Landsat Mission Headlines

2023

December 22, 2023  — Landsat 8, Landsat 9 Level-1 Product Processing Resumes 
On December 22nd, Landsat processing systems resumed operations after a brief interruption. Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 Level-1 products are again being created; however, a small number of scenes acquired since December 19, 2023, are being held for further analysis. (Read more)

December 21, 2023 — Interior Department Announces Landsat 2030 International Partnership Initiative
The Department of the Interior today announced the Landsat 2030 International Partnership Initiative, which will enhance U.S. and partner governments’ ability to sustainably manage their land, surface water and resource use. The announcement was made as part of the third convening of the Biden-Harris administration’s National Space Council, chaired by Vice President Harris. (Read more) 

December 21, 2023 — Landsat Level-1 Product Processing Temporarily Paused
Level-1 product processing of Landsat 7, Landsat 8, and Landsat 9 scenes acquired November 19, 2023, to the present has been paused while engineers investigate an issue with the processing systems. (Read more)

November 27, 2023 — New Landsat 9 Cloud Cover Assessment Validation Dataset Published
Clouds are unavoidable in space-borne optical imagery. Accurate, well-documented, and automated cloud detection algorithms are necessary to effectively leverage large collections of remotely sensed data. Manually generated cloud truth masks support the efficiency of the selected algorithms. (Read more)

November 16, 2023 — Landsat Supporting Greater International Water Security
Looking to the past to protect the future: Landsat products and tools informing water security initiatives around the world. (Read more)

November 16, 2023 — Landsat Level-1 Product Processing Resumes
The issues that affected the Landsat processing system earlier today have been resolved and Level-1 product processing has resumed. (Read more)

November 16, 2023 — Recently Processed Landsat 8 Products Removed from USGS Inventory
In October 2023, a Landsat 8 satellite anomaly forced Level-1 product processing to pause while the data acquired were assessed. After the satellite recovered and data acquisitions resumed, a number of scenes were processed with updated calibration information and made available for download. (Read more)

November 16, 2023 — Landsat 8, Landsat 9 Level-1 Product Processing Encountering Issues
Level-1 product processing of Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 scenes from November 15, 2023, to the present is suspended while engineers investigate an issue with the processing systems. (Read more)

November 9, 2023 — Landsat 7 Resumes Imaging after Brief Interruption
The Landsat 7 satellite resumed imaging on Wednesday, November 8, 2023 (DOY 312) at 21:19:44Z (3:19 CST), after a recently-discovered scheduling discrepancy was resolved. (Read more)

November 9, 2023 — Upcoming Maintenance to Cause Extended Data Access Interruption
On Wednesday, November 15, 2023, access to Landsat and other data stored in the USGS EROS archives will be unavailable from 7:00 a.m. CST to 6:00 p.m. CST for extended systems maintenance. Landsat data acquired during this work will be held for processing until maintenance is complete and systems resume nominal operations. (Read more)

November 7, 2023 — Landsat 7 Imaging Temporarily Suspended
Landsat 7 imaging was suspended on Tuesday November 7, 2023 (DOY 311) at 13:52:38 Z (7:52 a.m. CST) so the USGS/NASA Flight Operations Team (FOT) can investigate a scheduling discrepancy that developed from the orbital drift of the Landsat 7 satellite. (Read more)

November 6, 2023 — Data Affect by Recent Landsat 8 Anomaly Now Processed  
The data acquired during a recent Landsat 8 spacecraft anomaly have been validated by the USGS/NASA Calibration/Validation Team (CVT).  Many of the impacted scenes have now been processed to Level-1 products with updated Calibration Parameter Files. (Read more)

November 1, 2023 — Researchers Caution Use of Landsat Surface Reflectance Products for Long-Term Water Quality Studies
As its name suggests, Landsat was developed to monitor the Earth’s land surface, but the improved radiometric resolution and spectral coverage of Landsats 8 and 9 have provided a new avenue for water-column science targeting water transparency, in-water biomass, organic matter, suspended sediment, and the like.  A new paper advises the best product to use for water column studies. (Read more)

October 19, 2023 — Recent Landsat 8 Anomaly
Landsat 8 experienced a spacecraft anomaly on Tuesday, October 17th, 2023 (DOY 290), at 13:42:00 CDT (18:42:00 GMT) and was recovered later that evening at approximately 23:30:00 CDT (Wednesday, October 18th 04:30:00 GMT). Science data were collected throughout the event and are being held from processing while the USGS/NASA Calibration/Validation Team inspects the data. (Read more)

October 10, 2023 — One Hundredth Drag Make-Up Maneuver for Landsat 8
On October 5, 2023, at 2:26:00 EST (18:26:00 GMT), the Landsat-8 satellite executed it’s 100th Drag Make-Up Maneuver (DMU). The DMU is used to counteract the effects of atmospheric drag on the spacecraft and maintain orbit circulation as well as maintain the strict constraints on the projected spacecraft ground track. (Read more)

September 28, 2023 — Atmospheric Auxiliary Data Changes Affect Landsat 8-9 Level-2 Surface Reflectance Processing
Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 product processing requires atmospheric characterization auxiliary data from multiple external sources. Level-2 Surface Reflectance processing of the Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 data acquired on October 1, 2023, and onward will utilize a different atmospheric characterization auxiliary data source than what has been used previously. (Read more)

September 27, 2023 — Using the Power of Landsat and Digital Earth Tools to Understand Coastlines in Australia and Africa
How leading-edge Landsat based Earth observation products and tools are helping us to understand Africa’s and Australia’s coastlines.  (Read more)

September 25, 2023 — New Paper Promotes the 50-year Landsat Collection 2 Archive 
USGS Research Physical Scientist Dr. Chris Crawford led the efforts to document the rationale, the contents and advancements provided by Landsat Collection 2, and highlight the differences between the Collection 1 and Collection 2 products. The paper, which concludes with discussion of likely improvements expected in Collection 3 in preparation for the Landsat Next mission that is planned for launch in the early 2030s, can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.srs.2023.100103.  (Read more)

September 11, 2023 — Upcoming Webinar to Highlight Landsat
The USGS EROS User Experience Webinar Series includes presentations about data, tools, and services that impact users of data downloaded from the USGS EROS archive. The next webinar in the series, “Landsat: Products & Services from the USGS” will be held Tuesday, September 26, 2023, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. CDT. (Read more)

August 31, 2023 — Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group Held in Norway
The USGS Landsat International Cooperator Network, in coordination with the Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) and the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA), met for the Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group (LGSOWG) #51 meeting in Tromsø and Svalbard, Norway during the first week of August. (Read more)

August 9, 2023 — Upcoming Maintenance to Interrupt Data Access
On Wednesday, August 16, 2023, access to Landsat and other data stored in the USGS EROS archive will be unavailable from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm CDT for extended systems maintenance. (Read more)

July 19, 2023 — Moon Intrusion Forces Reprocessing of Landsat 9, Landsat 8 Scenes
The USGS/NASA Landsat Calibration and Validation Team (CVT) has recently identified additional Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 scenes that were impacted by the presence of the Moon in the calibration data. Thirty-seven Landsat 9 and 342 Landsat 8 Level-1 scenes were reprocessed on July 17 and July 18, 2023. (Read more)

July 12, 2023 — Landsat 9 Reprocessing Changes Thermal Data 
While conducting standard Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 Landsat product validation, the USGS Calibration/Validation Team at the EROS Center discovered that a corrupt Bias Parameter File (BPF) was applied to Landsat 9 Level-1 data that were acquired on June 30th and July 1st, 2023. (Read more)

June 26, 2023 — Changes Coming to Landsat’s Simple Notification Service on Amazon Web Service 
Updates being made this week to the commercial cloud access infrastructure at the USGS EROS Center will affect the Amazon Web Service (AWS) Simple Notification Service (SNS) topics that provide notifications whenever new Landsat products have been added to the Landsat archive on AWS.  (Read more)

June 19, 2023 — Upcoming Interruption to Landsat Commercial Cloud Access and Product Downloads
From 8:00 a.m. CDT Tuesday, June 27th to 4:00 p.m. CDT Wednesday June 28th, access to some Landsat Collection 2 products will be unavailable while required maintenance updates are made to the Amazon Web Service commercial cloud infrastructure at the USGS EROS Center. (Read more)

