USGS hazard maps don’t always reflect real landslide risk in the years after wildfires. Fine-tuning assessments of vegetation recovery could help.
satellite imagery
Posted inNews
Vegetation Moves Upslope Across the Himalayas
The vegetation line in places like Nepal and Bhutan is shifting upward by meters per year, with implications for how water moves through the planet’s “Third Pole.”
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
The 12 March 2026 Kursebi landslide in Georgia
A large landslide in Tkibuli municipality has rendered 45 families homeless and has caused damage over an area of 58 hectares. Early in the morning of 12 March 2026, a landslide struck a small village in Tkibuli municipality of rural Georgia. The Kursebi landslide has rendered 45 families homeless, causing damage over a surface area […]
Posted inNews
Shrinking Sea Ice Is Ruffling Emperor Penguins’ Feathers
A scientist stumbled upon evidence of penguin molting sites in satellite data, but the sea ice these birds rely on is disappearing.
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
Monitoring pre- and post-failure InSAR-derived deformation in surface mining complexes
A new paper in the International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation uses InSAR to explore the complex patterns of deformation that occur in and around large mining operations. I have frequently discussed landslides in mining operations on this site, highlighting repeatedly the unacceptable losses that result from slope failures. In many cases, these […]
Posted inNews
Earth’s “Green Wave” Is on the Move
Researchers analyzed 40 years of satellite data and found that Earth’s seasonal wave of greenness is shifting northeast.
Posted inScience Updates
Geostationary Satellite Applications Expand into Land Monitoring
Known for their weather-observing prowess, these satellites can also track land surface processes and disturbances over broad areas in near-real time.
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
Satellite imagery of the 24 January 2026 landslide on Gunung Burangrang in Indonesia
Imagery is now available that shows the aftermath of 3.1 km long landslide that killed about 90 people in West Bandung. On 24 January 2026, a major landslide occurred on the flanks of Gunung Burangrang (Mount Burangrang) in West Bandung, Indonesia. The search has been long and painstaking, but it is thought that 92 people […]
Posted inNews
The Northern Sargasso Sea Has Lost Much of Its Namesake Algae
There’s less than a tenth as much Sargassum as there was a few years ago, a shift that may be linked to increasing sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico.
Posted inNews
How Ancient Indigenous Societies Made Today’s Amazon More Resilient
Portions of the forest managed by pre-Columbian populations hold higher biomass and are more able to withstand climate change.