NASA’s new web portal allows anyone to track ground movements across North America with remarkable precision, detecting shifts smaller than an inch.
This powerful tool lets you monitor how the Earth is changing, whether due to natural events like earthquakes and volcanic activity or human-caused reasons such as the extraction of underground resources.
Mapping Earth’s Subtle Shifts
Imagine being able to zoom into your exact location—your country, your state, even your city block—and see how the land there has been moving over time. This isn’t science fiction anymore; it’s a reality thanks to a new NASA initiative.
“You can zoom in to your country, your state, your city block, and look at how the land there is moving over time,” said David Bekaert, OPERA project manager and radar scientist. “You can see that by a simple mouse click.”
The project, developed by NASA’s Observational Products for End-Users from Remote Sensing Analysis team in collaboration with the Alaska Satellite Facility, transforms complex satellite radar signals into easy-to-understand visual maps. This makes specialized knowledge accessible to everyday users.
The program currently holds satellite information collected since 2014. Future plans include integrating data from another space mission launching this year, expanding the portal’s reach and depth.
Currently, you can explore data for areas like the American Southwest, northern Mexico, and the greater New York region. The portal offers information for millions of locations. Clicking on any spot reveals a chart detailing its movement history going back to 2016.
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Water experts are already finding value in this mapping technology. In Arizona, for example, tracking gradual land subsidence is crucial for managing vital groundwater resources.
“It’s a great tool to say, ‘Let’s look at those areas more intensely with our own SAR processing,'” said Brian Conway, principal hydrogeologist at the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
The underlying technology works by bouncing radar signals off Earth’s surface from satellites. Sophisticated computer programs then analyze these returning signals to precisely determine if the land is rising or sinking. What previously took specialists many days to compute can now be calculated automatically in mere seconds.
NASA intends to broaden the portal’s coverage across North America. By 2026, the map is expected to encompass all U.S. states, adjacent areas in Canada, and countries throughout Central America.
What is NASA’s new web portal? NASA has launched a new web portal that visualizes ground movements across North America with high precision.