May 30, 2023 — Landsat Level-1 Data Processing Resumes 
On Sunday May 28, 2023 it was reported that Level-1 processing of all newly acquired Landsat 7, 8, and 9 data was halted due to system errors. After much investigation, the issue was resolved, and data processing resumed late on Tuesday, May 30th. (Read more)

May 28, 2023 — Technical Issues Pause Landsat Data Processing
As of Sunday, May 28, 2023: Technical issues are currently impacting the forward processing of new Landsat products. These issues are being investigated and will be resolved as soon as possible. Additional notices will be posted when updates are available. (Read more)

May 18, 2023 — Landsat 9 Data Reprocessing Complete, Level-3 Products Now Available
The effort to reprocess all Landsat 9 data held in the USGS EROS Archive since launch began in early March and recently completed and for the first time, produced Landsat 9 Level-3 science products. (Read more)

May 12, 2023 — Moon Impacts Recent Landsat 9 Thermal Imagery
The USGS/NASA Landsat Calibration and Validation Team discovered that four Landsat 9 intervals acquired on May 10, 2023, were impacted by the presence of the Moon in the data. (Read more)

May 1, 2023 — Final Landsat Update Issue 
Since 2000, Landsat Updates have provided important and timely updates about the USGS Landsat project. Recently we launched a new outlet to share news about Landsat. With this change, the May 2023 issue will be the final Landsat Update. (Read more)

April 25, 2023 — Landsat 8 Level-1 Product Processing Resumes
The processing of Landsat 8 Level-1 products has resumed, following a brief pause due to an error that occurred during a standard calibration collect by the satellite’s Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) on Friday April 21, 2023. (Read more)

April 24, 2023 — Temporary Pause in Landsat 8 Product Processing
Early on Friday, April 21, 2023, the USGS/NASA Landsat Flight Operations Team (FOT) was alerted of an error that occurred at 6:02 AM CDT (11:02z) during a standard calibration collect by Landsat 8’s Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS). (Read more)

April 24, 2023 — Landsat Collection 2 Digital Elevation Model Source Products Available
Several digital elevation model (DEM) sources are used in the processing of Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 products. These sources are based on specific geographic regions and contribute to improved vertical accuracy in Collection 2 when compared to data processed in the past. Together, these sources are all known as the Landsat Collection 2 DEM. (Read more)

April 21, 2023 — Fifteen Years of Open Data Allows Advancements in Landsat Use and Research
On this day in 2008, the USGS announced their plan to ‘open’ the USGS EROS Landsat archives, making all Landsat data available to download at no charge, to all users worldwide. Fifteen years later, in the “Year of Open Science”, Landsat continues to lead how Earth Observation data is utilized, and how Landsat data is used to support science and research efforts. (Read more)

April 10, 2023 — Upcoming Webinar to showcase new Bulk Download Web Application
A new bulk download application is now available to help facilitate downloads from the USGS EROS archive. An upcoming webinar will step through the application and highlight changes and best practices. (Read more)

April 5, 2023 — Landsat 9 Reprocessing Campaign Update
First announced in this February 2023 Landsat News, the reprocessing of the Landsat 9 archive is nearing the 50 percent completion point with about 150,000 Landsat 9 Collection 2 (C2) scenes submitted into Level-1 data processing. We estimate that this campaign will be completed in early May. (Read more)

April 3, 2023 — Landsat Spectral Characteristics Viewer Updated 
Originally released in 2006, recent changes to the Spectral Characteristics Viewer provide an improved user experience. (Read more)

March 30, 2023 — Bidding Farewell to Virginia T. Norwood, the Mother of Landsat
Virginia T. Norwood, a founding figure in the field of satellite land imaging, died on Sunday, March 26 at age 96. Known as the “Mother of Landsat,” Norwood designed the first space-based multispectral scanner that flew on the first Landsat—an instrument that went on to define many aspects of modern remote sensing. (Read more)

March 14, 2023 — Latest in Landsat Newsletter Volume 2 Issue 3
Read the latest Landsat News! (Read more)

March 13, 2023 — Landsat 9 Collection 2 Level-3 Products Now Available
The production of Landsat 9 Level-3 Dynamic Surface Water Extent (DSWE) and Fractional Snow Cover Area (fSCA) science products has begun in coordination with the Collection 2 Landsat 9 data reprocessing campaign. (Read more)

March 7, 2023 — Landsat 9 Data Processing Resumes after TIRS Anomaly
The USGS/NASA Calibration/Validation Team has completed their analysis and found that the radiometry and geometry of the Landsat 9 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) data acquired after the February 27, 2023 anomaly are of good quality and that a new Calibration Parameter File (CPF) does not need to be issued. This concurrence allows for the processing of Landsat 9 products to resume. (Read more)

March 3, 2023 — Landsat 9 TIRS Anomaly: Data Availability Update 
As of Friday, March 3, the processing of Landsat 9 data remains paused as the USGS/NASA Calibration/Validation Team (CVT) continue analyzing post-anomaly calibration and Earth image data to verify the usability of Landsat 9 TIRS data. (Read more)

March 2, 2023 — Current Landsat Science Team Reflects at Final Meeting 
The Winter 2023 USGS-NASA Landsat Science Team (LST) meeting was held February 7-9, 2023, at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada. (Read more)

March 1, 2023 — Recent Landsat 9 TIRS Anomaly Pauses Processing of New Landsat 9 Data
On the afternoon of February 27, 2023, the USGS/NASA Flight Operations Team (FOT) noticed dropped electrical currents in the Landsat 9 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS). Landsat 9 Collection 2 Level-1 product processing was immediately paused to allow the FOT to investigate and determine the cause. The Landsat 9 Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor was not affected by this anomaly. (Read more)

February 24, 2023 — Upcoming Reprocessing of all Landsat 9 Data
Landsat 9 Collection 2 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) data from the first year of operations will be reprocessed starting Wednesday, March 1, 2023. (Read more)

February 23, 2023 — Requesting Nominations for 2023 Pecora Award
Nominations have opened for the 2023 William T. Pecora Award, the 50th annual presentation, sponsored by the Department of the Interior and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Nominations are due May 1, 2023. (Read more)

February 10, 2023 — Celebrating a Decade of Landsat 8
Landsat 8 celebrates its tenth anniversary this week on Saturday, February 11, 2023. The technology of the satellite and its instruments, revolutionary in 2013, continues to provide important and timely data for scientific observation of the Earth’s land surfaces. Landsat 8 continues to image the Earth with Landsat 9 and Landsat 7. (Read More)

February 7, 2023 — Processing Plans Established for Data Affected by Landsat 8 Safehold 
Since recovering from the January 26, 2023, safehold that paused Landsat 8 data acquisitions, the USGS/NASA Calibration/Validation Team (CVT) have inspected the data acquired just prior, and shortly after the event, to determine if the data are of nominal Landsat geometric and/or radiometric quality. Many factors affect the processing of the Landsat 8 data affected by this safehold event. (Read more)

February 1, 2023 — Landsat 8 Data from Recent Safehold Available in Provisional State
On Thursday, January 26, 2023, an anomaly caused the Landsat 8 spacecraft to enter a safehold mode. The spacecraft recovered from the safehold on January 28, 2023. Since that time, the Landsat 8 Flight Operations Team has confirmed that all satellite subsystems are nominal, and imaging resumed.  (Read More)

January 30, 2023 — Landsat 8 Recovers from Safehold
On January 28, 2023, the Landsat 8 spacecraft recovered from the safehold event that began on January 26th. While the sensors onboard have resumed imaging, the data acquired are being assessed for quality and are not yet available for download.  (Read more)

January 27, 2023 — Landsat 8 Currently in Safehold
On Thursday, January 26, 2023 (DOY 26), an anomaly caused the Landsat 8 spacecraft to enter into a safehold mode. The sensors onboard suspended imaging at 9:38 p.m. CST (DOY 27, 03:38:07z). (Read more)

January 24, 2023 — 'Next' to Continue the NASA / USGS Landsat Legacy
With a trio of smaller satellites that can each detect 26 wavelengths of light and thermal energy, the Landsat Next mission is expected to look very different from its predecessors that have been observing Earth for 50 years. (Read more)

