National Parks: See Satellite Images From Space

August 25, 2016 6:00 AM EDT

America’s National Park Service (NPS) celebrates its 100th birthday on Aug. 25. From Aug. 25 to Aug. 28, parks across the country will be offering free entry, along with everything from solar-powered vehicle races to classical music performances to outdoor naturalization ceremonies.

Famously called “the best idea we ever had” by writer Wallace Stegner, the NPS was founded in 1916 by an act of Congress in order to conserve and protect America’s natural wonders. Today, the NPS oversees over 84 million acres, which were visited by over 300 million people last year.

NASA’s Earth Observatory has been collecting satellite images of these national treasures for years, as part of its earth science mission. NASA has established the Landscape Climate Change Vulnerability Project as a way to use the data being collected by satellites to help the parks adapt to climate change.

“In many cases, National Parks were created to protect the remaining forests and their ecosystems from further destruction and fragmentation,” writes NASA’s Kathryn Hansen. “But changes in temperature, rainfall (or snow), and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide could eventually do as much to remake the forests as humans did with saws and fires and bulldozers.”

Volcanoes National Park, Jan.18, 2014 — **Volcanoes National Park**, Jan.18, 2014Jesse Allen—NASA

Biscayne National Park, Feb. 25, 2016 — **Biscayne National Park**, Feb. 25, 2016Jesse Allen—NASA

Katmai National Park, Sept. 23, 2014 — **Katmai National Park**, Sept. 23, 2014Jesse Allen—NASA

Shenandoah National Park, Oct. 13, 2010 — **Shenandoah National Park**, Oct. 13, 2010Jesse Allen—NASA

Zion National Park, June 1, 2016 — **Zion National Park**, June 1, 2016Jesse Allen—NASA

Big Bend National Park, March 21, 2016 — **Big Bend National Park**, March 21, 2016Jesse Allen—NASA

NASA - Yosemite National Park — **Yosemite National Park**, Aug. 18, 2015 Jesse Allen—NASA

NASA - Hot Springs National Park — **Hot Springs National Park**, Jun. 13, 2013Jesse Allen—NASA

Yellowstone National Park, June 9, 2013 — **Yellowstone National Park**, June 9, 2013Jesse Allen—NASA

Grand Teton National Park, June 15, 2015 — **Grand Teton National Park**, June 15, 2015Jesse Allen—NASA

Olympic National Park, Feb. 22, 2015 — **Olympic National Park**, Feb. 22, 2015Jesse Allen—NASA

Acadia National Parl, Sept. 6, 2015 — **Acadia National Park**, Sept. 6, 2015Jesse Allen—NASA

NASA - Redwood National Park — **Redwood National Park**, Feb. 6, 2003Jesse Allen—NASA

See Breathtaking Views of the National Parks From Space on Their 100th Birthday

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