Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
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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.
What's New at EROS?
The LCMAP project has released sample data for California’s Central Valley. All 10 of the project’s land change and spectral change products are represented.
Learn moreImage of the Week
The story of Denver bears the classic marks of substantial urban growth. Landsat images reveal expanding residential areas, industrial zones, and new freeways that loop around the metropolitan area.
DenverNews
LCMAP Captures ‘Stories of Change’ with New Datasets
If a new homeowner wants to know the history of their abode, there are places to turn.
County offices list ownership details and building permits, showing the dates of additions, fences and the like. If the house is old enough, local historical societies may even have archived photographs of the home’s exterior at various points in time.
Level-3 Products Provide Land Cover Gold in Landsat Data Mining
When it comes to mining remotely sensed data, Landsat Level-3 science products offer what some might call land cover gold.
They Call Him ‘Gus’: EROS’ Newest Director Brings Diverse Background to the Job
Christopher Joseph (CJ) Loria brings a fascinating back story—and a quiet, collaborative leadership philosophy—to his role as the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center’s newest director.
Publications
Landsat 9
Landsat 9 is a partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that will continue the Landsat program’s critical role of repeat global observations for monitoring, understanding, and managing Earth’s natural resources. Since 1972, Landsat data have provided a unique resource for...
Radiometric calibration of a non-imaging airborne spectrometer to measure the Greenland ice sheet surface
Methods to radiometrically calibrate a non-imaging airborne visible-to-shortwave infrared (VSWIR) spectrometer to measure the Greenland ice sheet surface are presented. Airborne VSWIR measurement performance for bright Greenland ice and dark bare rock/soil targets is compared against the MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission (MODTRAN®)...
Crawford, Christopher J.; van den Bosch, Jeannette; Brunt, Kelly M.; Hom, Milton G.; Cooper, John W.; Harding, David J.; Butler, James J.; Dabney, Philip W.; Neumann, Thomas A.; Cleckner, Craig S.; Markus, Thorsten Validating a time series of annual grass percent cover in the sagebrush ecosystem
We mapped yearly (2000–2016) estimates of annual grass percent cover for much of the sagebrush ecosystem of the western United States using remotely sensed, climate, and geophysical data in regression-tree models. Annual grasses senesce and cure by early summer and then become beds of fine fuel that easily ignite and spread fire...
Boyte, Stephen P.; Wylie, Bruce K.; Major, Donald J.