January 12, 2023 — 2022 from Landsat's View
Remember historic Landsat Mission events with the newest Landsat Storymap. (Read more)

January 11, 2023 — Latest in Landsat | January 2023
Volume 1 Issue 7. This year was huge for the Landsat Program. Landsat led the year by releasing Landsat 9 data, celebrating 50 years of Earth observation, and extending Landsat 7's mission. (Read the Issue)

January 3, 2023 — Ring in the New Year with Landsat Collection 2
As of December 30, 2022, Landsat Collection 1 data and science products are no longer downloadable from the USGS. However, Landsat Collection 2 data and science products from 1972 to present remain available for download. (Read more)

 

2022

December 5, 2022 — Landsat 7 Extended Science Mission to Continue into the New Year

Initially, when the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) resumed imaging after moving to a lower orbit in early 2022, it was decided to collect data through September to capture the Northern Hemisphere growing season. However, because the quality of the data remains nominal, and the health of the satellite remains steady, the ETM+ will continue data acquisitions into 2023. (Read more)

December 1, 2022 — Latest in Landsat | December 2022

Volume 1 Issue 7. All Landsat Collection 1 data and science products in the USGS archives will become unavailable at the end of December 2022. The ability to submit ESPA orders for Landsat Collection 1-based products will end on Friday, December 16, 2022. Collection 1 products will remain available for search and download through December 31, 2022. (Read the Issue)

November 30, 2022 — Landsat Collection 1 Datasets to be Removed on December 30, 2022

All Landsat Collection 1 data and science products in the USGS archives will become unavailable on December 30, 2022. Additionally, the ability to submit orders through the ESPA On-Demand Interface for Landsat Collection 1-based science products will end on Friday, December 16, 2022. (Read more)

November 15, 2022 — Landsat Technical Working Group meets in Germany

The USGS Landsat International Cooperator Network, in coordination with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), met for the Landsat Technical Working Group (LTWG) #31 meeting in Rostock, Germany during the first week of October. (Read more)

November 14, 2022 — November 2022 Landsat Update

In this issue, learn about the Landsat 9 handover celebration, new Collection 2 science products, the Pecora 22 Conference, interactive tools, and more. (Read more.)

November 1, 2022 — Latest in Landsat | November 2022

Volume 1 Issue 5. Collection 1 will retire by the end of 2022. New JACIE Compendium released. Landsat 9 Geometric Characteristics published. Read about all of it in this month's issue of the Latest in Landsat newsletter. (Read the Issue)

October 25, 2022 — New Publication Describes Landsat 9 Geometric Characteristics

A recent publication provided the results of the analysis done from the Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 underfly activities that took place in late 2021. (Read more.)

October 24, 2022 — USGS Landsat Presents New Science, Products at Pecora Symposium

William T. Pecora worked with other earth science visionaries to develop a land surface imaging program, Landsat. Although the director of the USGS from 1965 to 1971 died before seeing the first satellite launch in 1972, the William T. Pecora Memorial Remote Sensing Symposium honors the vision he worked toward: seeing Earth from a new angle. (Read more.)

October 3, 2022 — Latest in Landsat | October 2022

Volume 1 Issue 5. Collection 1 will retire by the end of 2022. The Pecora Remote Sensing Symposium will occur this October. Read about all of it in this month's issue of the Latest in Landsat newsletter. (Read the Issue)

September 20, 2022 — Landsat Calibration/Validation Team Earns NASA Award 

NASA has recognized the contributions of the Landsat 9 calibration/validation team with the Robert H. Goddard Award—Science. (Read more.)

September 8, 2022— Pecora 22 Program and Registration Now Available 

The 22nd William T. Pecora Memorial Remote Sensing Symposium (Pecora 22) will convene in Denver, Colorado, from October 24 – 27, 2022. (Read more.)

September 7, 2022 — Landsat Science Team Meets, Celebrates Landsat 9 Transition 

The 2018-2023 Landsat Science Team met for their summer meeting at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. on August 9-11, 2022. This first in-person meeting in 3 years was scheduled to allow the Team and all attendees to witness the formal transition of the Landsat 9 operations from NASA to the USGS. (Read more)

September 1, 2022 — Latest in Landsat | September 2022

Volume 1 Issue 4. Important milestones occurred during August 2022! The Landsat Science Team met and discussed the past, present, and future of Landsat. Two provisional Landsat science products were expanded to include Collection 2, global acquisitions, and Landsat 9 data. The Landsat 9 satellite transition from NASA to USGS occurred. (Read the Issue)

August 31, 2022 —Landsat Collection 1 Datasets to Be Removed by End of 2022 

All Landsat Collection 1 data and science products will be removed from USGS data access platforms by the end of 2022. This removal includes Level-1, Level-2, Level-3, and ESPA- related products. Collection 1 has not been updated with Landsat products since December 31, 2021. (Read more)

August 23, 2022 —Landsat 7 Data Acquired at a Lower Orbit Now Available

 Landsat 7 imaging resumed on May 5, 2022, at a lower orbit of 697 kilometers (km) after a series of maneuvers in early April lowered the satellite out of its standard 705-km WRS-2 orbit. Data from the Landsat 7 extended science mission are currently being released and will all be available by the end of August. (Read more)

August 19, 2022 —Event Celebrates a Satellite's New Phase and Landsat's Legacy 

On a pleasant, breezy summer day, a crowd gathered under a white event tent on the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center’s lawn to witness a milestone in the life of the Landsat 9 satellite on August 11, 2022.  (Read more)

August 11, 2022 —Landsat 9: USGS assumes control of newest satellite in Landsat program from NASA 

All systems go for extending 50-year portrait of planet Earth. The U.S. Geological Survey assumed complete operational control of the Landsat 9 satellite from NASA today at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in a ceremony featuring Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo and Cathy Richardson, deputy director of flight projects at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. (Read more)

August 4, 2022 —New Landsat Collection 2 Science Products Released

Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 Provisional Aquatic Reflectance (AR) and Level-3 Provisional Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) science products are now available. Landsat 9 is also now available for both products. (Read more)

August 2, 2022 — Latest in Landsat | August 2022

Volume 1 Issue 3. In this August issue, find images, stories, and videos highlighting Landsat 50th anniversary that occurred last month. (Read the Issue)

July 27, 2022 — Landsat Looks at the Moon 

Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 turned to watch a lunar eclipse, revealing dramatic and uneven temperature changes across our closest, but still sometimes surprising, celestial neighbor.  (Read more)

July 20, 2022 — Special Update: Landsat 50^th Anniversary 

Landsat Updates are prepared periodically and distributed electronically to provide information about Landsat activities and related topics of interest. (Read more)

July 13, 2022 — Select Landsat 8 Scenes Acquired in May Recently Reprocessed 

Fifty-eight Landsat 8 scenes acquired from WRS-2 Paths 95, 111, and 127 from May 17, 2022 (DOY137) were reprocessed on July 12, 2022. (Read more)

July 12, 2022 — Reminder: Upcoming Interruption to Landsat Data Processing and Distribution, Web Sites 

Maintenance planned for Saturday, July 16, 2022, will cause an extended interruption of Landsat data processing and data distribution portals.  (Read more)

July 11, 2022 — STAC Metadata Release Includes Improved Geometric Accuracy Standards, Records Management 

All Landsat Collection 2 data stored in the Amazon Web Service (AWS) cloud platform include SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) metadata. A recent STAC release incorporated improved geometric accuracy. (Read more)

July 6, 2022 — Reprocessed Landsat 9 Data Acquired from June 20-21, 2022

The Landsat Calibration and Validation Team identified 130 Landsat 9 scenes acquired from June 20-21, 2022, over a period of nine hours, that were affected with the presence of the Moon in the data. (Read more)

July 6, 2022 — Latest in Landsat | July 2022

Volume 1 Issue 2. The golden 50th anniversary of the U.S. Landsat program occurs this July. In this issue, read about the history of the Landsat program, learn about recent updates to accessing Landsat data, and catch up on highlighted Landsat publications. (Read the Issue)

July 5, 2022 —New and Improved Bulk Data Download Application Available

An improved way to download large quantities of Landsat and other data from the USGS EROS archive is now available. (Read more)

