West and East eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology - SOST for 2023
West and East eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology - SOST for 2023Western and Eastern region eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology Start of Season for 2023.
What is remote sensing and what is it used for?
Remote sensing is the process of detecting and monitoring the physical characteristics of an area by measuring its reflected and emitted radiation at a distance (typically from satellite or aircraft). Special cameras collect remotely sensed images, which help researchers "sense" things about the Earth. Some examples are:
- Cameras on satellites and airplanes take images of large areas on the Earth's surface, allowing us to see much more than we can see when standing on the ground.
- Sonar systems on ships can be used to create images of the ocean floor without needing to travel to the bottom of the ocean.
- Cameras on satellites can be used to make images of temperature changes in the oceans.
Some specific uses of remotely sensed images of the Earth include:
- Large forest fires can be mapped from space, allowing rangers to see a much larger area than from the ground.
- Tracking clouds to help predict the weather or watching erupting volcanoes, and help watching for dust storms.
- Tracking the growth of a city and changes in farmland or forests over several years or decades.
- Discovery and mapping of the rugged topography of the ocean floor (e.g., huge mountain ranges, deep canyons, and the “magnetic striping” on the ocean floor).
Related
What are the acquisition schedules for the Landsat satellites? What are the acquisition schedules for the Landsat satellites?
The Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 satellites orbit the Earth at an altitude of 705 kilometers (438 miles) in a 185 kilometer (115 miles) swath, moving from north to south over the sunlit side of the Earth in a sun synchronous orbit. Each satellite makes a complete orbit every 99 minutes, completes about 14 full orbits each day, and crosses every point on Earth once every 16 days. The satellite orbits...
What are the band designations for the Landsat satellites? What are the band designations for the Landsat satellites?
The sensors onboard each of the Landsat satellites were designed to acquire data in different wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum. View Bandpass Wavelengths for all Landsat Sensors The Multispectral Scanner (MSS) carried on Landsat 1,2,3,4 and 5 collected data in four ranges (bands); the Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor on Landsat 4 and Landsat 5 included those bands found on earlier...
What sensors does the Landsat 9 satellite carry? What sensors does the Landsat 9 satellite carry?
Landsat 9 carries the same instruments that are on the Landsat 8 satellite but with some improvements: Operational Land Imager (OLI) for reflective band data. Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) for the thermal infrared bands. OLI has a slightly improved signal-to-noise ratio over Landsat 8's OLI. Landsat 9’s TIRS is a Class-B instrument with a five-year design life and a key improvement of stray light...
What do the different colors in a color-infrared aerial photograph represent? What do the different colors in a color-infrared aerial photograph represent?
Color-infrared (CIR) aerial photography--often called "false color" photography because it renders the scene in colors not normally seen by the human eye--is widely used for interpretation of natural resources. Atmospheric haze does not interfere with the acquisition of the image. Live vegetation is almost always associated with red tones. Very intense reds indicate dense, vigorously growing...
Are the scanned aerial photographic images georectified? Are the scanned aerial photographic images georectified?
Scans of traditional aerial photography film products (air photos) are not georectified. The USGS does, however, offer several orthoimagery (georectified aerial photograph) products: Digital Orthophoto Quadrangle (DOQ) High Resolution Orthoimagery (HRO) National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP, NAIP Plus) NAIP orthoimagery has been collected for the entire conterminous United States every 3...
How do I download orthoimagery products and what are the available formats? How do I download orthoimagery products and what are the available formats?
Download orthoimagery (georectified aerial photographs) using EarthExplorer, which has the full catalog of USGS orthoimagery and aerial photography. EarthExplorer: Products Overview Format varies by type of orthoimagery: Native format, Georeferenced Tagged Image File Format (GeoTIFF), or compressed 10:1 JPEG2000 A NAIP orthoimage is included as an optional layer in the PDF format of digital...
West and East eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology - SOST for 2023
West and East eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology - SOST for 2023
West and East eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology - SOST for 2023Western and Eastern region eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology Start of Season for 2023.
