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One regular dose of Earth from above
New Overviews are posted regularly on Instagram — follow @dailyoverview to see them as soon as they go up.
Oosterscheldekering
51.608691°,3.681047° - Maxar
The Oosterscheldekering (Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier) is the largest in a series of 13 dams designed to protect the Netherlands from North Sea flooding. It spans about 5.6 miles (9 km) between the islands of Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland, containing large sluicegate-type doors that can be closed under adverse weather conditions. Designed to last more than 200 years, the Oosterscheldekering is sometimes referred to as the eighth Wonder of the World.
Oleshky Sands
46.558401°,33.087683° - Maxar
Sand mixes with snow in the Oleshky Sands, a semi-arid desert of southern Ukraine. This 62-square-mile (161-square-kilometer) region contains sand dunes as tall as 16 feet (5 meters) and is the second-largest desert in Europe. The origin of Oleshky Sands is uncertain — one theory says it is a dried riverbed of the Dnieper River; another points to over-grazing by millions of sheep pastured in the area during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Lake Tahoe
39.000000°,-120.000000° - Airbus Space
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake on the California-Nevada border in the USA. Nestled in the Sierra Nevada mountain range with a surface elevation of 6,225 feet, it is the largest alpine lake in North America and trails only the five Great Lakes as the largest lake by volume in the United States. Lake Tahoe is a major tourist attraction and a destination for winter sports and summer outdoor recreation.
Boynton Beach
26.528056°,-80.076389° - Airbus Space
Residential developments cover the landscape in Boynton Beach, Florida, USA. Because many cities in the state contain master-planned communities, often built on top of waterways in the latter half of the twentieth century, there are a number of intricate designs that are visible from the Overview perspective. Boynton Beach is home to roughly 78,000 residents.
Rio Grande do Norte
-5.740000°,-36.550000° - Maxar
In Rio Grande do Norte, on Brazil’s northeastern tip, a vast rainforest has been diminished to small patches to make way for agricultural land. The Atlantic Rainforest — or Mata Atlântica — used to stretch from this region into southern Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, but less than 10% of it remains today. Although Rio Grande do Norte is the fifth-smallest Brazilian state by land area, it supplies 70% of the nation’s melons and is famed for its mango and cashew fields.
Behesht-e-Zahra
35.536000°,51.370000° - Maxar
Behesht-e-Zahra is the largest cemetery in Iran, with more than 1.6 million graves. Located in the southern part of metropolitan Tehran, the cemetery has been rapidly expanding in recent weeks to meet the need for Coronavirus-related deaths — burying roughly 350 dead every day. Schools, mosques and shops are closed throughout Iran, and a curfew of 6:00 pm has been imposed to combat COVID-19, which state officials say is killing one Iranian every four minutes.
Washington Sawmill
46.111028°,-122.958868° - Nearmap
This Overview shows the Longview Softwood lumber milling facility, located on the Oregon-Washington border in Longview, Washington. Felled trees arrive at this facility by boat and are then stacked in huge piles like these and taken by forklift into the mill. Producing 7.7 million square feet (720,000 square meters) of processed lumber every year, the facility maintains the highest capacity of any sawmill in the United States.
Arvaikheer
46.266111°,102.777778° - Maxar
Arvaikheer is a town in central Mongolia, nestled against the hills of the Khangai Mountains. The town’s brightly colored roofs are a hub for nearly 30,000 residents who are known for their traditional crafts, goat herding, and equestrian sports. Arvaikheer, which means “Barley Steppe,” is the most temperate place in Mongolia with only 30 degrees Celsius difference between its average temperatures in January and July.
Tappan Zee Bridge
41.071275°,-73.897268° - Maxar
The Tappan Zee Bridge is a twin cable-stayed bridge crossing the Hudson River north of New York City. Construction on this larger-capacity, replacement bridge began in 2013 to handle increased traffic to and from the major metropolitan area. Once the large replacement project was finished in 2017, the old, inactive bridge was demolished. The new bridge has a shared-use path for bicycles and pedestrians and was built with the capacity for a future commuter rail line to be built at a later date. Approximately 140,000 automobiles cross the bridge every day.
