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Landsat 4 First Light Image of Detroit

Detailed Description

The first Landsat 4 image was acquired over western Lake Erie on July 25, 1982, just 9 days after launch. This image shows the Detroit River dividing the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario while acting as a strait between Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair.

Although the Landsat program had been collecting images of the Earth since 1972, this was the first time that the data could be depicted as a natural color image due to the new Thematic Mapper sensor onboard Landsat 4. The Thematic Mapper not only had an increased spectral resolution but an improved geometric resolution as well.

Learn more about the mission by visiting the Landsat 4 web page

Sources/Usage

Public Domain.

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