The LakeBrowser provides satellite derived lake water quality data for over 10,000 Minnesota lakes since 2002. Check out our recent update: monthly 2017-2025!
Minnesota
Joined November 2019
- Tweets2.8K
- Following112
- Followers110
- Likes1.1K
LakeBrowser retweeted
A sharper view of our changing planet is coming. 🛰️🌎
Meet LandIS, the Landsat Instrument Suite that will fly aboard Landsat 10, the next satellite in the Landsat series.
With 26 spectral bands spanning visible light to thermal infrared, LandIS will collect more than twice as many bands as Landsat 8 and Landsat 9. These additional bands will help users better distinguish features on Earth’s surface and monitor water quality, agriculture, vegetation health, snow and ice, soil conditions, and other environmental parameters.
LandIS will also capture finer spatial detail, with resolutions of 10 to 20 meters for visible, near-infrared, and shortwave-infrared observations. That means a clearer view of smaller features, including streams, streamside habitats, woodlots, and individual agricultural fields.
Together, more spectral bands and finer spatial resolution will help users detect, distinguish, and track environmental change with greater detail and precision.
Expected to begin operations in the early 2030s, LandIS will also continue Landsat’s coverage of sunlit land and near-shore waters, along with select nighttime observations. It will also uphold the program’s high standards for data accuracy, extending a record of Earth observations that spans more than 54 years.
Learn more about Landsat 10 and its planned capabilities: ow.ly/X4gK50ZW4EE
📷: A visual comparison of spatial resolution showing the 30-meter pixels of Landsat 8 and 9 (left) alongside the finer, more detailed 10-meter pixels planned for Landsat 10 (right). Credit: NASA
ALT Comparison of Landsat 8/9 and Landsat 10 satellite images showing pixel resolution differences with 30m and 10m pixel grids over farmland.
LakeBrowser retweeted
Arizona is building the first solar canal in the U.S. . Solar-covered canals will generate renewable energy and save water in this notoriously dry area: buff.ly/3wEcF5h
We have so many solutions to this crisis. Implement them. #ActOnClimate
#climate #energy #renewables
LakeBrowser retweeted
Let’s take the scenic route across Massachusetts! 🛰️
Massachusetts ratified the U.S. Constitution on Feb. 6, 1788, becoming the sixth state. As America marks 250 years, the Bay State comes into view in our America from Space journey.
Though the seventh-smallest state by land area, Massachusetts is home to about 7 million people, more than 1,500 miles of coastline, and forests covering roughly 60 percent of the state. That mix gives Landsat three very different stories to tell.
First stop: Cape Cod. The state’s coastline has long supported fishing, maritime trade, and tourism. Wind, waves, and storms continually reshape the Cape’s beaches and barrier islands. Long-term Landsat imagery helps researchers track shoreline movement, breaches, and other coastal changes—information that can support coastal management.
Next: Boston and Cambridge. Boston has more than 18,000 people per square mile, and urban heat hotspots can increase health risks. Buildings and pavements can have higher land surface temperatures than trees, parks, and water. Landsat’s thermal observations can map those differences and help identify hotspots. Cambridge used Landsat data to help develop an urban heat island model that informed its 2021 Resilient Cambridge Plan.
Farther west, October Mountain State Forest brings Massachusetts’ forests into view. Forests play an important role in storing carbon. As Massachusetts developed its decarbonization plan, Landsat land-cover data helped researchers’ model how forest growth, development, and tree harvesting could affect future carbon storage.
🔗 Continue the scenic route from space. Explore the Massachusetts State Mosaic: ow.ly/gkkE50ZT8cw
📸1: A Landsat 9 image of Cape Cod and surrounding coastal waters. Acquired September 12, 2026.
📸2: A Landsat 9 image of Boston, Cambridge, Boston Harbor, and surrounding communities. Acquired August 31, 2025.
