Gallery: NASA's Best Images of Earth From Space in 2014
NASA012014patagonianshelf-vir-2014336-lrg
__Plankton Blooms. Patagonian Coast, Argentina__ Upwelling currents from the deep mix with dust from the continent and iron-rich water from the south to provide a feast for phytoplankton. These tiny creatures photosynthesize, and provide food for thriving fisheries. False-color image [taken by the Suomi NPP satellite on Dec. 2.](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84870)
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__Dust and Clouds Over the Sahara Desert__ The Sahara contributes more dust to the atmosphere than any other desert. Saharan dust accounts for more than half the dust settling on the ocean and helps fertilize land in the Americas. In this image, [taken by ESA astronaut Alex Gerst on the ISS on Sep. 8,](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84400) the land surface is almost entirely obscured by dust.
Jesse Allen/NASA03IDL TIFF file
__Tornado Tracks, Northeast Nebraska__ On June 16, five tornadoes struck northeastern Nebraska. The tracks of two of these storms can be seen as brown swaths, one heading right through the town of Pilger, in this false-color image [taken by the Terra satellite on June 21](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83926).
Jeff Schmaltz/NASA/LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response042014india-tmo-2014339-lrg
__Haze in the Kashmir Valley, South Asia__ Ringed by mountains, the Kashmir valley is an effective trap for smoke and air pollution from charcoal and biomass burning. True-color image [taken by the Terra satellite on Dec. 5](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84862).
Jesse Allen/NASA/USGS052014holuhraun-oli-2014249-653-lrg
__Holuhraun Eruption, Iceland__ Iceland is one of the most volcanic places on Earth. This year, lava has been pouring out of the Holuhraun lava field between Badarbunga and Askja volcanoes, making for a spectacular show, especially [as seen close up by a drone](https://www.wired.com/2014/10/drone-video-iceland-eruption-bardarbunga-volcano/). But it's also impressive from space, as shown in this false-color image [taken Sep. 6 by the Landsat 8 satellite](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84316).
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__Hurricane Edouard, Atlantic Ocean__ Shown here about midway between Africa, North America and Europe, Hurricane Edouard was the fourth Atlantic hurricane of the season. It never threatened any land, but made for a great natural laboratory for NASA. This true-color image was [taken by NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman from the ISS on Sep. 16](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84415).
Robert Simmon/NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA072014bluemarble-2014089-lrg
__Earth, Eastern Hemisphere__ Part of NASA's [Blue Marble collection](http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_cat.php?categoryID=1484), this image is a composite [built from images taken during eight orbits by the Suomi NPP satellite on March 30.](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84214)
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__Venice Lagoon__ Astronaut photos such as this one, [taken from aboard the ISS on May 9](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83793), are used to monitor the Venice Lagoon. The fragile lagoon is protected from the Adriatic Sea by a narrow barrier island.
Jeff Schmaltz/NASA/LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team092014GreenlandSeaIce-amo-2014230-lrg
__Sea Ice, Greenland Sea__ The waters of the coast of Greenland are covered in a beautiful, swirly pattern of sea ice in this true-color image [taken by the Aqua satellite on Aug. 18](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84229).
Norman Kuring/NASA102014gulfofalaska-amo-2014122-lrg
__Gulf of Alaska__ This beautiful image of the North Pacific Ocean and the Alaskan coast is a composite made from images [taken on several orbits by the Aqua satellite on May 2](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83754).
Jesse Allen/NASA/USGS11IDL TIFF file
__Funny River Fire, Alaska__ Between May 19 and 21, the Funny River fire burned around 43,000 acres on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. You can see big, fluffy pyrocumulonimbus clouds, which sometimes occur over fires and volcanic eruptions, in this image [taken on May 20 by the Landsat 8 satellite](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83732).
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__Green River, Utah__ This stretch of the Green River in eastern Utah is known as the Bowknot Bend for obvious reasons. This image was [taken by an astronaut aboard the ISS on Jan 22](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83353).
Jesse Allen/NASA132014neoguri-vir-2014189-lrg
__Typhoon Neoguri in Moonlight, Pacific Ocean__ This storm was imaged near Japan [by the Suomi NPP satellite's special day-night band on the night of July 8](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83998).
Robert Simmon/NASA/USGS142014coloradoriver-oli-2014106-lrg
__Colorado River, Mexico__ On Mar. 23, an experiment began that sent 130 million cubic meters of water into the Colorado River over eight weeks. Though it's only 1 percent of what flowed naturally in the river before it was dammed, it was hoped the water would recharge groundwater systems and restore habitats. This image was [taken Apr. 16 by the Landsat 8 satellite](http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=83589).
