A new community effort shows that Earth has lost 5% of its global glacier mass since 2000. The work highlights the necessity of spaceborne glacier observations and upcoming gaps in long-term monitoring.
satellite imagery
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Nearly 94 Million Boulders Mapped on the Moon Using Deep Learning
Scientists used a deep learning algorithm to map the size and location of nearly 94 million boulders on the lunar surface, highlighting differences in boulder densities and size distributions.
Posted inResearch & Developments
There’s a New Record for the Longest Lightning Flash
515 miles—roughly the distance from Washington, D.C. to Detroit, one-third the length of the Colorado River, and now, the longest lightning bolt ever recorded.
That’s right: A new analysis of satellite data has revealed that a 22 October 2017 storm over the U.S. Midwest created a lightning bolt that reached 829 kilometers (515 miles), from eastern Texas to nearly Kansas City. The record-setting bolt lasted about 7 seconds.
Posted inNews
New Satellite Adds Evidence of an Earth-Shaking Wave
A tsunami struck a fjord in East Greenland in 2023, ringing seismometers for nine straight days. A new satellite study provides the first observational evidence of the waves.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Water Tracks: The Veins of Thawing Landscapes
Tracing and tracking change in permafrost flowpaths could reveal the dynamics of warming poles.
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
A landslide on the Lakina River in Alaska
A recent Facebook post has highlighted a reasonably large slump landslide in a remote area of Alaska. Satellite images suggest that this occurred in late October or early November 2024. Loyal reader Andrew McNown kindly highlighted a recent Facebook post that provided some images of a landslide that has partially blocked the Lakina River in […]
Posted inNews
Artisanal Gold Mining Is Destroying Amazonian Peatlands
A new analysis of archived satellite imagery has revealed that the growing presence of small-scale mining in the Peruvian Amazon is threatening carbon reserves and unique ecosystems.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Inferring River Discharge from Google Earth Images
Critical flow theory can predict river discharge based on the spacing of standing waves captured by Google Earth images.
Posted inNews
Crevasses on the Greenland Ice Sheet Are Growing
High-resolution 3D maps show crevasse volume is increasing across most of the Greenland Ice Sheet as it accelerates toward the ocean, which could affect future ice loss and sea level rise.
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
Another tailings storage facility failure – Beposa TSF at Iduapriem Mine in Ghana
The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides. The Environmental Protection Authority in Ghana released a statement on 27 February 2025 describing an “environmental incident” at the Beposo Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) at the AngloGold Ashanti mine at Iduapriem Mine. […]