Helping the World Through Science

At the USGS EROS Center, we study land change and produce land change data products used by researchers, resource managers, and policy makers across the nation and around the world. We also operate the Landsat satellite program with NASA, and maintain the largest civilian collection of images of the Earth’s land surface in existence, including tens of millions of satellite images.

Eyes on Earth

This episode of our remote sensing podcast describes how the USGS EROS Flight Operations Team controls the Landsat satellites and keeps them safe in orbit.

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Image of the Week

Predominantly, an image of Earth, with a satellite image on the left side and text on top of the Earth image

Fuente de Piedra, a saltwater lagoon in southern Spain, is an important breeding site for thousands of flamingos. In 2023, the shallow wetland nearly completely dried up, leaving little space for the birds.

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EROS Quick Links

Find frequently visited webpages below.

News

December 1, 2023

USGS New Supercomputer Helps Scientists Wrangle Data

November 29, 2023

Inspired by EROS: See Unisphere Display at Sioux Falls Museum

November 27, 2023

New Landsat 9 Cloud Cover Assessment Validation Dataset Published

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Publications

November 27, 2023

Need and vision for global medium-resolution Landsat and Sentinel-2 data products

Global changes in climate and land use are threatening natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and the ecosystem services people rely on. This is why it is necessary to track and monitor spatiotemporal change at a level of detail that can inform science, management, and policy development. The current constellation of multiple Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellites collecting imagery at predominantly ≤30-m s

Authors

Volker C. Radeloff, David P. Roy, Mike Wulder, Martha Anderson, Bruce D. Cook, Christopher J. Crawford, Mark Friedl, Feng Gao, Noel Gorelick, Matthew Hansen, Sean Healey, Patrick Hostert, Glynn Hulley, Justin Huntington, Dave Johnson, Christopher Neigh, Alexei Lyapustin, Leo Lymburner, Nima Pahlevan, Jean-Francois Pekel, Theodore A. Scambos, Crystal Schaaf, Peter Strobl, Eric Vermote, Curtis Woodcock, Hankui K. Zhang, Zhe Zhu

Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

November 22, 2023

Implementing a dual-spectrometer approach for improved surface reflectance estimation

Surface reflectance measurement is an integral part of the vicarious calibration of satellite sensors and the validation of satellite-derived top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and surface reflectance products. A well-known practice for estimating surface reflectance is to conduct a field campaign with a spectrometer and a calibration panel, which is labor-intensive and expensive. To address this issue, the

Authors

Mahesh Shrestha, Joshua J. Mann, Emily Maddox, Terry J. Robbins, Jeffrey Irwin, Travis Kropuenske, Dennis Helder

Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

November 16, 2023

System characterization report on the Pléiades Neo Imager

Executive SummaryThis report addresses system characterization of the Pléiades Neo satellite and is part of a series of system characterization reports produced and delivered by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence. These reports present and detail the methodology and procedures for characterization; present technical and operational infor

Authors

Simon J. Cantrell, Aparajithan Sampath, James C. Vrabel, Paul Bresnahan, Cody Anderson, Minsu Kim, Seonkyung Park

Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

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Science

November 20, 2023

Eyes on Earth Episode 108 – Landsat 8’s 100th Drag Make-Up Maneuver

The USGS EROS Landsat Flight Operations Team recently completed the 100th Drag Make-Up maneuver for Landsat 8.

Core Science Systems Mission Area, National Land Imaging Program, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Landsat Missions

November 20, 2023

Eyes on Earth Episode 108 – Landsat 8’s 100th Drag Make-Up Maneuver

The USGS EROS Landsat Flight Operations Team recently completed the 100th Drag Make-Up maneuver for Landsat 8.

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November 13, 2023

Eyes on Earth Episode 107 – EROS 50th: Land Cover, Part 2

The next step for two strong land cover products at USGS EROS is to combine them to create something even better.

Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Science Program, National Land Imaging Program, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection, Land Use Land Cover Modeling

November 13, 2023

Eyes on Earth Episode 107 – EROS 50th: Land Cover, Part 2

The next step for two strong land cover products at USGS EROS is to combine them to create something even better.

Learn More

October 30, 2023

Eyes on Earth Episode 106 – EROS 50th: Land Cover, Part 1

USGS EROS contributed to a better understanding of the Earth’s surface by leading early land cover mapping efforts.

Core Science Systems Mission Area, Land Change Science Program, National Land Imaging Program, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , EROS History Project, Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection

October 30, 2023

Eyes on Earth Episode 106 – EROS 50th: Land Cover, Part 1

USGS EROS contributed to a better understanding of the Earth’s surface by leading early land cover mapping efforts.

Learn More

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