Latest in Landsat August 2024 - Vol. 3 | Issue 8
Landsat Is Vital to American Agriculture, Forests
2023 Earth Observation Assessment (EOA) Report touts Landsat
Recently Published Landsat News
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Landsat Archive Fills in Tundra Fire Gaps
Curiosity can be a strong motivator. It certainly was for Eric Miller of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Alaska Fire Service.
Landsat Informing Better Wetland Management in Australia and Africa
Wetlands and mangroves are vital for climate change mitigation and adaptation, as they support flood control, pollution absorption, and carbon storage. Earth observation technologies such as Digital Earth Australia and Digital Earth Africa provide data for informed conservation and restoration decisions, supporting sustainable management practices and enhancing climate resilience.
New report ranks USGS assets high among Earth observations systems surveyed
The United States Group on Earth Observations, also known as USGEO, recently released its 2023 Earth Observation Assessment (EOA) report focused on agriculture and forestry.
Landsat views California's largest fire to date in 2024
The Park Fire north of Sacramento in California forced thousands of residents to evacuate in late July as it spread to over 370,000 acres. The fire started on July 24th. Landsat 8 captured an image of the fire two days later. By July 27th, the burn scar had spread across a large area east of Red Bluff, California, as shown by Landsat 9 imagery. The fire is the largest so far this year in the state and ranks among the largest in state history.
Landsat 9 Path 44 Row 32 acquired July 27, 2024
Future Landsat acquisitions of the area will be available to use for further land cover change analysis by fire officials and scientists studying the area affected by the fire. For more than 50 years, the sensors onboard Landsat satellites have provided a beneficial resource for burn assessment studies.
Do you know STAC?
Tutorials Benefit Users Working with Landsat Collection 2 Data in the Cloud
A key highlight for Landsat Collection 2 (C2) was to provide the ability to analyze and access Landsat data more efficiently. Since Landsat C2 data are stored in the Amazon Web Service (AWS) commercial cloud platform, it's easier than ever to use, by utilizing the SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) metadata that accompany each product.
To assist in making using STAC easy, the USGS EROS User Services team created topic-based tutorials to help navigate accessing and processing Landsat data in the cloud. A few of these tutorials are also listed below.
More details about STAC can be found on the Landsat SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) webpage. General information about accessing Landsat data in the commercial cloud can be found on the Landsat Commercial Cloud Data Access webpage.
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Querying the Landsat SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog through Metadata Filtering
The Landsat STAC catalog provides a versatile and user-friendly interface for accessing and exploring the USGS Landsat Archive. Understanding the characteristics and differences between the various Landsat data products is helpful for choosing suitable data for your research and applications. This tutorial focuses on filtering the Landsat STAC catalog for products based on various criteria, includUsing the Landsat SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) for Band Selection and Retrieval
This tutorial will introduces the basics of selecting a subset of bands over a set area of interest (AOI) and time span, loading the desired cloud optimized geotiffs (COGs) into a Jupyter Notebook directly from the cloud, cropping the bands and creating a natural composite.Creating a Polygon GeoJSON AOI File
This quick guide shows users how to create a GeoJSON Area of Interest (AOI) file for querying in the Landsat SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) API to access Landsat datasets.
How dense is the Landsat Level-1 product archive?
The USGS Landsat archive holds over 50 years of Earth-Observing satellite data. This heatmap animation displays the density of Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 scene products from 1972 to 2023 that are available to download from the USGS EROS.
For an interactive display of this information, visit the Landsat Archive Dashboard.
New Landsat publications posted
While they are not currently active in the role of the Landsat Science Team, previous team members continue to provide useful research and insights to topics related to Landsat missions and broad usage of Landsat data in various journals and media outlets.
Some recently-added publications include results from ground-based absolute radiometric calibration of the Landsat 9 Operational Land Imager and cloud and shadow detection studies in Landsat data; and using Landsat time series data to map hydropower and crop dynamics in South America.
Visit the Landsat Science Team Publications to search and view over 5,700 published works supporting Landsat and remotely sensed data studies. New publications are added quarterly.
Don't miss these interesting items!
ECCOE Landsat Quarterly Calibration and Validation Reports
The USGS EROS Cal/Val Center of Excellence (ECCOE) Landsat Cal/Val Team continually monitors the geometric and radiometric performance of active Landsat missions and makes calibration adjustments as needed to maintain data quality at the highest level. Results of the analysis are summarized in quarterly USGS Open File Reports.
Landsat 9 Image of Phoenix Metropolitan Area
The Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, is comprised of more than 14,600 square miles and is considered the largest metropolitan area in the southwestern United States. The desert climate and abundant sunshine of the area are main factors in population growth and urban sprawl. This image displaying the Valley of the Sun was created from two Landsat 9…
Landsat Next
Landsat Next's launch in the early 2030s will ensure continuity of the longest space-based record of Earth’s land surfaces. The mission will substantially increase the breadth and quality of Earth observation data available to scientists, land managers, and others responsible for managing Earth's natural resources. Landsat Next’s constellation of three satellites will carry sensors that improve bo
NEW! USGS EROS Center Quarterly Newsletter
Don't miss the latest happenings at USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS)! Each quarterly issue contains interesting news, new Eyes on Earth podcasts, new Image of the Week additions, and more! Visit this USGS EROS Subscription page to receive the newsletter via email.