PubTalk-05/2022 - Using Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well Spent
PubTalk-05/2022 - Using Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well SpentUsing Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well Spent
By Paul M. Young, Director of the USGS National Civil Applications Center
PubTalk-05/2022 - Using Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well Spent
PubTalk-05/2022 - Using Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well SpentUsing Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well Spent
By Paul M. Young, Director of the USGS National Civil Applications Center
How Remote Sensing Was Used To Detect Soil Erosion
How Remote Sensing Was Used To Detect Soil ErosionInformation from satellite imagery helped to differentiate areas vulnerable to soil erosion from off-highway vehicle use. For this study we developed a “P-factor” by scaling ground measurements of soil compaction to vehicle disturbances mapped from aerial imagery.
How Remote Sensing Was Used To Detect Soil Erosion
How Remote Sensing Was Used To Detect Soil ErosionInformation from satellite imagery helped to differentiate areas vulnerable to soil erosion from off-highway vehicle use. For this study we developed a “P-factor” by scaling ground measurements of soil compaction to vehicle disturbances mapped from aerial imagery.
10th Anniversary of Landsat's Free & Open Data Policy
10th Anniversary of Landsat's Free & Open Data PolicyLeaders in the field of remote sensing discuss working with Landsat data since it began in 1972. With the change to a free and open policy 10 years ago, new and exciting possibilities have opened up.
10th Anniversary of Landsat's Free & Open Data Policy
10th Anniversary of Landsat's Free & Open Data PolicyLeaders in the field of remote sensing discuss working with Landsat data since it began in 1972. With the change to a free and open policy 10 years ago, new and exciting possibilities have opened up.
USGS Drone for Remote Sensing
USGS Hydrologist Eric White flies a small drone equipped with a thermal infrared camera during a groundwater/surface-water exchange study.
USGS Hydrologist Eric White flies a small drone equipped with a thermal infrared camera during a groundwater/surface-water exchange study.
Landsat Image of Mount St. Helens on May 22, 1983
Land Remote Sensing Image of Mount St. Helens on May 22, 1983. The volcanic blast on May 18, 1980, devastated more than 150 square miles of forest within a few minutes. In this Landsat false-color images, forest appears as bright red interspersed with patches of logging. Snow appears white, and ash is gray.
Land Remote Sensing Image of Mount St. Helens on May 22, 1983. The volcanic blast on May 18, 1980, devastated more than 150 square miles of forest within a few minutes. In this Landsat false-color images, forest appears as bright red interspersed with patches of logging. Snow appears white, and ash is gray.
Related
What are the acquisition schedules for the Landsat satellites? What are the acquisition schedules for the Landsat satellites?
The Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 satellites orbit the Earth at an altitude of 705 kilometers (438 miles) in a 185 kilometer (115 miles) swath, moving from north to south over the sunlit side of the Earth in a sun synchronous orbit. Each satellite makes a complete orbit every 99 minutes, completes about 14 full orbits each day, and crosses every point on Earth once every 16 days. The satellite orbits...
What are the band designations for the Landsat satellites? What are the band designations for the Landsat satellites?
The sensors onboard each of the Landsat satellites were designed to acquire data in different wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum. View Bandpass Wavelengths for all Landsat Sensors The Multispectral Scanner (MSS) carried on Landsat 1,2,3,4 and 5 collected data in four ranges (bands); the Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor on Landsat 4 and Landsat 5 included those bands found on earlier...
What sensors does the Landsat 9 satellite carry? What sensors does the Landsat 9 satellite carry?
Landsat 9 carries the same instruments that are on the Landsat 8 satellite but with some improvements: Operational Land Imager (OLI) for reflective band data. Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) for the thermal infrared bands. OLI has a slightly improved signal-to-noise ratio over Landsat 8's OLI. Landsat 9’s TIRS is a Class-B instrument with a five-year design life and a key improvement of stray light...
What do the different colors in a color-infrared aerial photograph represent? What do the different colors in a color-infrared aerial photograph represent?