June 27, 2022 — Upcoming Maintenance to Interrupt Landsat Data Processing and Distribution 

Maintenance planned for Saturday, July 16, 2022, will cause an extended interruption of Landsat data processing and data distribution portals.  To prepare for this work, all Landsat data processing and data distribution systems will be taken offline during the afternoon (after 12:00 p.m. CDT) on Friday, July 15, 2022. (Read more)

June 22, 2022 — Missed Imaging Opportunity for Landsat 8

On June 14, 2022 (DOY165), Landsat 8 missed imaging opportunities due to an issue with the payload scheduling software. The issue was quickly identified, and a correction was implemented to resolve it going forward. (Read more)

June 22, 2022 — Newly Updated EarthNow! Landsat Image Viewer Includes Landsat 9 

Landsat 9 acquisitions were recently added to EarthNow!, and now both Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 passes can be viewed as they happen. Another update added to the viewer is the detection of fires or hot spots. (Read more)

June 17, 2022 —Upcoming Interruption to Landsat Collection 2 Data Access 

Access to Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 and Level-2 data via USGS data access portals will be unavailable on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, for inventory database upgrades. The work is expected to take 8-9 hours. (Read more)

June 16, 2022 —Select Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 Data Reprocessed

Select Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 data from 1984 to 2020 were reprocessed on June 2, 2022, due to an intermittent issue that did not allow them to be processed to Level-2 science products. (Read more)

June 16, 2022 — New GloVis Release Features Includes Landsat Collection 2

The USGS Global Visualization Viewer (GloVis) has been updated to add Landsat Collection 2 and include Landsat 9 scenes. (Read more)

June 15, 2022 — Latest in Landsat | June 2022

Volume 1 Issue 1. View the June issue of Latest in Landsat for up-to-date information on the Landsat program. In this June 2022 issue read highlights from an international partner meeting, explore published Landsat articles, and dive into new interactive tools.(Read the Issue)

June 10, 2022 — Receive the Latest in Landsat Directly to Your Inbox

USGS Landsat is moving to a new newsletter delivery system. Receive the Latest in Landsat monthly newsletter directly in your inbox. Latest highlights current news, applications, tools, and announcements about the USGS/NASA Earth-observing satellite. (Read more)

June 9, 2022 — Landsat 9 Data to be Reprocessed at the End of 2022

All Landsat 9 Collection 2 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) data will be reprocessed at the end of 2022 to take advantage of calibration updates identified during the first year of operation. (Read more)

June 2, 2022 — Upcoming GloVis Release Includes Interface Improvements, Landsat Collection 2

On June 15, 2022, a new release of the USGS Global Visualization Viewer (GloVis) will add Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 data, which includes Landsat 9 scenes. In addition to adding new datasets, several improvements will be made to the GloVis interface during this release. (Read more)

May 19, 2022 — Landsat 9 Products Now Available from ESPA

Landsat 9 Collection 2 products can now be requested for processing from the EROS Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) On Demand Interface. (Read more)

May 18, 2022 — Published Works Demonstrate Dedication and Caliber of Landsat Science Team Members

Landsat Science Team members publish their research and results for the benefit of the remote sensing community. Their publications can be found in remote-sensing journals and periodicals, conference presentations, book sections and reports. Nearly 5,000 of discovered published works have been compiled into one list. (Read more)

May 9, 2022 — Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group 50th Meeting Held in Pretoria, South Africa

The USGS Landsat International Cooperator Network, in coordination with the South African National Space Agency (SANSA), held the first in person Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group (LGSOWG) #50 meeting since 2019 in Pretoria, South Africa during the first week of May. (Read more)

April 25, 2022 —Explore the Landsat Archive with New Interactive Map

Explore the USGS Landsat archive with the Landsat Archive Dashboard. Now available, the interactive map displays Landsat data products over their orbit path. This tool enables users to search and discover the Landsat archive in a new, innovative manner. (Read more)

April 19 —Landsat 7 Lowered from Standard Landsat Orbit

For the first time since May 1999, the Landsat 7 satellite has left the Worldwide Reference System-2 (WRS-2) orbit. Following two maneuvers, the satellite was lowered last week to an altitude of 701 kilometers, placing it outside the official envelope of the Earth Observation Satellite (EOS) constellation. (Read more)

April 18, 2022 — How Do You Landsat?

The Landsat Program wants to know, “How do you Landsat?” A new interactive tool was created to highlight articles and publications featuring Landsat data for research, applications, and developing methodologies. (Read more)

April 13, 2022 — Upcoming Extended Interruption to Landsat Data Access

Starting at 8:00 PM CDT on Friday, April 15, 2022, USGS data access portals will be unavailable due to archive database upgrades. Data access portals will remain unavailable until 12:00 PM CDT on Monday, April 18, 2022. (Read more)

April 7, 2022 — Reprocessing Landsat 9 Data Acquired from March 22 - 24, 2022

The USGS/NASA Landsat Flight Operations and Landsat Calibration and Validation Team have identified a number of Landsat 9 calibration intervals acquired from March 22-24, 2022, that were affected with the presence of the Moon in the data. (Read more)

March 31, 2022 — Landsat Update Available

Landsat Updates are prepared periodically and distributed electronically to provide information about Landsat activities and related topics of interest.(Read more)

March 31, 2022 — Landsat 7 Nominal Science Mission Ending

On April 6, 2022, the ETM+ sensor will be placed into “stand-by” mode as a series of spacecraft burns are performed throughout the month of April to lower the satellite’s orbit by 8 kilometers. Data acquired after the satellite reaches the lower servicing orbit will be assessed for data quality and usability. (Read more)

March 22, 2022 — Landsat 9 Data Processing Resumes

The processing of Landsat 9 data held during the recent Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) anomaly has resumed. (Read more)

March 21, 2022 — Landsat Collection 2 Level 3 Science Products Available

Landsat Collection 2 Level-3 Dynamic Surface Water Extent, Burned Area, Fractional Snow-Covered Area, and Fractional Snow-Covered Area Statistics products are now available for download from the USGS. (Read more)

March 18, 2022 — Landsat 9 Thermal Infrared Imaging Update

As reported on March 14, the Landsat 9 Thermal Infrared Sensor experienced an issue with the on-board software on March 12, 2022 (DOY 071) and thermal infrared data acquisitions were suspended temporarily. Starting late Friday March 18, 2022, thermal infrared imaging will resume. (Read more)

March 14, 2022 — Landsat 9 thermal infrared data acquisitions suspended temporarily 

The Landsat 9 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS-2) experienced an issue with the on-board software on March 12, 2022 (DOY 071).  As a result, TIRS-2 science imaging has been suspended temporarily.  A software patch has been developed and will be applied in the coming days. (Read more)

March 8, 2022 —Landsat 9 Calibration Parameters Updated 

The USGS and NASA Cal/Val team is updating the Landsat 9 calibration parameters on March 8, 2022. These updates reduce banding between the 14 focal plane modules visible in the SWIR-2 band (Band 7) of Landsat 9's Operational Land Imager. (Read more)

March 3, 2022 — Landsat 9 User Handbook Now Available

The Landsat 9 Data User Handbook is now available for download from the Landsat Missions Web Site. (Read more)

February 25, 2022 —2022 William T. Pecora Award Nominations Now Being Accepted

Submit nominations by April 15, 2022. (Read more)

February 15, 2022 — Landsat 9 Data Now Available in the Cloud

As of February 15, 2022, Landsat 9 Collection 2 Level-1, Level-2, and U.S. Analysis Ready Data (ARD) data are available via the commercial cloud. (Read more)

February 10, 2022 — Landsat 9 Data Release Extends Unparalleled Earth Observation Archive

Imagery from the newest satellite in the USGS Landsat fleet is now open and available to the world. (Read more)

February 10, 2022 — USGS Opens Door to Landsat 9 Data

The U.S. Geological Survey will make Landsat 9 data available from the Landsat archive beginning February 10, 2022. (Read more)

February 4, 2022 — Pecora Abstract and Special Session Deadline Extended to March 15, 2022

The deadline for Special Sessions and Abstracts has been extended to March 15, 2022. (Read more)

January 19, 2022 —Pecora 22: Call for Abstracts

Pecora 22 Call for Abstracts: Opening the Aperture to Innovation: Expanding Our Collective Understanding of a Changing Earth.  (Read more)

 

 

2021

December 29, 2021 — Landsat: 2021 Year in Review 2021 has been monumental for the Landsat program: a newly launched satellite and 10 million scenes in the archive mark two high points. 

