NASA Earth Science helps Americans respond to challenges and societal needs — such as wildland fires, hurricanes, and water supplies for farming — by putting actionable satellite information into the hands of decisionmakers. NASA conceives, builds, and flies cutting-edge satellites and instruments; harvests data from those tools and from commercial partners; combines it with expert insights and the world’s most advanced models — all to advance solutions for monitoring, prediction, and management.
Why it matters
Using the power of space-based observations, innovative technologies, engineering, science, and partnerships, NASA can offer a comprehensive, digital view of Earth as a system. NASA works across commercial and industrial sectors and federal and international agencies to:
generate the scientific data necessary to inform decisions from the local to state to federal to international level
leverage innovation from academia and the private sector to develop novel applications of Earth science information
create products and analyses that directly address societal needs
link technology, research & development, and actionable science to ensure rapid transfer from innovation to impact.
advance America's space exploration goals, using our Earth tools and insights to better prepare us for a sustainable presence on the Moon and Mars.
Featured Video
NASA Earth: Powering America's Future
Did you know the very same cutting-edge technology NASA uses to study other planets is exactly what we use to study our own?
From the ground, air, and skies, NASA gathers information crucial to life here on Earth, and we build instruments and technologies and programs that equip the US to meet critical, real-world challenges.
By 2030, the potential economic value of EO (Earth observations) could exceed $700 billion globally...better data can inform decision-making, optimize solutions and enable innovation.
NASA's research and data provide a competitive advantage to American businesses and support the U.S. economy.
Mapping rare Earth minerals for use in domestic, technology-dominant industries such as telecommunications, energy generation, and aerospace.
Aiding U.S. agriculture with continuous measurements of water resources, crop health, and global production that inform business decisions, improve farm and ranch efficiency, and reduce input costs, resulting in a positive impact from the commodity-trading floor to the grocery store.
Improving our understanding of hurricanes and sharing those insights and tools with NOAA’s National Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center
Working with the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies to provide key observations of conditions before, during, and after wildland fires - such as estimating fuel loads and soil moisture.
Observations of the amount of freshwater stored on land and underground (left) contribute to our understanding of how water availability puts a strain on farmers and communities, potentially leading to famine, conflicts, poverty, and an increased risk of disease, including those transmitted by mosquitoes (right).
NASA Earth Observatory, CDC
NASA's consistent sea level rise data is the best way and the best tool for us to make sure that we spend our money carefully and wisely so that the future generations get to enjoy our beaches and bays and rivers just as much as I did.
NASA is uniquely positioned to take scientific and societal questions from conception to public utility. We develop and fund technological leaps, build and launch the satellites and instruments, gather and disseminate the data, analyze the findings, and work with commercial, industry, academic, and government partners to serve societal needs.
NASA Earth Science Division
Studying Earth from Space
Since the 1960s, we have been observing our own planet because it is the one we need to know best. NASA applies ingenuity and expertise gained from decades of planetary and deep-space exploration to the study of our home planet.
From Headquarters and multiple NASA centers and labs, the Earth Science Division operates more than 20 satellites in orbit, sponsors hundreds of research programs and studies, and funds opportunities to put data to use for societal needs.
We develop new ways to observe the oceans, land, ice, atmosphere, and life, and we measure how changes in one drive changes in others over the short and long term.
While listening to and collaborating with industry leaders, international partners, academic institutions, and other users of our data, we deepen knowledge of our planet, drive innovations, and deliver science to help inform decisions that benefit the nation and the world.
