance, the global image of lightning flash rate from eight years of satellite

data shows that lightning is overwhelmingly more frequent over land than over

oceans. Other views are impressive for the changes they reveal, such as the

sequence of three images showing the crumbling of the Larsen B ice shelf along

the Antarctic Peninsula in 2002. Still other images are impressive for the level of

detail they present, such as an image of San Francisco showing not just the

buildings (and their shadows) but also roads and parking lots and specks

revealing cars and trucks along the roads and in the parking lots.

Earth’s Story from SpaceUntil recently, humanity has only perceived Earth’s story in small chapters, a

series of short scenes as we have observed the sky, land, water, and life in our

backyard. As we watch our planet from space, the scenes flow together, and

unconnected narrative becomes an epic novel in which all players have a part.

Satellites have mapped the extent of

Arctic Sea since 1979. In the past

decade the area of ice during

September (annual minimum) has

declined from over 6 million square

kilometers to a record low of 4.3

million square kilometers in 2007.

(NASA maps by Jesse Allen and

Robert Simmon, based on data from

the National Snow and Ice Data

Center.)

Thunderstorms that form over land

are more likely to produce lightning

than storms that form over the open

ocean, and 90% of the world’s

lightning flashes occur over land. This

maps shows the frequency of

lightning flashes per square kilometer

per year from April 1995–February

2003. (NASA map by Marit Jentoft-

Nilsen, based on data from the Global

Hydrology Resource Center.)


http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/eos_homepage/for_scientists/data_products/ourchangingplanet.phphttp://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/archives/index.htmlhttp://nsidc.org/http://nsidc.org/http://lightning.nsstc.nasa.gov/data/http://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/http://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/


We are coming to understand that all parts of our planet are connected, that a

fallen forest or a melting glacier in a faraway place touches the rain that falls

nearby, that the gases that rise into the atmosphere don’t disappear, that the

seemingly small things we do from day to day add up to big changes in the Earth

system.

The Earth Observatory exists to tell both Earth’s story and the stories of people

seeking to understand Earth as we look back from space. It also exists to share

the great beauty of the unique planet on which we live. Only from space can we

appreciate the beauty of a vast phytoplankton bloom coloring the ocean with

fanciful swirls of green and blue, or watch the slow southward creep of orange

down the folds of the entire Appalachian Mountain Range as fall turns to winter.

From space, the symmetry of a powerful hurricane or a plume of pale dust

reaching over the dark ocean is beautiful.

When NASA marked its 50th anniversary on July 29, 2008, it had 21 Earth-

observing satellites in orbit. NASA’s rich history of observing Earth from space

continues. In 2009, two more missions are scheduled to launch. The Orbiting

Carbon Observatory will observe carbon dioxide concentrations in the

atmosphere, and Glory will monitor aerosols like black carbon soot and track

changes in the amount of energy entering the atmosphere from the Sun. NASA is

developing and studying new missions in response to the National Research

Council’s 2007 Decadal Survey for Earth Science—a once-a-decade report that

Fall colors tint the hilltops flanking

the Susquehanna River valley in

central Pennsylvania. Pale, recently

harvested fields line the valley floors

between ridge lines. This natural-

color image was acquired on October

21, 2001, by Landsat-7. (NASA image

by Robert Simmon, based on Landsat

data from the University of Maryland

Global Land Cover Facility.)


http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=5611http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=5912http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=17009"http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=19264http://www.nasa.gov/50th/home/http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/http://www.landcover.org/


prioritizes Earth science questions and makes recommendations for the missions

NASA and its partners should undertake in the coming decade to help answer

them. These missions will join those already in orbit to teach us more about

Earth and give us a greater appreciation of its complex beauty.

1. Reference

2. Dick, S.J., Launias, R.D. (2007). The Societal Impact of Space Flight.

Washington, D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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Remer

last updated: November

26, 2008


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