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Photo of Johns Hopkins APL’s Camera Reveals Surprise for NASA’s Lucy Mission in First Asteroid Encounter
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Johns Hopkins APL’s Camera Reveals Surprise for NASA’s Lucy Mission in First Asteroid Encounter

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Earth Science

Monitoring the Health of the Earth

APL conducts cutting-edge research in the Earth sciences, with major thrusts in the remote sensing of clouds, the atmosphere, Earth's surface and its climate. The development of next-generation technologies and retrieval methods is central to our science.

In addition to working with data from established satellite missions, APL researchers design and develop new instruments that fly on aircraft and in space to demonstrate new, science-driven capabilities. Our scientists characterize and track the motion of clouds, enabling crucial research that ranges from predicting severe weather to the analysis of the radiative impacts of clouds on climate. They use high-resolution measurements of vegetation fluorescence to monitor plant health remotely, providing critical information about sources of carbon and places where it’s absorbed. Our scientists develop capabilities for broadband radiometry to measure the Earth’s energy budget and hyperspectral imagery to reveal pollution emissions and evolution. And they track critical changes in Arctic sea ice, retrieve data on sea surface height and surface winds, and create hyperspectral methods to track the health of the marine ecosystem.

Missions

APL has designed, built and operated more than 70 innovative spacecraft over its six decades of spaceflight experience. Click below to learn about some of the missions that made revolutionary discoveries, and spacecraft that will push the boundaries of exploration and investigate outstanding scientific mysteries.

Learn more about TIMED
Rendering of the TIMED spacecraft orbiting Earth

TIMED

For nearly two decades, the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) mission has explored the gateway between Earth and Space.

Stories

Go inside APL’s space missions and research, and check out the latest news, features and discoveries from the teams that are probing mysteries from the Sun to the edge of the solar system and beyond.

A satellite image looks down on the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano as it erupts on Jan. 15, 2022, with clouds surrounding a circular cloud of vapor and debris
Dec 14, 2022

Making a Volcanic Splash: Tonga Eruption Blasted Water Vapor into Outer Space

The eruption of the mostly submerged Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on Jan. 15, 2022, was among the most powerful in the modern era, creating a massive planet-sized shockwave that reverberated around the globe for days. A new Johns Hopkins APL study shows for the first time that the explosion also blasted water vapor past the boundary of outer space.
A spacecraft flies high above the blue and cloud-covered Earth
Dec 7, 2021

TIMED Flies Past 20 Years of Exploring Earth’s Gateway to Space

Exactly 20 years ago today, NASA’s TIMED mission launched from the California coast on a journey to unveil new secrets about the upper climes of Earth’s atmosphere. Developed in part by Johns Hopkins APL, the mission’s unrivaled 20-year dataset has provided crucial insights about space weather, Earth’s climate and the evolution of planetary atmospheres.