In 2003, you learned to understand the power of a hurricane. Hurricane Isabel blew down trees and flooded low-lying areas in Virginia. In south Florida in 1992, Hurricane Andrew destroyed countless homes. Many people lived near Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1969 when Hurricane Camille moved onshore. Thankfully, fewer people were hurt than might have been. Today, NASA satellites are able to look at and study hurricanes from space. Data from satellites help meteorologists predict where the hurricanes will strike land and help people prepare for the storms.

NASA satellites can study places on Earth that are hard to reach easily. Hurricanes are examples of weather patterns we can study better from space because they form over oceans. Satellites also give a much better perspective of the whole storm.

Some objects are too large to study well from the surface of the Earth. Again, hurricanes are a good example and so are earthquakes. Cracks in the Earth's crust, called faults, can cause earthquakes. Faults can be hundreds of miles long. Only satellites can see the entire fault at one time.

In 1980, the Mt. St. Helens volcano erupted in Washington State. Scientists using satellites saw an ash cloud erupt and watched as winds moved this cloud into the atmosphere over Washington. Airline jet engines can be damaged and can stop working if ash gets inside them. Satellite pictures of the ash cloud helped pilots know where they should not fly their jets. Satellites can safely study volcanoes from space.

Scientists and researchers around the world use NASA satellites. NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) and Earth Observing System (EOS) can study many natural hazards from space that can never be safely studied up close on Earth, such as fires, floods, storms, and volcanoes.

Special instruments on these satellites can study hazards such as hurricanes in ways scientists can never study them on Earth. One satellite, called TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission), can "see" inside a hurricane. TRMM can tell that certain parts of hurricanes normally produce more rain. This information helps meteorologists forecast how much rainfall will affect people on the coast when hurricanes strike. Someday, this research may even help scientists forecast exactly where a hurricane will move onto land. Meteorologists predicted Isabel's landfall with great accuracy.

Satellites allow scientists to observe remote parts of Earth that may be impossible to see except from space. Loss of trees in rainforests, the size of mountain glaciers and changes in our ozone layer can be measured best from space.

Who knows? Maybe you will be one of the scientists who uses satellites to study Earth in the future!