Earth System Diagram
Diagram showing parts of the Earth system.
Like the human body, Earth comprises diverse processes and systems that interact with one another in complex ways. The purpose of NASA’s Earth science program is to advance our scientific understanding of Earth as an integrated system and its response to natural and human-induced changes. NASA works with its domestic and international partners to support a large number of Earth-observing satellite and airborne missions to observe and understand our planet on global and regional scales. These missions are able to collect measurements of surface temperature, winds, water vapor, clouds, precipitation, soil moisture, ocean salinity, and other aspects of the environment. While scientists learn a great deal from studying individual phenomena, improved observational capabilities, coupled with process-level and global numerical models increasingly allow them to study component system interactions, leading to unprecedented insight into how Earth functions as one integrated system of systems.
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Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Graphic designer
- Kevin W. Miller (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
Release date
This page was originally published on Wednesday, August 29, 2018.
This page was last updated on Monday, July 15, 2024 at 12:22 AM EDT.