
Another year, another cheesy Valentine’s Day card from the Terra mission!
(And speaking of 25 years, check out pictures and slideshows from our 25th Anniversary Event at GSFC’s Visitor’s Center, linked here!)
News and Events
Another year, another cheesy Valentine’s Day card from the Terra mission!
(And speaking of 25 years, check out pictures and slideshows from our 25th Anniversary Event at GSFC’s Visitor’s Center, linked here!)
2024 was a busy year for the Terra mission, as we handled platform battery charging changes, performed a yaw maneuver, and celebrated Terra’s 25th Anniversary– all while continuing to support the uninterrupted collection of daily Earth observations!
Let’s take a moment to look back at the top-shared monthly Terra stories on the social media platform X. Many of these stories were shared from the NASA Earth account and include posts from Earth Observatory that feature the Terra mission!
Click the linked month in each banner to jump down to a brief image summary that also includes a thumbnail linked to the original X post, as well as a link to the associated article from Earth Observatory or another resource.
Click the thumbnail on the left to view the original post on X, or the linked title of the informational resource above the summary on the right.
January 2024: “Foggy Nile“
Giving the illusion of a long-stemmed blooming white flower, this Terra image of fog over the Nile Delta was captured on January 7, 2024.
February 2024: “Ice Swirls Along the Labrador Coast“
Have you ever wondered how Terra imagery compares to photographs taken by actual astronauts on board the International Space Station? Wonder no more! Check out this side-by-side comparison of swirling ice in the Labrador Sea on February 3, 2024.
March 2024: “Smoke Blankets Venezuela“
In March 2024, hot and dry conditions — fueled by a shift in El Niño circulation patters — drove a record-breaking number of wildfires in Venezuela. Smoke from these fires was captured by Terra on March 26, 2024.
April 2024: “Join NASA in Celebrating Earth Day 2024 by Sharing a #GlobalSelfie“
For Earth Day, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center challenged social media users to share a beautiful image of Earth using the #GlobalSelfie hashtag, with Terra imagery front and center as an example.
May 2024: “Sierra Snowpack Springs Back“
While Venezuela experienced drought in early 2024, the Western U.S. had an early May snowstorm resulting in 2 feet of snow, a source of critical water during the summer months. This dramatic change in snowpack was captured by Terra imagery from May 5, 2024.
June 2024: Global Vegetation Index Animation
In June, the NASA History Office showcased 19 years of annual vegetation imagery from Terra MODIS in a 45 second animation, while highlighting Terra’s quarter-of-a-century data record.
July 2024: NASA DEVELOP Website Image Competition
In July, NASA’s DEVELOP program — a part of the Applied Science group — highlighted several graphics from past and present projects, with the goal of selecting one, via public voting, for use on the program’s website. One such graphic was developed from an East Coast project that combined Terra air quality data with vertical data from the CALIPSO satellite to better understand pollutant distribution throughout the column. And while the image didn’t win overall, it was voted 2nd place in this round!
August 2024: NSIDC MODIS Data Products
Did you know that NASA has a data center dedicated entirely to snow and ice data products? In August, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) highlighted false-color imagery of Earth’s cryosphere derived from Terra’s MODIS data.
September 2024: “A Deluge for the Sahara“
On September 10, 2024, parts of the dusty brown Sahara Desert turned blue, as dried lake beds filled up with water from an intense extratropical cyclone-driven rainfall event.
October 2024: Solar Powered Terra
Terra’s amazing solar-power system — generating energy to run the platform for over 25 years — was highlighted by the NASA Earth account in October. Learn more about Terra’s solar panels by visiting the article linked above.
November 2024: New Terra Data Product for Climate Modeling
In November, the NASA Earthdata program highlighted a new Terra-derived, snow-free global data product, for use in climate models. To find out more about this product (or download your own copy — it’s free! like all NASA data), visit the link above.
