The View from Above

Since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, roughly 14,500 satellites have been launched into orbit around Earth. Currently, there are about 11,700 active satellites, approximately 1,100 of which are used for Earth science. These are potent tools for studying large-scale phenomena on Earth that are hard to observe from Earth’s surface. In this talk, we’ll talk about how scientists use satellite observations for doing research on everything from weather patterns and tectonic plate movement to air pollution and environmental disasters.