Image of the Week | Archive

In September 2024, Hurricane Helene blew through Florida. The high winds and waves churned up sediment from the ocean floor, while storm surge produced high volumes of runoff and flooding that eroded land surfaces bringing more particles into the coastal waters. Light reflecting off the fine particles makes the water appear bright blue. This effect can be visible long after a storm passes.

This image, taken by an astronaut on the International Space Station, shows the reddish-brown waters of the Betsiboka River Delta in Madagascar. The color is caused by the transport of iron-rich sediment.

2024 dry season in Mexico State brought about an intense forest fire on the volcano slopes. Though most forest fires are started by human activities, climate conditions make Mexico State more prone to fires spreading.

The EO data, such as Multi-Temporal InSAR Methodology is being used for reconnaissance and precise demarcation of subsiding areas. The results clearly demonstrate a significant decrease in the groundwater table in specific regions of the capital city, particularly in areas undergoing rapid urban development.

A critical water source for the Chile’s Coquimbo region, Cogotí Reservoir has significantly diminished due to a severe drought, affecting agriculture and mining. Sentinel-2 satellite imagery reveals drastic changes in water levels between 2023 and 2024, highlighting the urgency of water management.

Sentinel-2 images clearly demonstrate how Lacantún River in southeast Mexico changed course between 2019 and 2023. In December 2020, the Lacantún River cut through a meander neck, forming an oxbow lake. The western part of the image shows rainforest and wetland cover, while the eastern part shows remaining patches of rainforest, crops and cultivated grasslands.

Dubai was affected by floods during second week of April, 2024 due to the heavy torrential rains. The UAE’s National Center for Meteorology reported that eastern parts of the country measured up to 250 millimeters of rain in less than 24 hours. This extreme amount of precipitation led to submergence of roads, vehicles and disruption of flights. Images acquired from ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 show the pre and post flooding changes in part of Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

On October 14, 2023, the Moon aligned with the Sun and Earth to produce an annular solar eclipse. The spectacle bathed millions of Americans in a lunar shadow as the Moon blocked the Sun’s rays. The above image was acquired during the eclipse by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera imager aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory, a joint NASA, NOAA, and U.S. Air Force satellite.

What looks like highways going through a metropolitan area are actually a series of glaciers carving their way through the Karakoram mountain range north of the Himalayas. This photograph was taken from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above.

Created for a high school training session on Earth Observation, the image depicts an algae bloom event that occurred in September 2023 off the east coast of England.