The last 20 years have witnessed a remarkable evolution in earth observation capabilities. Satellite and information technologies are advancing, providing new data and information on the land surface, enabling improved mapping and monitoring of the land surface and its characteristics at a range of scales. New data sets provide a record of land surface changes and input to state-of-the-art coupled and integrated global models.  Coarse resolution data from NASA MODIS and VIIRS instrument provide daily monitoring of the land surface. New data from Landsat 8 and the Landsat archive (1972 – present) allows the analysis of long-term time series at higher spatial resolution. Constellations of medium resolution sensors will further increase the frequency of observation and the amount of remote sensing data at 20-30 m resolution, enhancing our capabilities to develop higher resolution global products and continuously monitor environmental processes. The Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center works in the development of algorithms and data products from satellite observations and methodologies to integrate and extract information. This research will lead to improve the characterization of poorly understood components of environmental processes for science and applications of societal benefit.