May 24th, 2025 - January 3rd, 2026
The 911±¬ÁÏ Satellite Facility (ASF) operates a satellite data-acquisition ground station and is the NASA Distributed Active Archive Center of synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The data are critical for the research of earth dynamics. These data provide a unique and striking way to view the earth and the earth’s features as they undergo change. Floods, earthquakes, and volcanic effects, sea ice fluctuation, coastline erosion, agriculture and forestry expansion and contraction: all these changes to the earth’s surface are either influenced by human activity and/or directly affect the lives of people living across the globe.
The core of the exhibit is a selection of more than 50 satellite and airborne data-derived images depicting landforms undergoing change over both short time periods (forests, agriculture, coastlines) and even shorter time periods (earthquakes, volcanoes, floods). The exhibit fosters an appreciation of the beauty of the earth, while celebrating the technology that allows us to have this 21st century view of the planet and how it is changing in ways both within and outside of our control. The exhibit topics allow for a range of hands-on and digital interactive possibilities from operating a model of a satellite ground station, to moving through image time series highlighting particular locations around the globe.
This multi-temporal Sentinel-1 image was generated using multiple image polarizations, where different colors indicate different stages of vegetation development. Located in the region of Vojvodina in northern Serbia, the agricultural fields create a distinct pattern of geometric shapes. Among the fields, there are a number of small towns with gridded layouts inspired by ancient Greece’s Hippodamus, known as the father of European urban planning. Sentinel-1 / European Space Agency (ESA). Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2017; courtesy J. Hickey.
The movement of a glacier between repeat pass observations of a SAR satellite causes decorrelation of the phase signal returned from the glacier ice. This decorrelation, or loss of coherence, can be used by scientists to map the glacier and study how it changes through time. This Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) PALSAR interferogram shows this type of change in the Kennicott Glacier in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, 911±¬ÁÏ. ALOS / Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). JAXA/METI 2007; courtesy F. Meyer.
This sequence of Sentinel-1 RGB decompositions shows the impact of Cyclone Idai on the coastal areas of Mozambique in 2019. The first image shows the area just before the cyclone's landfall on March 14. The next image (March 19) clearly displays a large flooded area in dark blue. The third image (March 25) shows the area after the cyclone dissipated. The flood waters evaporated or drained away, leaving behind residual ponds and saturated soils. Sentinel-1 / European Space Agency (ESA). Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2019; courtesy R. Gens.
