Your photos can help disaster response teams track conditions on the ground.
June 1 marked the official start of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. As we near this season’s peak, emergency responders are relying on many sources of information to understand what is happening on the ground, including satellite images, weather radar, and field reports. But often, something is missing: local pre- and post-incident observations from the people actually experiencing the storm.
That is where you come in.
This summer and fall NASA is inviting the public to participate in the GLOBE Observer program’s “NASA Response Mappers,” a call for data that focuses on documenting land cover changes before and after hurricanes. The collaboration between the NASA Disasters Program’s Disaster Response Coordination System (DRCS) and the GLOBE Program, short for Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment is focused on the Southeastern region of United States, but open to anyone who wants to help fill vital information gaps by submitting land cover photos using their smartphone.
Participation in this seasonal campaign is easy, safe, and meaningful. Your contributions to the GLOBE Land Cover dataset could ultimately help emergency managers make faster and better-informed decisions when it matters most and strengthen your community’s ability to respond and recover from disasters.
Get Started Today
- Download the GLOBE Observer app on your smartphone.
- Join the NASA Response Mappers team in the app.
- Use the GLOBE Observer app to take land cover photos of the same location over time, ideally once a week or month.
- Stay safe and never take photos during dangerous conditions.
- Watch your data make a difference through maps and updates from the NASA Response Mappers team.
Learn more about NASA Response Mappers and GLOBE Observer in this video of our webinar, originally presented July 21, 2025.
Why it Matters
Disaster response teams often face challenges in getting clear, localized information, especially in rural areas. While satellite imagery offers a wide-area view of hazards, it has limitations. Satellites may miss short-lived impacts due to cloud cover, orbit timing, or data processing delays. Even in ideal conditions, satellites can’t capture the finer details visible in photos taken just a few feet from the ground. Photos from everyday eyewitnesses can help fill those blind spots.
“We’re exploring how citizen science can support disaster response in ways that Earth observation data alone can’t,” says Kristen Okorn, a center coordinator for the DRCS who is helping lead this special data request. “A single photo of land cover, whether it is a flooded street, fallen trees or even an undamaged area, can offer helpful context. When combined with other observations, these photos can help verify conditions on the ground and, in some cases, support improvements to satellite-based products. Each observation helps provide a more complete picture of what’s happening on the ground.”
How to Participate
All you need is a smartphone and the GLOBE Observer app. This free, NASA-supported tool allows users to submit observations about their local environment. For this seasonal campaign, the focus is on land cover: what is on the surface of the Earth in your area, from vegetation to urban development.
If you live in a hurricane-prone state, such as Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia – or in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands – you are already in a place where your observations will help the most. Once you download the app and join the NASA Response Mappers team, the app will prompt you to take and upload photos of the same location at regular intervals throughout this year’s peak hurricane season, which runs from Aug. 1 through Oct. 31.
Importantly, NASA will never ask you to take photos during dangerous conditions. The emphasis is on safe, routine observations made before a storm or after it has passed.
Each geotagged and time-stamped image you contribute will become part of an open dataset used by scientists and disaster response professionals. The data may be used to improve situational awareness, validate satellite imagery and support damage assessments.
Your Photo Could Make a Difference
What can one photo do? More than you might think!
Imagine taking and submitting a photo showing debris after a storm. That image could help responders determine where to send cleanup crews. Or imagine uploading a photo of healthy wetlands that you took before a storm hit. Your picture might later be used to study how those wetlands helped reduce flooding. Even a single photo of cropland could help NASA better inform state and federal agencies that are focused on understanding potential crop losses.
“Citizen science gives us ground truth,” says Joshua Barnes, manager for NASA’s Disasters Response Coordination System. “The more eyes on the ground, the better we can serve communities in need.”
GLOBE is also developing tools with the NASA Disasters team to ensure contributors see the impact of their efforts. During the data request, participants will be able to view maps of submitted observations and celebrate milestones such as top contributors.
Who Can Join?
Everyone!
The NASA Response Mappers campaign is especially great for:
- Community members curious about science and their environment
- Students and teachers seeking hands-on STEM learning
- Amateur storm watchers or nature photographers
- Anyone who wants to support disaster resilience in their region
Schools, libraries, local community groups and nonprofit partners are encouraged to share the opportunity and participate. No scientific background is needed. All you need is a phone, a few minutes and the willingness to observe.
Why Now?
As hurricane season intensifies, so does the need for timely, accurate and hyperlocal information. By participating, you are not just collecting data. You are helping build a smarter, more effective disaster response system.
“At the end of the season,” said Barnes, “we hope to tell a story that begins with everyday people helping NASA deliver life-saving insights. And it can all start with a photo.”
Download the GLOBE Observer App
Join the NASA Response Mappers Team
Watch the NASA Response Mappers introductory webinar.
To learn more about the GLOBE Program, visit globe.gov.
To learn more about the NASA Disasters Program, visit disasters.nasa.gov.
To explore more NASA citizen science projects, visit science.nasa.gov/citizen-science.
