In early May 2016, a destructive wildfire burned through Canada's Fort McMurray in the Northern Alberta region, forcing the evacuation of more than 80,000 people.
Greenland Coast Showing Signs of Ice Melt
A graphic built from three different images collected by the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1A radar shows sea-ice change along northeast Greenland's coast.
Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo Wins Lightning Crown
Using data from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) onboard NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission, a new study determined that Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is the new lightning capital of the world.
Mobile Mapping App Capturing Bat Data in Africa
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), in conjunction with Colorado State University (CSU) and the Center of Disease Control (CDC), are funding a project to measure and monitor bats in Uganda. The bats are suspected of carrying pathogens in the area, and the catch-and-release program will record detailed measurements and statistics as part of ecological and bat-distribution research.
Satellite Spies Africa's Oldest Desert and Largest Game Park
A colorful image of central western Namibia, taken on Jan. 28, 2016, by the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-2A satellite, details the world's oldest desert: the Namib. Also present is the Namib Naukluft National Park, the largest game park in Africa and the fourth largest in the world.
Second Sentinel Successfully Launched
The second satellite of the Sentinel-1 mission, Sentinel-1B, was successfully launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on April 22, 2016.
3D-Printed UAS Aiding Antarctic Navigation
A 3D-printed UAS built by the University of Southampton is helping the British Royal Navy's ice-patrol ship HMS Protector navigate through Antarctic seas.
Satellite Composite Chronicles Irish Land Cover
European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-1A satellite data were used to create a multi-temporal color composite of land coverage across Ireland. With a coastline of 7,500 kilometers, Ireland is home to 4.8 million people.
Landsat Data Document Pavement Increase in D.C.
A study recently published in the Remote Sensing of Environment journal used Landsat data from 1984 and 2010 to show how paved surfaces in the Washington, D.C., area have increased dramatically.
Antarctic Icebergs Break Free
On April 7, 2016, multiple satellites captured the birth of two large icebergs that were shed along a crack on Antarctica's Nansen Ice Shelf during persistent strong offshore winds. The icebergs currently pose no threat to shipping, but they may pose a threat to scientific instruments moored to the seafloor to monitor climate change.
