Videos

Cloud-free satellite views of Lake Saimaa in Finland are rare in January. But this Landsat 9 scene, captured on January 4th, reveals over 200 miles of winter shipping lanes. The water vapor from 3 large wood pulp factories can be seen on this shoreline. One is located in Lappeenranta, where the ice route begins.

The bushfire season in northern Australia generally runs from May to October. 2023 was an especially intense year in the north. Select infrared imagery from the Landsat archive was used here to produce a rolling mosaic timelapse of the landscape in eight-day segments.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is set to become the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa.

Located near the Sudan border in Ethiopia, the promising and controversial project impacts communities up and down the Blue Nile.

Landsat sensors capture the region in false color infrared, emphasizing the reservoir's boundary.

The home of the Landsat satellite archive is surrounded by corn and soybean fields. The archive is kept at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS) located near Sioux Falls, South Dakota. EROS is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

The Amazon Rainforest in South America typically experiences its drier season between the months of July and October. Satellite imagery from Landsats 9 and 8 show severe drought conditions in 2023 in comparison to 2022 when the area received average rainfall.

The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center maintains the largest civilian collection of images of the Earth’s land surface. At EROS we study land change and produce land change data products used by researchers, resource managers, and policymakers across the nation and around the world.

No Place for Flamingos on Fuente de Piedra.

Fuente de Piedra, a saltwater lagoon in southern Spain, is an important breeding site for thousands of flamingos. In 2023, the shallow wetland nearly completely dried up, leaving little space for the birds. Only a few dozen birds were seen on the lagoon this year, a situation that could impact tourism.

For 50 years, the people of EROS have overcome difficulties and celebrated triumphs together, always centered on providing a perspective of the Earth that helps us better understand its condition. This video, timed with the 50th anniversary celebration at EROS in August of 2023, explores the center's history.

Landsat satellites move in a polar orbit from north to south at over 27,000 kilometers per hour. For the ten meter antenna at EROS, a typical flyover, also known as a pass, lasts 14 minutes from horizon to horizon.

Smoke filled the skies over western Canada and even much of the United States in May 2023. The source was several wildfires in Alberta and British Columbia.

Near the end of May, rain and cooler temperatures finally brought some relief for the out-of-control fires.

The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center maintains the largest civilian collection of images of the Earth’s land surface. At EROS 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.

A winter of heavy rain causes flooding in California's Tulare Basin, threatening cropland. The basin was once the site of a large lake that appeared naturally every winter as rainfall and snowmelt from the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range flowed down and filled the basin. It was even known as the largest lake west of the Mississippi River.

This video covers the Bulk Download Web Application or BDWA, which allows you to download large quantities of satellite imagery and geospatial data. The BDWA is web based and compatible with Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. No additional downloads are required to use the BDWA.

An iceberg the size of Houston broke from the Brunt Ice Shelf Antarctica on January 22nd, 2023. Landsat images show the area one day before the break and several days after. A feature named Chasm One had been lengthening for years, and it finally reached all the way across the shelf.

Cheyenne Bottoms is the largest inland wetland in the United States. Water normally diverts from rivers into the vast marshland. The wetland water level changes with precipitation and surface flows. For example, 2007 was a wet year. And 2013 was a dry year.

We wouldn't have seasons here on Earth if not for the planet's 23.5 degree axial tilt. Axial tilt is also known as obliquity. Earth's obliquity and its relationship with the sun give us two solstice points and two equinox points. As we orbit through each solstice and equinox, the amount and angle of daylight change.

While the best soccer players in the world show off their footwork skills, the best Earth observation satellite program in the world displays its skill at detecting change over time. Landsat images show the rapidly growing city of Doha in Qatar. It's the country's capital and the location of the 2022 men's World Cup.

Two decades of drought are contributing to low water levels in reservoirs along the Colorado River, including Lake Powell.

Lake Powell’s highest recorded water level was in 1983. In this 1984 Landsat 5 image, the lake’s elevation was 3,702 feet above sea level.

Lake Mead and the Mega Drought.

Image of the Week.

Drought over the past 20 years in the Colorado River Basin, and a growing demand for water, have brought Lake Mead to historically low levels.

In 1972, the year Landsat 1 captured its first images, Lake Mead’s elevation was 1,155 above sea level.

This Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 (HLS) data animation shows the development of the Hermits Peak Fire which began on April 6, 2022, in the U.S. Forest Service Santa Fe National Forest. This video shows the fire as it spreads across the landscape from April 4, 2022, to August 2, 2022.

Landsat satellites have watched the Brunt Ice Shelf for nearly five decades. And now, Landsat 9 has joined in observing the changing surface.