About NASA's Earth Observing System

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a coordinated series of polar-orbiting and low inclination satellites for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans. EOS is a major component of the Earth Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. EOS enables an improved understanding of the Earth as an integrated system. The EOS Project Science Office (EOSPSO) is committed to bringing program information and resources to program scientists and the general public alike.

EOS Highlights
NASA Launches Ocean Satellite to Keep a Weather, Climate Eye Open

June 20, 2008
A new oceanography satellite launched on a globe-circling voyage to continue charting sea level, a vital indicator of global climate change.
Read More

NASA Launches Ocean Satellite to Keep a Weather, Climate Eye Open

June 20, 2008
A new oceanography satellite launched on a globe-circling voyage to continue charting sea level, a vital indicator of global climate change.
Read More

EOS Highlights Archive
EOS Announcements
Pictures of the Our Changing Planet: The View from Space book now available on EOSPSO website

April 23, 2008

our changing planet book cover pictureOur Changing Planet: The View from Space book is one of the most comprehensive and truly understandable collections of eye-popping NASA satellite imagery, as well as the current science behind it, and what it all means in terms of global climate change. It is published by Cambridge University Press.

Breaking News

Human Influences Challenge Penguin Populations (July 1) Pronounced warming in the Antarctic, as well as commercial fishing, mining, and oil and gas development at lower latitudes, has led to declines in many species, including the Galápagos, Peruvian, and African species of penguin, according to scientists.

Open Issues

* Our knowledge of the interior of the Earth is derived almost entirely from highly indirect evidence. How can we get more information?
* Despite substantial increases in the solar "constant" the average temperature on the surface of the Earth has remained very stable for several billion years. The best theory is that this has been accomplished by varying the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to regulate the greenhouse effect. But just how is this done? The Gaia Hypothesis asserts that the biosphere actively regulates it. More detailed information about Venus and Mars may provide clues.
* How much more carbon dioxide can we dump into the Earth's atmosphere before it ends up like Venus?

The core proposition

The core is probably composed mostly of iron (or nickel/iron) though it is possible that some lighter elements may be present, too. Temperatures at the center of the core may be as high as 7500 K, hotter than the surface of the Sun. The lower mantle is probably mostly silicon, magnesium and oxygen with some iron, calcium and aluminum. The upper mantle is mostly olivene and pyroxene (iron/magnesium silicates), calcium and aluminum. We know most of this only from seismic techniques; samples from the upper mantle arrive at the surface as lava from volcanoes but the majority of the Earth is inaccessible. The crust is primarily quartz (silicon dioxide) and other silicates like feldspar. Taken as a whole, the Earth's chemical composition (by mass) is:
Earth-South America South America by Galileo

34.6% Iron
29.5% Oxygen
15.2% Silicon
12.7% Magnesium
2.4% Nickel
1.9% Sulfur
0.05% Titanium

The Earth is the densest major body in the solar system.

The crust varies in thickness

The crust varies considerably in thickness, it is thinner under the oceans, thicker under the continents. The inner core and crust are solid; the outer core and mantle layers are plastic or semi-fluid. The various layers are separated by discontinuities which are evident in seismic data; the best known of these is the Mohorovicic discontinuity between the crust and upper mantle.

Most of the mass of the Earth is in the mantle, most of the rest in the core; the part we inhabit is a tiny fraction of the whole (values below x10^24 kilograms):

atmosphere = 0.0000051
oceans = 0.0014
crust = 0.026
mantle = 4.043
outer core = 1.835
inner core = 0.09675

General information on earth

Earth is the only planet whose English name does not derive from Greek/Roman mythology. The name derives from Old English and Germanic. There are, of course, hundreds of other names for the planet in other languages. In Roman Mythology, the goddess of the Earth was Tellas - the fertile soil.

It was not until the time of Copernicus (the sixteenth century) that it was understood that the Earth is just another planet.

Earth, of course, can be studied without the aid of spacecraft. Nevertheless it was not until the twentieth century that we had maps of the entire planet. Pictures of the planet taken from space are of considerable importance; for example, they are an enormous help in weather prediction and especially in tracking and predicting hurricanes. And they are extraordinarily beautiful.

The Earth History and Present information

Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun at a distance of about 150 million kilometers (93.2 million miles). It takes 365.256 days for the Earth to travel around the Sun and 23.9345 hours for the Earth rotate a complete revolution. It has a diameter of 12,756 kilometers (7,973 miles), only a few hundred kilometers larger than that of Venus. Our atmosphere is composed of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and 1 percent other constituents.

Earth is the only planet in the solar system known to harbor life. Our planet's rapid spin and molten nickel-iron core give rise to an extensive magnetic field, which, along with the atmosphere, shields us from nearly all of the harmful radiation coming from the Sun and other stars. Earth's atmosphere protects us from meteors, most of which burn up before they can strike the surface.

Many dream of traveling in space and viewing the wonders of the universe. In reality all of us are space travelers. Our spaceship is the planet Earth, traveling at the speed of 108,000 kilometers (67,000 miles) an hour.