Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.
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The Eyes on Earth podcast is currently hosted by Tom Adamson, Jane Lawson, and Sheri Levisay (contractors for USGS EROS). Episodes are produced by Tom Adamson.
Click on an episode title below to visit the episode page. Episode pages include related content, transcript access, and full episode credits.
Latest Episodes
Episode 88 – Landsat 5’s Significance, Part 2
Designed to last three years, Landsat 5 launched in 1984 and transmitted data until the launch of Landsat 8 in 2013. In this episode, we learn about some of the challenges—and adrenaline rushes—Landsat 5 gave the flight operations team as it aged, as well as the fondness our two guests came to have for the satellite’s unique personality and the whole team as they served on it during the satellite’s twilight years. In October 2022, the Flight Operations Team won the 2020 Group Pecora Award during the 22nd William T. Pecora Memorial Remote Sensing Symposium.
Guests: Steve Covington, former Landsat 5 flight manager, now Aerospace Corp. contractor serving as the principal systems engineer for the USGS National Land Imaging Program; and Jeff Devine, former Landsat 5 lead operations engineer, now KBR contractor leading the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Flight Operations Team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Episode 87 – Landsat 5's Significance, Part 1
Summary: Designed to last three years, Landsat 5 launched in 1984 and transmitted data until the launch of Landsat 8 in 2013. In this episode, we learn about the significance of this satellite, which set a Guinness World Record for “Longest Operating Earth Observation Satellite.” Our two guests served on the flight operations team in the satellite’s twilight years and describe its importance to the unbroken record of Landsat data. They also share their personal connections with the satellite—including a journey from watching the launch on a monitor at EROS to eventually leading the team.
Guests: Steve Covington, former Landsat 5 flight manager, now Aerospace Corp. contractor serving as the principal systems engineer for the USGS National Land Imaging Program; and Jeff Devine, former Landsat 5 lead operations engineer, now KBR contractor leading the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Flight Operations Team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Episode 86 – Tours at EROS
The USGS EROS Center is the home of the Landsat satellite archive. This data center and science center located on a former farm near Sioux Falls, SD, is one of the largest civilian archives of land imaging in the world. In this episode, we discuss what visitors to EROS will learn on a tour, including examples of land change seen by Landsat and why EROS is located where it is. Find out how to contact the EROS Outreach Coordinator to schedule a tour, group visit, or school or civic presentation.
EROS is accepting prescheduled tours. Please call 605-594-6511, or email gs_eros_outreach@usgs.gov for scheduling or further information. To view Landsat and other EROS archive imagery, visit Earth Explorer.
Guest: Ann Tripp, contractor, USGS EROS Center Outreach Coordinator
Episode 85 – Landsat 7 Extended Science Mission
Landsat 7’s nominal science mission ended in April 2022 after nearly 23 years of acquiring Earth imagery from 705 kilometers above the Earth. Landsat 7 is now in an extended science mission after having its orbit lowered by about 8 kilometers to make way for Landsat 9. In this episode, we discuss why Landsat 7 continues to collect imagery, the quality of the extended science mission imagery, and the advantages of having three Landsats operating at the same time.
Guest: Chris Crawford, USGS Research Physical Scientist, Landsat Project Scientist, Co-chair of the Landsat Science Team, Landsat Science Data Acquisition Manager
Episode 84 – Hurricane Disturbance Mapping
When disaster strikes, near-real-time images of its effects can be invaluable. In this episode, we learn about how a newly developed system using the Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 dataset and artificial intelligence was put to the test when Hurricane Ian tore through Florida in late September 2022. By comparing pre-storm and post-storm imagery, the system quickly flagged anomalies statewide such as brightness, which could indicate exposed sand or bare land after a hurricane. Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 data is available through the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, or LP DAAC for short, located at EROS, which is also home to the entire Landsat archive.
Guest: Zhe Zhu, University of Connecticut’s Global Environmental Remote Sensing Laboratory and Landsat Science Team
Related Content
Find past episodes and their episode pages below.
Click on an episode title to visit the episode page. Episode pages include related content, transcript access, and full episode credits.
Eyes on Earth Episode 88 – Landsat 5’s Significance, Part 2
Eyes on Earth Episode 87 – Landsat 5’s Significance, Part 1
Eyes on Earth Episode 85 – Landsat 7 Extended Science Mission
Eyes on Earth Episode 84 – Hurricane Disturbance Mapping
Eyes on Earth Episode 83 - ECOSTRESS and Burn Severity
Eyes on Earth Episode 82 - Introduction to GEDI
Eyes on Earth Episode 81 – Tour of the EROS Radome
Eyes on Earth Episode 80 – ECOSTRESS and Carbon
Eyes on Earth Episode 79 – Landsat Global Archive Consolidation
Eyes on Earth Episode 78 – Landsat 50 Lookback
Eyes on Earth Episode 76 – ECOSTRESS and Disease Risk
Eyes on Earth Episode 75 – Mapping Dust Sources Worldwide
Related Content
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Find past episodes and their episode pages below.
Click on an episode title to visit the episode page. Episode pages include related content, transcript access, and full episode credits.
Filter Total Items: 84Eyes on Earth Episode 88 – Landsat 5’s Significance, Part 2
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we learn about how the Landsat 5 flight operations team managed to keep the satellite going as it collected data into its 20s and an award the team recently received.Eyes on Earth Episode 87 – Landsat 5’s Significance, Part 1
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we learn about the significance of the fifth satellite in the 50-year-old Landsat program and its remarkable ability to observe the Earth for nearly 29 years.Eyes on Earth Episode 85 – Landsat 7 Extended Science Mission
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we learn more about Landsat 7’s extended science mission and the resulting circumstance of collecting data from three Landsat satellites.Eyes on Earth Episode 84 – Hurricane Disturbance Mapping
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we learn about the effort to map disturbances in Florida from Hurricane Ian in near real time.Eyes on Earth Episode 83 - ECOSTRESS and Burn Severity
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we learn about the usefulness of ECOSTRESS data in examining predictors for wildfire burn patterns.Eyes on Earth Episode 82 - Introduction to GEDI
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we learn about the purpose of the GEDI mission on the International Space Station and what is being learned from it.Eyes on Earth Episode 81 – Tour of the EROS Radome
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we take a tour of a crucial component of the Landsat data acquisition process at EROS: the radome that houses the 10-meter antenna for downlinking data to be placed in the archive.Eyes on Earth Episode 80 – ECOSTRESS and Carbon
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we learn about the role ECOSTRESS temperature measurements played in a study of the carbon dioxide exchange in and around Los Angeles.Eyes on Earth Episode 79 – Landsat Global Archive Consolidation
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we learn about the process that has gradually added millions of earlier Landsat scenes to the 50-year archive.Eyes on Earth Episode 78 – Landsat 50 Lookback
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we look back at how past guests viewed the value of Landsat satellites and their 50-year history.Eyes on Earth Episode 76 – ECOSTRESS and Disease Risk
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we learn how measurements from space can track risk of mosquito-borne disease.Eyes on Earth Episode 75 – Mapping Dust Sources Worldwide
Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we hear about a mission to map the Earth’s minerals from above. - Multimedia