What is NASA Worldview?
NASA Worldview is a web map for browsing full resolution, global, daily satellite imagery. NASA says it offers more than 1,200 visualised satellite data products that you can browse, compare, animate and download. Many are available within hours of being captured, so the map shows the Earth close to how it looks right now, while older imagery goes back across whole missions for historical studies.
An Events tab lists current natural hazards such as wildfires, tropical storms and volcanic eruptions. Geostationary imagery is available in ten-minute steps for the last 90 days, and Arctic and Antarctic views are included. For researchers and journalists it is a quick way to see smoke plumes, burn scars, floods or storm tracks on a given day. Worldview is mobile friendly, can be embedded in other sites, and has a lighter companion tool, Worldview Snapshots, for low bandwidth image downloads.
Main Features
- More than 1,200 visualised satellite data products
- Daily global imagery, much of it within hours of capture
- Events tab for wildfires, storms, volcanoes and other natural events
- Geostationary imagery in ten-minute steps for the last 90 days
- Compare two dates and animate imagery over time
- Image download and embedding in other sites
- Arctic and Antarctic polar views
- Worldview Snapshots for quick low bandwidth downloads
How to Get Started with NASA Worldview
- Open worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov.
- Search for a place or open the Events tab to jump to a current natural event.
- Set the date on the timeline and add layers such as fires or aerosols.
- Use compare or animation to see change over time, and download the image you need.
NASA Worldview Pricing
NASA Worldview is free to use and is run by NASA as part of its Earth science data services.
Who Should Use It?
- Journalists covering wildfires, floods, storms and volcanic eruptions
- Fact-checkers checking claims about smoke, fires or weather on a given day
- OSINT researchers looking at large scale changes on the ground
- Scientists and students exploring Earth observation data
- Disaster responders who need a fast overview of an area
NASA Worldview Alternatives
- Copernicus Browser: free Sentinel satellite imagery with time-lapse, compare and measuring tools.
- Zoom Earth: a live weather and satellite map for tracking storms, fires and smoke.
- GDELT Project: an open database of world news events for spotting what is happening where.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is NASA Worldview free?
Yes. NASA Worldview is free to use in a web browser.
How recent is the imagery in NASA Worldview?
Many layers appear within hours of being captured by satellite, and geostationary layers are available in ten-minute steps for the last 90 days. Older imagery covers whole satellite missions.
Can NASA Worldview show small details like buildings or vehicles?
Generally no. Most of its daily global layers are coarse resolution, made for seeing large features like smoke, clouds, floods and burn areas. For detail at the scale of streets and buildings, researchers turn to higher resolution sources such as Sentinel-2 or commercial imagery.