📸3: A Landsat 9 image of October Mountain State Forest in western Massachusetts. Sun glint is visible on several ponds across the forested landscape. Acquired June 13, 2026.
Credit: USGS
#AmericaFromSpace #America250 #TheBayState
ALT Aerial view of Cape Cod peninsula curving into the Atlantic Ocean with visible towns and green landscapes.
ALT Aerial view of Boston with a large harbor, airport runways, and surrounding green areas and waterways.
ALT Aerial view of a dense green forest interspersed with multiple small lakes and winding roads.
LakeBrowser retweeted
Gas cars fall below 50% of global new car sales for the first time electrek.co/2026/10/05/gas-c… by @fredlambert
LakeBrowser retweeted
Seven countries now generate 100% of their electricity from renewable energy: buff.ly/BsB17aj
It can be done. No time to wait. #ActOnClimate
#climate #energy #renewables #votegreen
LakeBrowser retweeted
Unbelievable Wasatch Back Colors
A plethora of colors that @utahsight (Trent Sayer) caught from his drone flight over some of the most beautiful Autumn colors I have seen yet this fall. I am surprised at the brilliance of colors this year, because of the hot and dry summer. We expected dull colors, but it turns out the September rain was enough to feed the trees, so they could turn into this spectacular kaleidoscope of brightness.
@dan_pope_meteorologist @weathercaster @UtahWxMetGuy @youtah @dannahyer @cajaaw @Grallon @brianwusa @brian_schnee @adambcarroll @wrighthydromet @UtahWxMan @CVAirportUT10 @stevebaron @SLCScanner @Gman1035ArrowDJ @brianwusa @dannahyer
LakeBrowser retweeted
Researchers across the US are seeing a similar trend — forests that are historically adapted to fire are now often being obliterated by the fast-moving, high temperature wildfires that are becoming increasingly more common with climate change.
These researchers are grappling with what it will mean for our world if the trees that are the centerpiece of these landscapes we love don't recover like they once did. cnn.it/4htUwf5
LakeBrowser retweeted
For Landsat 8 and Landsat 9, every week is space week. 🛰️🌎
This World Space Week, take a spin with Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 as the satellites follow their paths around our planet.
Both satellites travel about 438 miles above Earth in sun-synchronous, near-polar orbits. Each completes one orbit around Earth in about 99 minutes. As Earth rotates beneath them, the satellites observe a different strip of Earth’s surface with each pass.
Each satellite returns to the same “start” or ground path every 16 days. Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 provide complete coverage of Earth’s land surfaces every eight days because their orbital cycles are offset by that many days.
Along the way, each satellite collects about 750 scenes per day, building a detailed record of how Earth’s land surfaces change over time. That’s one busy pair of Earth observers.
🎥: A sped-up animation showing Landsat 8, represented in blue, and Landsat 9, represented in green, orbiting Earth. Credit: USGS
#WorldSpaceWeek #Landsat #EarthFromSpace
LakeBrowser retweeted
You can see fall from space right now.
This is Michigan's Upper Peninsula from a satellite on Monday. All that orange is the trees.
Imagery: NASA Terra MODIS
LakeBrowser retweeted
The world faces two energy problems: hundreds of millions lack access to energy, and most of our energy still produces greenhouse gas emissions.
The first energy problem of the world is the problem of energy poverty. People in very poor countries have very low emissions. The reason that the emissions of the poor are low is that they lack access to modern energy and technology. When people lack access to modern energy sources for cooking and heating, they rely on solid fuel sources — mostly firewood, but also dung and crop waste. This comes at a massive cost to the health of people in energy poverty. The reliance on fuelwood is also the reason why poverty is linked to deforestation.
The second energy problem is the one that is more well-known: greenhouse gas emissions are too high. The problem is larger for the extremely rich, but it is not limited to them. People need access to energy for a good life. However, in a world where fossil fuels are the dominant source of energy, access to modern energy means that carbon emissions are too high.
