Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

As fire season continues in the western United States let's look back at a number of incidents tracked by officials across California in August. These fires were captured during the day by Landsats 7 and 8, in natural color bands of the visible spectrum. Landsat sensors also record infrared wavelengths revealing burn scars and active fires. Natural color images show smoke

In Russia's Extreme North, a widening chasm known as the Batagaika Crater provides a unique opportunity to study the past. Early declassified aerial images recorded the crater's growth in the 1960s and 1970s followed by multispectral sensor imagery captured by Landsat and Sentinel satellites, building a continuous view over the last 60 years. But the gash in the ground

In Montana, wildfire swept across Flathead Lake's 30 acre Bird Island in early August of 2020. Landsat 8 captured this imagery one day after the fire began. The satellite's short wave infrared and near infrared bands reveal the active fire covering approximately half of the island. Smoke obscures the remainder. The same band combination highlights healthy vegetation 16

This summer in central India, a mystery in color emerged. In the space of just days, the surface of Lonar Lake turned bright pink, then returned to green. As scientists study the cause of the event, other lakes around the world offer clues. Australia's salty Lake Hillier is filled with microscopic pink organisms, as well as algae that turn red when stressed to help absorb

Will my existing workflow still be supported? Landsat downloads will continue to be available via EarthExplorer, LandsatLook, and other familiar USGS tools as they are today, without a noticeable difference to the user. The Landsat record will also remain free and open, with downloads available at no charge to the user.
 

LANDFIRE (LF) Remap is the most comprehensive mapping effort in LF's history. This years-long effort included updating the base maps across the original data product suite to create LF's second base map product suite consisting of 28 vegetation and fuels layers. LF Remap products reflect circa 2016 ground conditions. Learn more at https://

This video is a three-dimensional (3D) view of Lake Powell topobathymetric digital elevation model, which consists of topography (land elevation) and bathymetry (water depth). The 3D topobathymetric model was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center to support generation of the Colorado River water storage area

Calibration teams at the USGS EROS Center use a variety of methods to make sure the data collected by Landsat satellites are an accurate representation of the Earth’s surface. They’re constantly comparing new imagery to old, tweaking algorithms to correct issues that might emerge, and using unchanging Earth surface sites and on-the-ground readings to check for consistency

Mapping land cover across the United States using Landsat satellite data is a difficult, time-intensive job, but there are jobs far larger. Matt Hansen, a Maryland-based professor and member of the Landsat Science Team focuses his efforts on mapping land cover and change on a global scale. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from Matt on how he and his team use the

Just recently, in mid-July, the flight operations team charged with keeping the Landsat 7 satellite running smoothly achieved a major milestone. They have gone 8 straight years now without an operator error. Considering that the team is operating a machine that costs hundreds of millions of dollars and flies at more than 17,000 miles per hour, avoiding any kind or operator

Mount Nyiragongo is a stratovolcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It’s one of the most active in the world, having exhibited volcanic activity at least once every 3 months since May 17, 2002.