December 2024: “25 Terra-ific years!“
2024 wouldn’t be complete without a post from the NASA History Office, commemorating Terra’s 25th Launch Anniversary! We’ll be giving a more detailed summary of all the celebration events in a later post, but for a sneak-peak from the Terra 25th Anniversary event held December 18 at the Goddard Space Flight Center’s Visitor Center, visit the Terra webpage linked above!
This year has been a busy one for Terra, with our 25th Anniversary just around the corner! (Learn more and RSVP here!)
In the season of thanksgiving, Terra is especially grateful for the following:
Thanks again for all of your support over the years! Wishing you all a relaxing holiday full of food and friends!
You may have heard about the upcoming full solar eclipse, happening this upcoming April 8th, 2024 — but did you know Terra will have one of the “best seats in the house” for viewing this rare celestial experience?!
In the United States, the center “totality” shadow of the eclipse will pass from south to north along a track on the East Coast from Texas to New York. But because of Terra’s unique morning orbit timing and scheduled location, the satellite’s wide view will capture the eclipse shadow in the early morning hours and over the ocean, limiting visible contrast but still recording important data to be later used in reconstructing this event. Check out the sections below for additional information and eclipse-viewing resources from NASA!
Want to learn more about where and when to view the upcoming full eclipse this April 8th? Check out NASA’s new Eclipse 2024 addition to their Eyes on Earth interactive graphic (click image to open tool webpage).
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/VTAD
For all things NASA Eclipse 2024 related, visit the official website here!
Before we kick off an exciting year — full of celebrating Terra’s upcoming 25th Anniversary! — let’s take a moment to look back at the top-viewed monthly Earth Observatory stories featuring the Terra mission from 2023!
Click the linked month in each banner to jump down to a brief article summary and image thumbnail.
Want to know more? Click on either the linked URL or the image thumbnail below to view the original Earth Observatory story!
January 2023: “Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf Finally Breaks“
The long-awaited break of the Chasm 1 rift in the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica occurred on January 22, 2023, spawning Iceberg A-81, approximately 1550 square kilometers in size, as observed by NASA’s Terra satellite on January 24, 2023, marking a culmination of the rift’s growth since the 1970s.
February 2023: “Ex-cell-ent Clouds off Chile’s Coast“
Satellites like Terra have shown that marine stratocumulus clouds, covering about 23% of global oceans, exhibit open-celled and closed-cell formations. Open-celled clouds generate rainfall, while closed-cell clouds produce little rain. Local air quality, influenced by factors like smoke and aerosols, can impact the transition between these cloud types. Recent Terra imagery captured off the coast of Chile highlight the intricate structures of these clouds.
March 2023: “A Surge of Floodwater for Owens Lake“
In March 2023, California’s historically dry Owens Lake experienced an unprecedented rainfall event that led to the collapse of three sections of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, causing floodwaters to flow over the lakebed. The first of its kind, this breach prompted the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to open floodwater spill gates for repairs. Terra satellite imagery on March 25, 2023, revealed the transformed landscape and highlights the importance of planning for future climate change impacts to water cycle extremes in the region.
April 2023: “A Massive Seaweed Bloom in the Atlantic“
Last spring, the “Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt” witnessed its largest recorded Sargassum bloom, estimated at 13 million tons by University of South Florida researchers using NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites. The seaweed, vital for ocean health, poses challenges near coasts, affecting marine species and tourism. The ongoing growth trend since 2011, influenced by nutrient inputs and changing ocean patterns, raises concerns for major beaching events along the Caribbean and Florida’s east coast.
May 2023: “Retreat at Petermann Glacier“
Over twenty years of combined Terra imagery from Greenland show the Petermann Glacier’s retreat, thinning, and accelerated flow, resulting in a one-third reduction of the ice tongue during this period. Significant iceberg calving events, including a 2017 rift, raise concerns about future glacial melt. Warming ocean waters contribute to melting the glacier from below, a process that causes significant sea level rise.