December 22, 2021 — Landsat data acquired after December 31, 2021 will not be available in Collection 1 Landsat Collection 1 based forward processing will remain in effect for data acquired through December 31, 2021, concurrent with Landsat Collection 2 based forward processing.

December 15, 2021 —Landsat Archive Adds Its 10 Millionth Image Since 1972, Landsat satellites have continually acquired data about the Earth’s land surface. On November 23, 2021, the Landsat Archive that stores this vital record added its ten millionth scene. 

December 13, 2021 — Landsat Science Team Meeting Virtually Held NASA and the USGS briefed the Landsat Science Team about Landsat 9 at their Fall Meeting held virtually on November 24, 2021.

December 8, 2021 — Landsat Missions Web Site Changes On Tuesday December 7, 2021, updates were made to all USGS webpages, including the Landsat Missions Web Site.

November 23, 2021 — Upcoming Changes to Landsat 7 and 8 CPF RSS Filenames As of December 1, 2021, the locations and filenames of RSS feeds that alert you to new Calibration Parameter Files (CPF) for Landsat 8 and Landsat 7 data will be changing. 

November 15 — Underfly Positions Landsat 9 Below Landsat 8 for Simultaneous Scenes The newly launched Landsat 9 is experiencing a once-in-a-mission lifetime event where its orbit is directly below Landsat 8 for an “underfly.”

November 8 — First Images of Earth Taken by the Landsat 9 Satellite Released Landsat 9, a joint mission from the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA that launched Sept. 27, has collected its first images of Earth. 

October 25, 2021 — ESPA now includes Landsat Collection 2 Normalized Difference Snow Index A new science product easily separates snow from vegetation in processed Landsat Collection 2 scenes from 1982 to present.

October 18, 2021 — October 2021 Landsat Update A new issue of the Landsat Update is available!  This issue contains the following articles: Landsat 9 Reaches Orbit, Pecora 22: Celebrating 50 years of Landsat, Landsat Collection 2 Analysis Ready Data, and more. 

October 12, 2021 — Reminder: Historic Prototype Viewers to be Decommissioned As reported on September 17, 2021, the USGS is retiring the original LandsatLook 1.0 (now LandLook) and Sentinel2Look viewers Friday, Oct 15, 2021. 

October 5, 2021— Landsat 9 Power-Positive and Proceeding Smoothly Through On-Orbit Checkout Landsat 9 successfully launched on Monday, Sept 27, 2021 at 11:12 a.m. PDT and is now proceeding smoothly and accordingly through its scheduled on-orbit checkout period. 

October 1, 2021 — Landsat 9 Reaches Orbit, Makes Ground Contact to Continue Legacy Landsat 9 is functioning as expected after its successful launch at 1:12 p.m. CT Monday, Sept. 27, from Vandenberg Space Force Base to join its two predecessors in orbit. 

September 22, 2021 — EROS, Landsat 9 Ground System Ready for Launch The launch of Landsat 9 in late September of 2021 represents a major milestone for a five-decade partnership between NASA and the USGS that continues to set the standard for high-quality Earth observation. 

September 21, 2021 — NASA TV to Air Landsat 9 Launch, Prelaunch Activities NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for the Landsat 9 satellite, a joint NASA and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mission that will continue the legacy of monitoring Earth’s land and coastal regions that began with the first Landsat satellite in 1972. 

September 17, 2021 - Historic Prototype Viewers to be Decommissioned On October 15, 2021, the USGS is retiring the LandsatLook 1.0 (now LandLook) and Sentinel2Look prototype viewers. 

September 17, 2021 — Landsat 9: Payloads stacked atop Atlas V for launch The Landsat 9 spacecraft that will continue an unbroken, decades-long record of observing the changes of planet Earth and a CubeSat rideshare package are mounted atop the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. 

September 16, 2021 — A Legacy Continues with Landsat 9 Launch Landsat 9 is a partnership between NASA and USGS. The satellite will continue the Landsat program’s mission to capture repeat snapshots of Earth to monitor, understand and manage natural resources.  

September 16, 2021 — Landsat Collection 2 U.S. Analysis Ready Data Now Available Landsat Collection 2 (C2) U.S. Analysis Ready Data (ARD) are now available to download from the USGS. C2 ARD are tiled, georegistered, top of atmosphere, and atmospherically corrected products defined in a common projection that make the Landsat archive more accessible, easier to analyze, and reduce the amount of time users spend on data processing for time-series analysis. 

September 7, 2021 — Landsat 9: Dress Rehearsal of Launch Day Completed Putting the launch team, rocket and California pad to the test, United Launch Alliance (ULA) spent Friday rehearsing the countdown to launch an Atlas V and the Landsat 9 spacecraft to continue building the longest satellite record of its kind to map natural and human-induced changes to the Earth's surface. 

September 3, 2021 — Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 Atmospheric Auxiliary Data Now Available Atmospheric auxiliary data used in the processing of Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 products are available for download to enable users to generate their own Level-2 surface reflectance and surface temperature products from Collection 2 Level-1 calibrated data using custom algorithms. 

August 25, 2021 — Experience the Landsat 9 Launch The Landsat 9 satellite is on schedule to launch on September 16 from Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, California. The city of Lompoc has declared the week of September 12 as "Landsat Week’.

August 20, 2021 — Landsat 9 Stowed and Sealed for Delivery to Orbit As reported in a recent NASA News Release, the Landsat 9 observatory has been encapsulated in the fairing of the Atlas V 401 rocket that will deliver it into orbit this September.

August 19, 2021 — Landsat 9 Passes Last Key Decision Point Before Launch As reported in a recent NASA News Release, the Landsat 9 project passed its final major lifecycle approval gateway on Tuesday, August 10, 2021. 

July 29, 2021 — Landsat Science Team Meets to Discuss Landsat 9 The Landsat Science Team met recently to hear from NASA and the USGS on the readiness of supporting systems for the upcoming launch of Landsat 9, which is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday, September 16, 2021.

July 28, 2021 — Pecora 22 Call for Special Session Proposals Session proposals for the 22nd William T. Pecora Memorial Remote Sensing Symposium (Pecora 22) are due August 27, 2021. Pecora 22 will be held in Denver, CO Oct.23 – 28, 2022.

July 22, 2021 — Landsat 9 Arrives at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Preparation for Launch As reported in a recent NASA News Release, the Landsat 9 satellite arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on July 7, 2021.

July 8, 2021 - Get Crafty with Landsat NASA Invites You to Create Landsat-Inspired Arts and Crafts. 

July 7, 2021 - ESPA now includes Collection 2 Spectral Indices and Services A new software release to the EROS Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) On Demand Interface includes Landsat Collection 2 spectral indices and services. 

July 6, 2021-New Data Access Tool Offers Faster, More User-Friendly Landsat Experience A new and improved data tool released by the USGS, known as LandsatLook 2.0 Viewer, will make it easier and faster to access earth imagery and simpler to analyze through the use of cloud-based systems. 

June 21, 2021 - Landsat Update: June 2021 A new issue of the Landsat Update is available.  In this issue, you'll find details on how new technology is being used in relation to the Landsat 9 launch, important information about Landsat Collection 1, updates to Landsat data products and tools, upcoming meetings, and other Landsat-related news.

June 9, 2021 - Landsat Collection 1 Forward Processing to Cease at the End of 2021 Starting January 1, 2022, all new Landsat acquisitions will be processed into the Collection 2 inventory structure only. Users are encouraged to migrate their workflow to Landsat Collection 2 at their earliest convenience. 

March 26, 2021 - Reprocessing of Landsat 8 Data Acquired from November 2020 to February 2021 is Now Complete New Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) calibration parameters were successfully used to reprocess acquisitions from November 1, 2020 to February 19, 2021 into Collection 2 and Collection 1 products.

