Articles

Water is critical for the arid, underserved Navajo Nation. Carlee McClellan, Navajo hydrologist, is working with WWAO to deliver a space-based solution for monitoring water availability. 

Planet Earth should be named Planet Water, with 70% of its surface covered in ocean. Yet the freshwater that sustains our lives is a precious resource. NASA is at the forefront of monitoring it from every angle.

A new web tool designed by WWAO scientists could help the Navajo Nation anticipate and respond to drought. The latest maps give insight into the moderate to severe drought conditions affecting much of the area.

On the Navajo Nation, access to drinking water is limited. Over 40 percent of homes lack running water. The community is hit by frequent, pervasive drought. WWAO is developing a new drought tool that, with the help of satellite data, will enable Navajo water managers to hone in on drought severity and better manage the water they have.

In one of the driest places on Earth, a thousand-year rain event delivered 75 percent of the yearly average precipitation in just three hours.

Record-breaking rain brought devastating flash floods and landslides to the central U.S. at the end of July 2022. Climate change makes extreme precipitation and weather more likely.

Four years after California emerged from a severe multi-year drought, the state’s precipitation and lake levels are among their worst since the 1970s. The deepening drought is seen in satellite images of the state’s two largest reservoirs.