June 2023: “Canadian Smoke Reaches Europe“
Last summer, smoke from Quebec’s ongoing wildfires crossed the Atlantic, darkening skies in southwestern Europe, shown in this imagery captured by Terra’s MODIS instrument on June 26, 2023. The plume of black carbon particles, spanning over 2,000 miles, impacted air quality in Europe and contributed to notable sunrises and sunsets, according to the UK Met Office.
July 2023: “Curious Waves of Clouds Across Australia“
This past July, Terra captured a striking display of unusual clouds over Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The patterns, marked by abrupt edges and fine textures, intrigued experts, who suggested that these clouds were influenced by atmospheric stability processes. The large-scale shapes resembled fallstreak clouds, though at lower altitudes. The spectacle, forming overnight and vanishing by late morning, aligned with the destabilization of the lower atmosphere due to ground heat radiation.
August 2023: “The Ocean Has a Fever“
July 2023 also marked record-high global sea surface temperatures, influenced by the developing El Niño in the Pacific and long-term warming trends. On August 21, 2023, anomalies exceeded 3°C (5.4°F), particularly in the equatorial Pacific, emphasizing El Niño’s significant impact on global sea surface temperatures and potential repercussions on weather patterns into winter. The map shown, derived from NASA’s JPL Multiscale Ultrahigh Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (MUR SST) project, integrates data from diverse sources, including NASA’s Terra satellite, while showcasing variations from the August 21, 2003-2014 daily average sea surface temperature.
September 2023: “Torrential Rain Wreaks Havoc in Libya“
On September 10, 2023, a low-pressure storm struck northeastern Libya in Africa, causing severe flooding in cities along the Mediterranean coast, particularly in Al Bayda and Derna. Located at the end of a dry valley, the city of Derna faced dam collapses along Wadi Derna, resulting in destructive floods. Satellite images from NASA’s Terra satellite on September 7 and 13 depict the flooded regions and inland wadis. The storm, dubbed Storm Daniel, exhibited characteristics of a “Mediterranean Hurricane” or “medi-cane” during its landfall.
October 2023: “Darkened by the Moon’s Shadow“
On October 14, 2023, an annular solar eclipse, or “ring of fire,” graced the skies over the United States, Mexico, and parts of Central and South America. The map shown, created by NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio using Terra and Aqua satellites’ MODIS data, outlines the eclipse’s path from Oregon to Texas. Duration contours on the map indicate the varying eclipse lengths. The next annular solar eclipse visible from the U.S. is expected on June 21, 2039, with a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.
November 2023: “Antarctic Iceberg Sails Away“
In November 2023, Iceberg A-23A, which broke off the Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986, gained attention as it drifted northward across the Weddell Sea. Captured by NASA’s Terra satellite’s MODIS, the image shows the iceberg nearing islands at the Antarctic Peninsula, about 1,700 kilometers from its origin. For decades, the iceberg remained anchored near the ice shelf but became unstuck in the early 2020s, likely due to underwater melting. Riding the Weddell Sea Gyre, it measures about 4,300 square kilometers as of November 24, making it the world’s largest current iceberg.
December 2023: “As the Arctic Warms, Its Waters Are Emitting Carbon“
Wrapping up the year, new published research from December 2023 shows that the Arctic Ocean faces increased carbon dioxide emissions attributed to thawing permafrost and runoff in Canada’s Mackenzie River, challenging its role as a critical carbon sink. The ECCO-Darwin model, developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, reveals that river discharge, particularly from the vast drainage area of the Mackenzie, leads to intensified CO2 outgassing in the southeastern Beaufort Sea and results in an annual net release of 0.13 million metric tons. Data from the Terra satellite, including this processed 2007 image from Terra’s ASTER instrument, aided researchers in their work to better determine the impact of this environmental shift in a rapidly warming Arctic region.