February 25, 2021 - Reprocessing of Landsat 8 data acquired from November 2020 to February 2021 As previously announced in previous headlines, USGS and NASA calibration and validation engineers observed a slow reduction in the radiometric response from Landsat 8's Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) after ​November 01, 2020. Reprocessing efforts will begin on March 1, 2021.

February 16, 2021 - Landsat Collection 2 Reprocessing of Landsat 8 Images Acquired in 2015 During Landsat Collection 2 data processing in 2020, several Landsat 8 images acquired from Nov 1 and Nov 2, 2015 were processed to Level-1 products with misaligned Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) spectral bands. These images were quickly identified and removed from the USGS archive soon after the release of Collection 2 on Dec 1, 2020.

February 9, 2021 - 2021 William T. Pecora Award Nominations Now Being Accepted Nominations for the 2020 William T. Pecora Award are now being accepted through May 14, 2021. The Award is presented annually to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing. 

January 29, 2021 - Update on Upcoming Reprocessing of Landsat 8 Data The Landsat Calibration/Validation Team will continue monitoring the TIRS instrument response with higher frequency calibration collects through the end of Feb 2021. 

January 20, 2021 - New Landsat Update - January 2021 Learn about Landsat Collection 2, the new Mission Operation Center at USGS/EROS, Landsat Mission Status and more. 

January 14, 2021 - Upcoming Reprocessing of Recently Acquired Landsat 8 Data Since ​November 2020, NASA and USGS calibration and validation engineers have observed a slow reduction in radiometric response from Landsat 8's Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS). The current impact is that TIRS's image products are 1 to 3 percent ​colder than expected.

 

2020

December 18, 2020 —  Landsat 9 Launch Delay Raises Questions about Science Data Acquisitions The slipping of Landsat 9’s original launch readiness date from December 2020 to September 2021 brings with it uncertainty to the Landsat user community, but no real panic at this point. 

December 17, 2020 — Every Pixel in its Place: How Collections Unlock the Potential of the Landsat Archive Landsat satellite data have never been as valuable or as useful to the science and applications community as they are today. 

December 9, 2020 —  Landsat 8 Data Affected by Safehold Being Reprocessed With calibration analysis complete, Landsat 8 data from recent safeholds will be reprocessed into tiered-products (T1 or T2) starting on December 9, 2020.

December 9, 2020 — Immediate Change in Landsat Headlines RSS Notifications Effective immediately, the Landsat Headlines RSS notifications will be changing. 

December 7, 2020 — New Landsat Update Special Issue: Landsat Collection 2 Now Available A new issue of the Landsat Update has been posted to the Landsat Missions website.

December 2, 2020 — USGS Releases the Most Advanced Landsat Archive to Date USGS sets earth observation precedent with Landsat Collection 2 Dataset.

November 20, 2020 — Upcoming Landsat Processing Interruption The Level-1 processing of Landsat 8 and Landsat 7 data acquired on Monday, November 23 and Tuesday, November 24, 2020 will be delayed due to processing systems updates. 

November 19, 2020 — Landsat 8 Data Availability Update from Recent Safehold Events The Landsat 8 Flight Operations Team has successfully restored the Operational Land Imaging (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) instruments to nominal operations and resumed imaging of OLI/TIRS combined data on November 14, 2020.

November 13, 2020 — Landsat 8 Placed in Safehold On Thursday, November 12, 2020 (DOY 317), Landsat 8 experienced a spacecraft anomaly and was put into a safehold mode. Overnight the Landsat 8 Flight Operations Team was able to successfully restore the spacecraft to nominal operations. 

November 10, 2020 — Landsat 8 Data from Safehold Available in Provisional State Landsat 8 Real-Time (RT) products acquired from November 4, 2020 (DOY 309) to present are available for download but remain provisional. 

November 6, 2020 — Landsat 8 Safehold Update This week, the Landsat 8 Flight Operations Team has successfully restored the Operational Land Imaging (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) instruments to their optimal temperature in order to resume imaging. 

November 2, 2020 —  Landsat 8 Currently in Safehold On Sunday, November 1, 2020, a spacecraft anomaly caused Landsat 8 to enter into safehold. The spacecraft is stable and safe at this time. 

October 15, 2020 — Upcoming Reprocessing of Landsat 8 Data Acquired During 2019 Safehold On October 19, 2020, 4,764 Landsat 8 scenes acquired from December 12, 2019 (DOY 346) to December 19, 2019 (DOY 353) will be reprocessed to apply the correct BPFs in the impacted Landsat Collection 1 Level-1 data. 

October 8, 2020 — Landsat 7 Acquisitions Lost Due to Ground Station Antenna Issue On October 5, 2020, a ground station reception issue resulted in the loss of scheduled Landsat 7 acquisitions. 

October 5, 2020 —  Recent Changes to Landsat Mission Web Site URLs Web Site addresses were recently changed following a USGS organizational change. 

September 25, 2020 — Landsat Archive Adds Nine Millionth Scene The world’s longest continuously collected Earth observation archive added its nine millionth scene this week. Landsat 8, launched in 2013, acquired the scene on Saturday, September 19, 2020 over northern Paraguay. 

July 31, 2020 — Calibration Test Site Becomes Agricultural Hotspot The Landsat satellites were designed to detect landscape changes over time. However, sometimes what Landsat needs to see on the Earth’s surface is no change at all. 

July 16, 2020 — New Landsat Acquisition Processing Delays Expected Starting Wednesday, July 22, 2020, Level-1 processing of newly acquired Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 data will be delayed for up to 4 days while Landsat Operations systems are prepared to support the mid-2020 public availability of Landsat Collection 2. 

July 13, 2020 — New publication describing Landsat Burned Area Algorithm and Products for the United States A new publication in the journal of Remote Sensing of the Environment by Hawbaker et al., (2020) describes the Landsat Burned Area algorithm, the products produced, and new validation metrics. The paper describes the spatial and temporal patterns of burned areas across the conterminous U.S., how burned area varies in relation to the number of operational Landsat sensors, and a comparison with other burned area product datasets. 

June 30, 2020 — Landsat Provisional Actual Evapotranspiration Science Product Now Available The USGS has released an on-demand Landsat Provisional Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) Science Product that will be useful in understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of water use over land surfaces and for monitoring hydrologic, agricultural, and environmental systems. 

June 25, 2020 — Landsat 8 Data from December 2019 Safehold Recently Processed In late May 2020, Landsat 8 data that were acquired after a December 2019 spacecraft safehold event were reprocessed and made available for download as “OLI-only” scenes.

June 11, 2020 — From Concept to Reality, USGS Land Change, Monitoring, Assessment and Projection Pushes Boundaries in Service of Science The USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) initiative has released its first suite of land cover change and landscape change products, an unmatched record of land cover and change for the United States, one that characterizes the dynamics of the landscape across the conterminous United States through 33 years of its history. 

April 23, 2020 — New Landsat Update Special Issue: Landsat Collection 2 Overview In mid-2020, Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 and Level-2 surface reflectance and surface temperature scene-based products will be publicly available for download. Landsat Collection 2 will improve data quality and provide more accurate information for applications using Landsat, including time-series analysis, resulting in more informed decision-making. For more information visit the Landsat Update Special Issue April 2020

April 13, 2020 — William T. Pecora Award Nomination Deadline Extended The deadline for 2020 William T. Pecora Award nominations has been extended to June 1, 2020.

April 13, 2020 — Updated Landsat Collection 2 Sample Products and Metadata Information Now Available The USGS is approaching the final phases of preparing to process and make available Landat Collection 2 to the user community in early 2020.

April 6, 2020 — Landsat 9 Ground System and Mission Operation Plans Well on Track for Launch Landsat 9 has successfully passed its Mission Operations Review. Together, NASA and USGS demonstrated that the Landsat 9 ground system and mission operation preparations are highly mature. 

April 1, 2020 — Landsat 8 Provisional Aquatic Reflectance Science Product Now Available The USGS has released an on-demand Landsat 8 Provisional Aquatic Reflectance Science Product that will be useful in monitoring water quality, mapping chlorophyll concentrations, and measuring the inherent optical properties of water.

March 20, 2020 — William T Pecora Award Nominations Now Being Accepted Nominations for the 2020 William T. Pecora Award are now being accepted through May 1, 2020. 