Color-infrared (CIR) aerial photography--often called "false color" photography because it renders the scene in colors not normally seen by the human eye--is widely used for interpretation of natural resources. Atmospheric haze does not interfere with the acquisition of the image. Live vegetation is almost always associated with red tones. Very intense reds indicate dense, vigorously growing...
Are the scanned aerial photographic images georectified? Are the scanned aerial photographic images georectified?
Scans of traditional aerial photography film products (air photos) are not georectified. The USGS does, however, offer several orthoimagery (georectified aerial photograph) products: Digital Orthophoto Quadrangle (DOQ) High Resolution Orthoimagery (HRO) National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP, NAIP Plus) NAIP orthoimagery has been collected for the entire conterminous United States every 3...
How do I download orthoimagery products and what are the available formats? How do I download orthoimagery products and what are the available formats?
Download orthoimagery (georectified aerial photographs) using EarthExplorer, which has the full catalog of USGS orthoimagery and aerial photography. EarthExplorer: Products Overview Format varies by type of orthoimagery: Native format, Georeferenced Tagged Image File Format (GeoTIFF), or compressed 10:1 JPEG2000 A NAIP orthoimage is included as an optional layer in the PDF format of digital...
West and East eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology - SOST for 2023
West and East eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology - SOST for 2023Western and Eastern region eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology Start of Season for 2023.
West and East eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology - SOST for 2023
West and East eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology - SOST for 2023Western and Eastern region eVIIRS Remote Sensing Phenology Start of Season for 2023.
PubTalk-05/2022 - Using Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well Spent
PubTalk-05/2022 - Using Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well SpentUsing Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well Spent
By Paul M. Young, Director of the USGS National Civil Applications Center
PubTalk-05/2022 - Using Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well Spent
PubTalk-05/2022 - Using Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well SpentUsing Military Remote Sensing Technology to Support Federal Civil Agency Science: Sunk Cost, Well Spent
By Paul M. Young, Director of the USGS National Civil Applications Center
How Remote Sensing Was Used To Detect Soil Erosion
How Remote Sensing Was Used To Detect Soil ErosionInformation from satellite imagery helped to differentiate areas vulnerable to soil erosion from off-highway vehicle use. For this study we developed a “P-factor” by scaling ground measurements of soil compaction to vehicle disturbances mapped from aerial imagery.
How Remote Sensing Was Used To Detect Soil Erosion
How Remote Sensing Was Used To Detect Soil ErosionInformation from satellite imagery helped to differentiate areas vulnerable to soil erosion from off-highway vehicle use. For this study we developed a “P-factor” by scaling ground measurements of soil compaction to vehicle disturbances mapped from aerial imagery.
10th Anniversary of Landsat's Free & Open Data Policy
10th Anniversary of Landsat's Free & Open Data PolicyLeaders in the field of remote sensing discuss working with Landsat data since it began in 1972. With the change to a free and open policy 10 years ago, new and exciting possibilities have opened up.
10th Anniversary of Landsat's Free & Open Data Policy
10th Anniversary of Landsat's Free & Open Data PolicyLeaders in the field of remote sensing discuss working with Landsat data since it began in 1972. With the change to a free and open policy 10 years ago, new and exciting possibilities have opened up.
USGS Drone for Remote Sensing
USGS Hydrologist Eric White flies a small drone equipped with a thermal infrared camera during a groundwater/surface-water exchange study.
USGS Hydrologist Eric White flies a small drone equipped with a thermal infrared camera during a groundwater/surface-water exchange study.
Landsat Image of Mount St. Helens on May 22, 1983
Land Remote Sensing Image of Mount St. Helens on May 22, 1983. The volcanic blast on May 18, 1980, devastated more than 150 square miles of forest within a few minutes. In this Landsat false-color images, forest appears as bright red interspersed with patches of logging. Snow appears white, and ash is gray.
Land Remote Sensing Image of Mount St. Helens on May 22, 1983. The volcanic blast on May 18, 1980, devastated more than 150 square miles of forest within a few minutes. In this Landsat false-color images, forest appears as bright red interspersed with patches of logging. Snow appears white, and ash is gray.
Updated Date: November 28, 2025