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 USGS has developed research-quality, applications-ready, Landsat Level-3 Science Products that are now available for download.
Full storyImage of the Week
Heavy snowfall and frigid temperatures in the Midwestern United States were followed by a late winter storm in mid-March of 2019. Those factors led to heavy flooding along the Missouri River and its tributaries.
Missouri RiverNews
EROS Offers Research Fellowship Opportunity
The U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center is offering a fellowship opportunity for the research and development of innovative land change science techniques and applications.
Black Hills Perfect Laboratory for Multi-Sensor Fire Science Research
After the Legion Lake Fire at Custer State Park in South Dakota’s Black Hills erupted in December 2017— burning across private, state, and federal landscapes all at once—scientists at the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center discovered an important opportunity among the ashes.
LANDFIRE Remap Begins to Roll Out
With a vegetation and fuels base map that was over 15 years old and a commitment to keep LANDFIRE (LF) data relevant, LF staff at EROS has produced a new base map product suite, representing 2016 ground conditions.
Publications
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. Landsat: The cornerstone of global land imaging
Since 1972, the joint NASA/ U.S. Geological Survey Landsat series of Earth Observation satellites have provided an uninterrupted space-based data record of the Earth’s land surface to help advance scientific research towards the understanding of our planet and the environmental impact of its inhabitants. Early Landsat satellites offered a wealth...
Butcher, Ginger; Barnes, Christopher; Owen, Linda Linking landscapes and people—Projecting the future of the Great Plains
We developed a unique set of landscape projections for the Great Plains that use real land-management parcels to represent landscape patterns at high spatial and thematic resolution.Both anthropogenic land use and natural vegetation respond in the model to projected changes in groundwater availability and climate...
Sohl, Terry L.; Dornbierer, Jordan; Wika, Steve