Images

The Landsat 4 satellite was launched July 16, 1982, and ushered in many “firsts” that propelled the Landsat missions that followed. 

A portion of the atrium at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, including the large revolving globe and science displays about Landsat satellites in the background. USGS photo

This Landsat 9 image shows the Apalachicola River and the Apalachicola Bay in Florida’s Panhandle. The river —Florida’s largest in terms of water volume discharge— follows the western boundary of heavy forest and is home to great diversity of freshwater fish species. 

November’s  final weekend brought snowfall to much of the northern United States. This Landsat 9 image, acquired on December 1st, highlights an area along the South Platte River near the point where the Missouri, Nebraska, and Colorado borders meet. 

In a September 21, 1966 press release, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall announced that the DOI was launching "Project EROS (Earth Resources Observation Satellites)." Udall's vision was to observe the Earth for the benefit of all. 

This map, produced with Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Collection 1.1 data from 1985 to 2024, shows the growth in urban areas (development) across the United States. Various colors represent the year that new growth occurred in a particular spot.

This graphic displays the cumulative volume of all operational Landsat products downloaded from the USGS EROS Landsat archive since December 2008 (FY2009). The release of Landsat Collection 2 products in 2020, which improved data quality and accessibility, helped drive downloads upward. 

Williston, North Dakota, sits very close to the center of the Williston Basin, which is a leading domestic oil- and gas-producing region. Williston also sits atop the Bakken Formation, a vast deposit of shale deep in the ground within the Williston Basin. 

Williston, North Dakota, is located just north of the Missouri River in Williams County (northwestern North Dakota). Locator map by USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.

These three animations, including Land Cover (left), Landsat (center) and Fractional Impervious Surface (right), show the changes on the ground in the Williston, North Dakota, area over time between 1984 and 2024. 

Western and Eastern region eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology Start of Season (SOST) for 2024.

This Regrow Ag map gives an idea of the amount of acres of low-till or no-till practices in certain regions of the Midwest/Northern Plains. Map used with permission from Regrow Ag.

JACIE 2026 Workshop Save the Date

Visit the JACIE 2026 Workshop webpage to keep up with information about the April 2026 meeting.

This animation shows Treasure Valley, part of the Snake River Valley and home to the Boise, Idaho, metro area. The Boise Mountains lie to the east, and cropland and pasture/hay land lie to the west. The area’s population has seen significant growth in recent decades, far more than doubling between 1990 and now to above 800,000.

This animation shows Annual NLCD land cover data on the left that was derived from Landsat imagery on the right. It illustrates the effects of the 1992 Fountain Fire in northern California and much of the forested area’s eventual recovery. The Fountain Fire burned about 64,000 acres, almost all of it privately owned.

Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and Landsat animations of a portion of the Okefenokee Plain in Georgia.

An image of the Rangeland Condition Monitoring Assessment and Projection (RCMAP) 2024 Bare Ground Departure Ecological Potential (EP). Full 2024 EP dataset: https://www.mrlc.gov/rangeland-viewer/ 

This map shows the Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) land cover classifications for 2024 for Bay County, Florida. Annual NLCD is produced by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Overall agreement (OAa) and standard error (SEa) (%) between Annual NLCD CU 1.0 at Anderson Level 1 land cover classes and primary (most likely) or alternate (but could be) land cover labels for CONUS, 1985-2023.

Locations of the 8,360 plots included in the reference dataset that were used in the accuracy assessment of Annual NLCD CU 1.0 (1985 – 2023). Each plot includes primary (most likely) and alternate (but could be) land cover type calls for 1984 – 2023.  

This Landsat 9 image showing the Beaufort Sea shoreline off of Alaska and Canada is just one of the scenes captured and processed on July 13, 2025— that day, the USGS EROS archive reached a milestone of one million Landsat 9 Level-1 products.  This false color image was made with bands 6,5, and 4 from the Operational Land Imager.