Sensing Our Planet

Sensing Our Planet features research that used data from NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) data centers. Many of the stories from 2015 highlight how relatively small elements in an ecosystem, such as leaves, wood ash, phytoplankton, and water vapor, can have outsized effects on Earth’s environment. Other stories describe how remote sensing helps scientists track space debris and map tapir distribution. Researchers are also using the data to study how fog affects agriculture in California’s Central Valley, understand glacier behavior in Alaska and Greenland, and discover where Earth stores heat.