March 18, 2020 — Landsat 8 Recorder Playback Issue Results in Missed OLI Acquisitions On March 13, 2020 (DOY 073) at 18:27 UTC, a playback channel on the Landsat 8 satellite became disabled, resulting in the Solid State Recorder (SSR) Auto Playback function to stop working nominally. 

March 17, 2020 — Landsat Data Moving to Public Cloud in Early 2020 The USGS is placing a copy of its consolidated Landsat global data inventory into a commercial cloud in early 2020. The move to the cloud is designed to reduce the time needed to create new products and to reprocess the Landsat data inventory into a new Collection. 

March 13, 2020 — A Landsat Milestone: One Hundred Million Downloads When the world began downloading the first freely available Landsat images on Oct. 1, 2008, a lot of people wondered just how much imagery would fly out of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) web-enabled doors. The answer, it turns out, was a lot.

March 11, 2020 — Landsat Downloads Top 100 Million On March 9, 2020, the 100 millionth Landsat scene was downloaded from the Landsat data archive at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

March 9, 2020 — Winter 2020 Landsat Science Team Materials Available The USGS-NASA Landsat Science Team convened February 4 - 6 , 2020 at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Department of the Interior,  in Phoenix, Arizona for their biannual meeting. 

March 3, 2020 — William T Pecora Award Nominations Now Being Accepted The William T. Pecora Award is presented annually to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing. The Department of the Interior (DOI) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) jointly sponsor the award. Nominations for the 2020 William T. Pecora Award are now being accepted through May 1, 2020. 

February 4, 2020 — Landsat Science Team Meeting in Arizona The 2018-2023 Landsat Science Team is convening for their Winter meeting Tuesday, February 4 through Thursday, February 6 at the Arizona State Office, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Phoenix, Arizona.

January 17, 2020 — Latest Landsat 8 Safehold Update On December 19, 2019 at approximately 12:23 UTC, Landsat 8 experienced a spacecraft constraint which triggered entry into a Safehold. The Landsat 8 Flight Operations Team recovered the satellite from the event on December 20, 2019 (DOY 354). Since December 31, 2019 (DOY 365), the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) has resumed nominal on-orbit operations and ground station processing, and all data achieve pre-Safehold quality. 

January 16, 2020 — Upcoming  Landsat 8 Bias Parameter File Regeneration Starting Tuesday, January 21, 2020, all Landsat 8 Bias Parameter Files (BPFs) created prior to December 5, 2019 will be removed from the Landsat Bias Parameter Files search page and regenerated in preparation for Landsat Collection 2.  The BPFs are being updated to incorporate minor changes made to the Calibration Parameter Files (CPFs), which are used in the generation of BPFs.  The updated BPFs will be regenerated from oldest to newest, up until December 4, 2019. This activity is expected to take approximately 2 weeks. 

January 13, 2020 — Landsat 9: The Pieces Come Together Landsat 9’s two science instruments are now attached to the spacecraft, bringing the mission one step closer to launch. In late December, the Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2) were both mechanically integrated on to the spacecraft bus at Northrop Grumman in Gilbert, Arizona.

January 3, 2020 — Recent Landsat 8 Safehold Update On December 19, 2019 at approximately 12:23 UTC, Landsat 8 experienced a spacecraft constraint which triggered entry into a Safehold. The Landsat 8 Flight Operations Team recovered the satellite from the event on December 20, 2019 (DOY 354). The spacecraft resumed nominal on-orbit operations and ground station processing on December 22, 2019 (DOY 356). 

 

2019

Dec 23, 2019 – Recent Landsat 7 Data Recorder Anomaly The Solid State Recorder (SSR), a component of Landsat 7’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor, experienced a “choke anomaly” early December 17, 2019 (DOY 351). 

Dec 22, 2019 – Landsat 8 Safe Mode Latest Update The spacecraft has resumed nominal on-orbit operations and ground station processing. Real-Time data products from the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) are available for download but remain provisional. 

Dec 21, 2019 – Landsat 8 Safe Mode Update On December 19, 2019 at approximately 12:23 UTC, Landsat 8 experienced a spacecraft constraint which triggered entry into its safe mode.

Dec 20, 2019 – Landsat 8 Currently in Safe Mode On December 19, 2019 at approximately 12:23 UTC, Landsat 8 experienced a spacecraft constraint which triggered entry into its safe mode. This occurred while initiating an off-nadir nighttime acquisition for fire monitoring. 

December 16, 2019 - Ice in Motion: Satellites Capture Decades of Change New time-lapse videos of Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets as seen from space – some spanning nearly 50 years – are providing scientists with new insights into how the planet’s frozen regions are changing.

December 13, 2019 - Meet the USGS Landsat Project Scientist and Landsat Science Team Co-Chair Chris Crawford likes to say his roles with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as a research physical scientist, the Landsat Project Scientist, and co-chair of the Landsat Science Team are akin to staring down a foot of snow on the driveway. 

November 15, 2019 - Celebrating 40 years of Landsat at the Alice Springs Ground Station Since 1979, the ground station in Alice Springs, Australia has been receiving data from the Landsat missions. 

November 12, 2019 – Recent Landsat 7 Data Recorder Anomaly The Solid State Recorder (SSR), a component of Landsat 7’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor, experienced a “choke anomaly” late October 28, into early October 29, 2019 (DOY 302). This interruption to the satellite’s planned acquisitions lasted just over 5 hours. 

November 11, 2019 –USGS Report Updates Economic Value of Landsat Archive A new USGS report estimates an increase in the domestic and international economic benefits to society provided by the Landsat archive to about 3.45 billion in 2017, compared to 2.19 billion in 2011.

October 15, 2019 - Landsat Burned Area and Fractional Snow Covered Area Science Products are now available from 1984-present The Landsat Level-3 Burned Area and Fractional Snow Covered Area Science Products are now available from 1984 - present. Previously, these two science products were only available from 1984 - 2017.

October 2, 2019 - Acquisitions of Landsat 8 Data in Lower Truncation Mode Between September 12, 2019 and December 22, 2019, a number of Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) scenes are being acquired in lower truncation mode. 

September 30 - New Landsat Update Special Issue: Collection 2 Sample Products A new issue of the Landsat Update has been posted to the Landsat Missions website.

September 17, 2019 – Landsat Calibration and Validation Meeting in South Dakota The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, SD, is hosting a Technical Interchange Meeting for the EROS Cal/Val Center of Excellence (ECCOE) on September 18–19.

September 13, 2019 - Landsat Collection 2 Sample Products Now Available The USGS has been finalizing the definition, production timeline, and public availability of Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 and Level-2 products. Landsat Collection 2 will improve data quality and provide more accurate information for use in land change analysis, resulting in more informed decision-making.

September 9, 2019 - New Landsat Infrared Instrument Ships from NASA The Thermal Infrared Sensor-2 (#TIRS-2) has passed its tests at NASA Goddard and was shipped to Arizona where it will be integrated onto the Landsat9 spacecraft. 

August 21, 2019 – Pecora 21 Registration Now Open The Pecora 21 Conference will be held October 6-11 in Baltimore, MD in conjunction with 38^th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment. 

August 15, 2019 - Landsat Collection 2: Documentation and Sample Products Available The USGS have made Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 Data Format Control Books (DFCBs) available to the user community.

July 25, 2019 - Daily MODIS and VIIRS NDVI Products Now Available in ESPA Daily NDVI products derived from NASA surface reflectance datasets are now available for processing from the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) On Demand Interface.

July 24, 2019 - New Landsat Update Now Available A new issue of the Landsat Update has been posted to the Landsat Missions website. 

June 24, 2019 – Registration for ARD19, the Second ARD workshop on Remote Sensing Data Interoperability, is now open The Second ARD Workshop on Remote Sensing Data Interoperability is taking place on August 5-7th in Menlo Park, CA at the USGS Menlo Park Campus.

June 19, 2019 – Landsat Science Team Meeting in South Dakota The 2018-2023 Landsat Science Team is convening for their summer meeting Wednesday, June 19 through Friday, June 21 at the USGS EROS Center near Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

June 18, 2019 – Landsat Advisory Group Releases Report on Data Cost Sharing Models The National Geospatial Advisory Committee Landsat Advisory Group (LAG) has released a report recommending that the Department of the Interior not implement fees for data with the characteristics of Landsat 8 and 9.