Paragominas Bauxite Mine
-3.245423°,-47.702873° - Maxar
Aluminum is the third most abundant element in the earth’s crust, but it does not naturally occur as a metal. The first step in producing aluminum is mining its ore—bauxite. The Paragominas Bauxite Mine in Brazil, seen here, produces more than 5 million tons (4.5 million metric tons) of bauxite every year, and represents one of the largest reserves of the material in the country.
San Juan River
37.206194°,-109.995583° - Maxar
In this Overview, the San Juan River is shown meandering through southeastern Utah, not far from Goosenecks State Park. It is a major tributary of the Colorado River and provides drainage to the Four Corners region of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. The San Juan is one of the muddiest rivers in North America, carrying an average of 25 million U.S. tons of silt and sediment each year.
Chicago
41.888889°,-87.626667° - Nearmap
Chicago, Illinois, is the third most populous city in the United States, with about 2.7 million residents. This Overview shows the Chicago River flowing through the city center, dividing The Loop (left) and Near North Side (right) communities. Many of the city’s notable skyscrapers can be seen from this perspective, including the Crain Communications Building, Trump International Hotel and Tower, and Tribune Tower.
The White House
38.897778°,-77.036389° - Nearmap
Located in the heart of Washington, D.C., the White House is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States. Construction of the 55,000-square-foot (5,100-square-meter) neoclassical building was completed in 1800 and numerous additions and renovations have taken place in the decades since.
Belo Horizonte
-19.916667°,-43.933333° - Maxar
Belo Horizonte is the sixth largest city in Brazil with a population of approximately 2.7 million people. The city was constructed at the end of the 19th century with a planned, symmetrical array of perpendicular and diagonal streets in its downtown area. The roads are named after the Brazilian states and the indigenous tribes of Brazil.
Melbourne Skeleton Mural
-37.711934°,144.992803° - Nearmap
A mural of a pink skeleton covers the grounds at Reservoir Skatepark in northern Melbourne, Australia. This piece spans roughly 20,000 square feet (1,858 sq. m) and is one of many large murals in the area created by local artist Kitt Bennett. For a sense of scale, 20,000 square feet is nearly half the size of an American football field.
Mount Rainier
46.852886°,-121.760374° - Planet
Mount Rainier is an active stratovolcano located about 60 miles (96 km) southeast of Seattle, Washington. Located within the Cascade Range, the 14,411-foot (4,392 m) tall peak is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and is snow-capped year round. The origin of its name is believed to mean “mother of waters” as it is the source of numerous rivers, seen here descending from its peak.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
35.600000°,-83.516667° - Maxar
Fall foliage covers the landscape in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park straddles the Tennessee and North Carolina border, is home to some of the tallest mountains in the Eastern United States, and is bisected by the Appalachian Trail. This Overview is featured in our story, "In Nature We Trust."Read the full story →
Aral Sea
45.510578°,58.757118° - Maxar
The Aral Sea, located on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was once the fourth largest lake in the world. From 2001 to 2018, water levels have been gradually decreasing over time as a result of irrigation projects that began in the 1960s to support agricultural development, primarily for cotton, in the adjacent Kyzylkum Desert. By diverting the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya rivers, the Aral Sea has continued to evaporate without its primary sources of water replenishment. Due to the massive reduction of water levels, the surrounding region has experienced colder winters, hotter summers, massive dust storms, and the complete devastation of its fishing industry.
Scrapped Cruise Ships
38.829544°,26.930941° - Chris McGrath / Getty Images
Cruise ships are disassembled for scrap metal at the Aliağa ship breaking yard in Izmir, Turkey. Before this year, most cruise ships would sail for decades before being scrapped, but the COVID-19 pandemic and government-issued “no sail” policies have brought the cruise industry to a halt, forcing many companies to downsize their fleets. Ships that arrive at Aliaga are torn apart and all items inside are removed and sold to other businesses or collectors. You’ll notice an additional ship has been added to the more recent, zoomed-in shot that’s shown here first.
Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project
38.238972°,-117.363721° - Maxar
The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project near Tonopah, Nevada powers up to 75,000 homes during peak electricity periods. So how does it work? The project uses 17,500 heliostat mirrors to collect and focus the sun’s thermal energy to heat molten salt flowing through a 540-foot (160 m) tall solar power tower. The molten salt then circulates from the tower to a storage tank where it is used to produce steam and generate electricity. One last thing - look closely at the lower left corner of this Overview and you’ll see an airplane flying over the complex!
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