GIBS (Global Imagery Browse Services)

NASA’s tile server — 1000+ pre-rendered visual layers across 35 years of data, served as map tiles any web map can display.

Why it matters

GIBS is what makes Worldview (and the Atlas’s Explore map) instant. You see imagery without processing raw data — NASA pre-rendered it for you.

Where you’ll meet it

• The Atlas’s Explore map and the home globe both stream GIBS tiles directly — the same imagery source that powers NASA Worldview.
• Layers like MODIS true-color (from Terra and Aqua) and VIIRS (from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20) are GIBS staples you can scrub day-by-day across decades.
• Because GIBS speaks standard tile protocols (WMTS/WMS/TMS), any web map — Leaflet, OpenLayers, or this Atlas — can pull a NASA product without touching the raw data.

In plain terms

Like Google Maps tiles, but every layer is a different NASA satellite product and you can scrub back through decades.