GIS at NASA

Geographic Information Systems - going beyond mapping! Providing powerful capabilities to visualize, analyze, and interact with big data

NASA Earth Science - November 2023

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What is GIS?

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a collection of computer-based tools for organizing information from a variety of data sources to map and examine changes on Earth. It is designed to capture, store, manage, analyze, and visualize all types of geographical data. GIS allows for the integration and collective analysis of data from multiple sources, including satellite imagery, GPS recordings, and textual attributes associated with a particular space.

Visual representation of spatial layering

GIS are used in nearly all fields that need to understand the spatial patterns and relationships between different datasets, from land-use planning to emergency response to resource management. GIS include many components:

  • Visualizations through interactive maps,
  • Data based on the location of features or variables represented,
  • Spatial analytic functions that focus on identifying trends and patterns across space and time, and
  • Applications that enable tools and services in user-friendly interfaces.

GIS: Value and Impact

GIS is commonly used at NASA to aid in the distribution of data products and has been adapted to add new functionality to information technology portfolios. GIS is much more than mapping, GIS can bring new value to data with powerful spatial analytics and data visualizations.

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Hurricane Dorian - Precipitation in 3D

Users of NASA data products process and analyze those products in multiple different GIS software clients, the most popular of which are ArcGIS Pro and QGIS. Over the years we have seen a steady increase in users leveraging GIS tools to work with NASA data.

With improved support for scientific and multidimensional data, GIS technology enhances user experiences by unlocking powerful capabilities to manage, view, analyze, serve, and distribute important data and insights. Advanced applications help both data owners and users integrate various types of content, share their perspectives and tell a story to audiences - ranging from research scientists, students, decision-makers, and the general public. 

GIS Supporting Open Science

NASA’s groundbreaking open data policy provides unrestricted access to more than 90 petabytes of Earth science data in NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) collection. NASA's Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Program ensures that these data are fully available to any user for any purpose, and promotes and facilitates the open sharing of all metadata, documentation, models, images, and research results along with the source code used to generate, manipulate, and analyze these data. 

Our open data is building a new ecosystem to:

  • Shorten the time it takes for a new user to find and learn how to use data
  • Increase community contributions with hands-on engagement
  • Explore and exploit data in new ways - share knowledge!
  • Incentivize and energize innovation and
  • Complement efforts and enhance integration with uniquely designed, holistic, Earth-focused missions

Throughout this page you'll find ways we're enabling more users to freely discover, access, and use our data by leveraging open standards, open geospatial services, and open source GIS tools!

GIS technology fuels a wide variety of users leveraging various tools and applications.

The  Earthdata GIS enterprise  provides support for a wide spread of open source Python libraries.

Sample scripts can be found on locations such as the  EOSDIS GitHub .

GIS at NASA Earth Science

Using observations from satellites, instruments on the International Space Station, airplanes, balloons, ships and on land, researchers collect data about the science of our planet’s atmospheric motion and composition; land cover, land use and vegetation; ocean currents, temperatures and upper-ocean life; and ice on land and sea. These data sets, which cover even the most remote areas of Earth, are freely and openly available to anyone. NASA provides data through geospatial services, maps, and applications through online GIS platforms.

Our goal is to promote Earth Science to Action by making our data more discoverable, easily accessible, and usable to the broader community, specifically those employing GIS technology. 

Foundational Knowledge, Technology, Missions, & Data

Earth System Observations: Satellites in space give NASA a unique vantage point to tackle the world’s toughest problems. Our foundation is built on the extensive Earth observations collected over many years measuring how Earth changes by the day, season, year, and decade. These observations are inherently geospatial, tied to locations around the globe. GIS is leveraged in many tools and applications to help users discover, access, and use this valuable data. 

NASA's Earth Fleet (October 2023)

NASA's Earth Fleet Animation (October 2023)

Accessing Earth Science Data

Use the arrows in the slideshow below to click through the different access methods for Earth Science Data from NASA.

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NASA Worldview

This imagery mapping and visualization tool provides the capability to interactively browse more than 1,000 full-resolution satellite imagery layers. Many of the available imagery layers span several years and are updated within three hours of observation. You can search and add layers via thematic areas or science disciplines. Worldview is fueled by the Global Imagery Browse Service which is accessible through standards-compliant web services available to work directly with various GIS clients.

Earthdata GIS

NASA’s Earthdata GIS (EGIS) is a resource for distributing cloud-native, GIS-ready NASA Earth observation data, services, and resources. This includes ArcGIS and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)-compliant raster and feature geospatial services and raster analytic functions. NASA data products from a wide variety of earth science disciplines will be available freely in the web portal, which will be frequently updated with new products.

Watch the  debut webinar  and visit the EGIS portal at the link below.

NASA ArcGIS Online

NASA also utilizes Esri’s ArcGIS Online: a collaborative web GIS that allows users to create and share data, layers, maps, applications, and analytic products. A multitude of public content is available, ranging from web services, dashboards, notebooks, and StoryMaps. Our gallery includes thematic content developed collaboratively by our data centers. Additionally, we are working to share content with Esri’s Living Atlas of the World to enhance discoverability.

NASA curates authoritative content to be discovered in Esri’s Living Atlas of the World:  NASA content 

Earthdata Search

Earthdata Search provides the means for discovery, filtering, visualization, and access across all of NASA’s Earth science data holdings. This includes more than 33,000 Earth observation data collections freely available for download. It allows you to search by any topic, collection, or place name.

Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS)

The Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS) offers a simple and efficient way to access and transform NASA data. AppEEARS enables users to subset geospatial datasets using spatial, temporal, and band/layer parameters. Users can also reproject data and export to GIS-ready file formats such as GeoTIFF.