Once we look at it this way, it becomes clear that the twin energy problems are really the two sides of one big problem. We lack large-scale energy alternatives to fossil fuels that are cheap, safe, and sustainable. Until we scale up those alternatives, the world will continue to face the two energy problems of today.
Early Earth Was a Molten, Asteroid-Blasted Hellscape. Scientists Now Know When That Changed
A new study narrows the timeline for the emergence of life on Earth.
gizmodo.com/early-earth-was-…
Higher pollution levels linked to slower marathon times across six world marathon majors
Higher levels of air pollution on race day were associated with significantly slower finishing times, with recreational runners affected more than elite athletes.
eurekalert.org/news-releases…
The Collapse of Farm Exports Is the Most Underappreciated Story in American Politics
It was a direct result of President Donald Trump's trade war, as even the Department of Agriculture now admits.
reason.com/2026/09/24/the-co…
LakeBrowser retweeted
🚨 A staggering 1.1 billion tons of ice has just been discovered hiding in Utah’s mountains
While traditional glaciers across the globe are rapidly shrinking due to rising temperatures, Utah’s 836 documented rock glaciers are quietly preserving immense reserves of frozen water.
These unique formations look like ordinary, rocky mountain slopes on the surface, but underneath, a dense mix of ice and rock slowly creeps downhill — with many ice formations stretching more than 120 feet deep.
Because their thick blanket of rocky debris scatters conventional radar signals, scientists from the University of Utah used highly sensitive gravity measurements to peer inside the Timpanogos Rock Glacier. By measuring the minute gravitational differences caused by low-density ice compared to the heavy surrounding bedrock, researchers reconstructed the glacier’s interior in 3D, revealing that its core is up to 83% pure ice.
By extrapolating these localized findings across the state, scientists estimate that Utah’s rock glaciers hold roughly 1.1 billion U.S. tons of hidden ice. This natural armor of rock and sediment insulates the underlying ice from surface heat, allowing these landforms to act as reliable, long-term water towers.
As global temperatures continue to rise, understanding and protecting these subterranean reservoirs becomes increasingly critical. Overlooking these hidden glaciers risks miscalculating mountain water budgets, which could threaten downstream ecosystems, local agriculture, and public drinking water systems that millions rely on.
source: Cvijanovich, B., Thorne, M. S., Pachhai, S., Anderson, L. S., Tochimani-Hernandez, I., Hardwick, C. L., & van Dam, T. (2026). The Internal Ice Content of Timpanogos Rock Glacier, Utah, USA From 3-D Bayesian Inversion of Gravity Data. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 131(8).
ALT A staggering 1.1 billion tons of ice has just been discovered hiding in Utah’s mountains While traditional glaciers across the globe are rapidly shrinking due to rising temperatures, Utah’s 836 documented rock glaciers are quietly preserving immense reserves of frozen water. These unique formations look like ordinary, rocky mountain slopes on the surface, but underneath, a dense mix of ice and rock slowly creeps downhill — with many ice formations stretching more than 120 feet deep. Because their thick blanket of rocky debris scatters conventional radar signals, scientists from the University of Utah used highly sensitive gravity measurements to peer inside the Timpanogos Rock Glacier. By measuring the minute gravitational differences caused by low-density ice compared to the heavy surrounding bedrock, researchers reconstructed the glacier’s interior in 3D, revealing that its core is up to 83% pure ice.
The body temperature of Tyrannosaurus rex
science.org/doi/10.1126/scia…
Earlier and faster heatwave onset on land under a warming climate
nature.com/articles/s41558-0…
LakeBrowser retweeted
Today, we launched the Planetary Health Check 2026. Seven of nine Planetary Boundaries are transgressed, and pressure on all seven is at its highest recorded level.
Yet, we still have a window to change course. But we need to move fast.
pik-potsdam.de/en/news/lates…