Earth System Science & Applied Research

Researchers and resource managers analyze Earth observation data and apply them on local and regional scales to better manage things like our food and water supplies, health, safety, land use, and ecosystems. Our mission is to support the development of innovative solutions to drive discovery in Research, Analysis, Modeling and Applications.

See one way we're encouraging research at any age - getting students excited about Earth Science using interactive GIS!

My NASA Data

 My NASA Data  offers a variety of opportunities for grades 3-12 students to explore Earth Science phenomena using uniquely NASA related content. My NASA Data's Story Map Lesson Plans feature interactive maps of NASA data, multimedia content, and instruction to aid Earth Science educators in the classroom.

One example is this lesson plan, featuring a map which allows students to explore the urban heat island effect using land surface temperature and vegetation data. 

The My NASA Data website also features a data visualization tool, the Earth System Data Explorer (ESDE), which helps learners visualize complex Earth System data sets over space and time. Available datasets are organized by Earth System sphere, science variable, dataset name, and start/end dates.

Solutions & Societal Value

Earth Action Solutions: The NASA Applied Sciences Program works with individuals and institutions worldwide to inform decision-making, enhance quality of life and strengthen the economy. This program focuses on the scaling of NASA science and tools for response to climate and other changes, leveraging partnerships. NASA’s solutions span across: Capacity Building, Disasters, Energy & Infrastructure, Ecological Forecasting, Food Security & Agriculture, Health & Air Quality, and Water Resources.

Use the arrows in the following slideshow to browse GIS applications of NASA Earth Science Data.

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One of the most compelling examples of GIS at NASA is the Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Data Access viewer, API, and geospatial services. These impressive tools allows users to visualize and analyze a wide range of solar and meteorological data sets from NASA research for support of renewable energy, building energy efficiency and agricultural needs. POWER allows users to interact with data services or export selected data in ASCII, CSV, GeoJSON, or NetCDF format.

To navigate to and interact with the POWER:

The Disasters Program area works with federal, state and local entities as well as international organizations and foreign government agencies. Its focuses include disaster response, risk reduction, and resilience. Disaster response in particular represents a unique geospatial challenge, requiring the ability to rapidly create, aggregate, manage, and share relevant NASA derived products in formats useful to end users. These end users are often first responders and disaster relief agencies who need up-to-date information as quickly as possible during disaster events.

The Capacity Building Program area's three initiatives (ARSET, DEVELOP, and SERVIR) each have unique approaches to GIS.

Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) demonstrates how to use NASA Earth observations to conduct geospatial analysis and utilize remote sensing products through tutorials and training.

DEVELOP conducts feasibility studies that bridge the gap between Earth science information and society. These projects help both participants and partners learn more about using geospatial information. Projects address priorities and concerns in nine thematic areas:  Agriculture, Climate, Disasters, Ecological Conservation, Energy, Health & Air Quality, Urban Development, Water Resources, and Wildland Fires.

Project teams delivering a geospatial solution for an identified problem at the end of a ten-week semester, often utilizing Story Maps like the one seen here.

SERVIR is a joint venture between NASA and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). It provides state-of-the-art, satellite-based Earth monitoring, imaging and mapping data, geospatial information, predictive models, and science applications to help improve environmental decision-making among developing nations in eastern and southern Africa, the Hindu-Kush region of the Himalayas, and the lower Mekong River Basin in southeast Asia.

Cross-Discipline Thematic GIS Content: A series of web maps, apps, and storymaps have been developed to showcase data products from across NASA according to various themes.

The current themes are: Agriculture, Tropical Storms, Flooding, Air Quality, and Drought, with more on the way. Each of the themes are presented in this collection.

Public Understanding & Exchange

Earth Information Center: Exploring and discovering are core to NASA’s mission, and are critical to learning about our changing planet. NASA is working alongside federal agencies to encourage this further, driving impact from observations and research to delivery. At the Earth Information Center, the public can glimpse what this data has taught us about sea level rise, air quality, wildfires, greenhouse gases, ice cover, and agriculture. In the virtual installation of the Earth Information Center, leveraging GIS allows the  public to view interactive maps and applications to explore data.

Getting Started with NASA Earth Science GIS

We understand NASA data is complex and you might be feeling overwhelmed. To help get you started with learning about using NASA data in GIS tools, check out the following resources!

Use the arrows in the following slideshow to browse resources

The Earthdata Learn GIS page provides an overview to GIS at NASA Earth Science and links to tools, applications, tutorials, guides, data recipes, and more!.

The GIS Data Pathfinder provides a guided walkthrough of how to use NASA data and services in GIS tools. This resource provides links to the tools from which data can be visualized, subset, and downloaded in different file formats, as well as a brief tutorial on using tools to access and use NASA geospatial web services. 

Here you’ll also be linked to our Tutorials page:

Additionally, NASA’s Earthdata YouTube channel also includes a GIS Playlist that showcases relevant webinars and demonstrations.

Earthdata Forum is a new tool developed to engage subject matter experts from NASA to discuss general questions, research needs, and data applications. Here you have the capability to search by discipline, major projects, and services/usage, which includes a tag for “GIS Tools”. Users can query how to access, view, and interpret the data, alleviating time and energy spent working with complex data and focusing instead on the research and analysis aspects of science. 

Contact

For more feedback or questions on the resources in this Storymap, contact us at:  support@earthdata.nasa.gov 

Visual representation of spatial layering

NASA's Earth Fleet (October 2023)

 Explore Air Quality Components