June 12, 2019 – Landsat Science Team Member Feng Gao Wins 2018 Arthur S. Flemming Award Dr. Feng Gao, Research Physical Scientist from the Agricultural Research Service/US Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland has won a 2018 Arthur S. Flemming Award for Applied Science and Engineering in recognition of his original research in the application of remote sensing for crop and vegetation monitoring

May 22, 2019 – Landsat Update Special Issue Highlights New Science Products Landsat Level-2 products include Surface Reflectance and Provisional Surface Temperature. Level-3 products include Dynamic Surface Water Extent, Fractional Snow Covered Area, and Burned Area. Access this Landsat Update for highlights on these products, to read documentation and download these data. 

May 10, 2019 – Landsat Collection 2 Summary and Sample Metadata Now Available The USGS is currently finalizing the Landsat Collection 2 product definition structure, production timeline and public availability.

April 30, 2019 – Landsat 9 Fact Sheet Now Available Landsat 9 is a partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that will continue the Landsat program’s critical role of repeat global observations for monitoring, understanding, and managing Earth’s natural resources. 

April 26, 2019 - Landsat 9 Thermal Instrument Completes Baseline Thermal Vac Test Landsat 9’s Thermal Infrared Sensor 2, known as TIRS-2, successfully completed its baseline thermal vacuum testing.

April 18, 2019 – Maxar and NASA Successfully Complete Design Review for Restore-L On-Orbit Servicing Spacecraft Bus Maxar Technologies, a U.S.-based global technology innovator powering the new space economy, today announced that the spacecraft bus it is building for NASA’s Restore-L project to refuel a satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) has completed an important review process called the Critical Design Review (CDR). 

April 16, 2019 - William T. Pecora Award Call for Nominations Reminder Nominations are now being accepted for the 2019 William T. Pecora Award through May 1, 2019. 

April 15, 2019: NASA, USGS Celebrate 20-Year Launch Anniversary of Landsat 7 Launched on this day 20 years ago, April 15, 1999, National Aeronautics and Space Administration  (NASA) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS)’s seventh satellite in the long-running Landsat program launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a Delta II rocket.

March 26, 2019 – Upcoming Data Downloads and Access Interruption From 12:00 pm CDT on Friday, March 29, 2019 to 12:00 pm CDT on Monday, April 1, 2019, USGS downloads of all Landsat data products and access to USGS data searching portals (EarthExplorer, GloVis and LandsatLook) will be unavailable. 

March 14, 2019 - Upcoming Webinar - Mapping Burned Areas from the Landsat Archive On Wednesday, April 24, 2019 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM EDT, the Southern Fire Exchange (SFE) will be hosting a Landsat-focused webinar: “Mapping burned areas from the Landsat archive: A new way of monitoring fire occurrence across the United States, and a southern example for fire management applications.” 

March 1, 2019 – Remote Sensing Special Issue Highlights Landsat Analysis Ready Data Remote Sensing, an open access journal, recently published a special issue titled Science of Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD). 

February 28, 2019 - Landsat the Cornerstone of Global Land Imaging An article recently published in GIM International magazine looks at how the use of Landsat data has evolved over time to become a cornerstone of global land imaging with broad societal benefits. 

February 26, 2019 - Pecora 21 Conference Abstract Extension Abstracts for the Pecora 21 conference will now be accepted until March 11, 2019. Visit the Pecora 21 website for more information about the conference themes and special sessions and to submit your abstract. 

February 25, 2019 - First in a Series of Landsat 9 Ground Readiness Tests Successful In mid-February, the Landsat 9 Ground System development team executed the first in a series of Ground Readiness Tests

February 22, 2019 - New Edition of Landsat Benefits Book Available for Download A 2018 edition of a book that outlines the benefits of the joint NASA/USGS Landsat program is now available for download.

February 20, 2019 - William T. Pecora Award Call for Nominations Nominations are now being accepted for the 2019 William T. Pecora Award through May 1, 2019. 

February 13, 2019 - New Landsat Level-3 Products Released The USGS has developed research-quality, applications-ready, Landsat Level-3 Science Products that are now available for download from EarthExplorer.

February 4, 2019 - Pecora 21 Conference Abstract Deadline Extended Abstracts for the Pecora 21 Conference will now be accepted until February 25, 2019.  Please visit the Pecora 21 website for more information about the conference and to submit your abstract.

February 1, 2019 - Landsat Session at Pecora 21 A Landsat Session at the Pecora 21 Conference will cover how improvements to the quality and usability of the USGS Landsat archive have greatly reduced the preparatory work necessary for application scientists, land managers, and policymakers to do time series investigative analysis tied to monitoring and assessing landscape change. 

January 28, 2019 - Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 Data Processing Status During the government shutdown Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 continually acquired data that were downlinked and archived at USGS EROS. The data were processed to the initial Real-Time (RT) collection tier, however calibration updates (Landsat 7 bumper mode and definitive ephemeris; Landsat 8 thermal line of sight model) to process the scenes into Tier 1 or Tier 2 were not able to be performed. Reprocessing of Landsat 8 data to Tier 1 or Tier 2 will begin Tuesday January 29; Landsat 7 reprocessing is planned to begin later this week.

 

2018

December 17, 2018 – Landsat Mission Web Site Migration Starts The Landsat Missions Web Site migration to the more unified USGS-based web site structure has begun. From today, the new USGS Landsat web site URL is usgs.gov/landsat. 

December 13, 2018- Landsat Level-3 Science Product Samples Available The USGS has released sample products for the following Landsat Level-3 science products; Burned Area, Fractional Snow Covered Area, and Dynamic Surface Water Extent.  

December 10, 2018 - Special Issue Landsat Update: AGU Meeting Edition A new Lansdat Update is now available. 

December 4, 2018 - Changes Coming to the USGS Landsat Missions Website Before January 14, 2019, the current Landsat Missions Website (https://landsat.usgs.gov) will be transitioned to a more unified USGS website structure resulting in a new URL for the entire Landsat Missions Website.

November 29, 2018- Landsat Level-2 Provisional Surface Temperature Science Product Now Available The Landsat Level-2 Provisional Surface Temperature Science Product is now available for download as part of the U.S Landsat Analysis Ready Data tile package.

November 26, 2018 - U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data Processing Resumes Processing of U.S. Landsat ARD tiles resumed Thursday, November 15, 2018. 

November 20, 2018 - Landsat Data Processing Update Landsat Level-1 data processing has returned to nominal operations. 

November 19, 2018 – Landsat Processing Resumes On Friday, November 16, 2018, processing of newly acquired Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 scenes was interrupted. 

November 16, 2018 - Landsat Processing Unavailable Newly acquired Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 data processing is currently unavailable.

November 2, 2018 – USGS Program Coordinator Talks Future of LandsatUSGS National Land Imaging Program Coordinator Tim Newman recently shared his perspectives on future Landsat missions.

October 31, 2018 – Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study Team Request for Information The NASA-USGS Architecture Study Team, with acceptance of the Sustainable Land Imaging Joint Steering Group, posted to FedBizOps on October 25, 2018 a Request for Information (RFI) to obtain feedback on future Landsat Missions.

October 26, 2018 - Landsat Science Team 2018 Meetings Summary in Earth Observer An overview of the 2018 Landsat Science Team meetings was recently published in NASA's The Earth Observer publication. 

October 19, 2018 – Pecora 21 Conference Call for Sessions Proposals for sessions at the Pecora 21 Conference, which will be held October 6 – 11, 2019 in Baltimore Maryland, are now being accepted. 

October 17, 2018 - Upcoming Processing Interruptions, System Maintenance Landsat data processing will be halted starting at 12:00 pm CT on Tuesday, October 23, until 12:00 pm on Wednesday, October 24 for necessary server upgrades and standard monthly maintenance. 

October 1, 2018 - Successful Landsat 9 Milestone Meeting The USGS and NASA recently held a successful Landsat 9 Ground System Critical Design Review (GCDR).

September 28, 2018 - Team to Imagine Future Earth Observing Satellite A joint NASA-USGS Architecture Study Team tasked with imagining the future of Landsat will hold its first meeting at the USGS EROS Center this week. 

September 24, 2018 – Landsat 9 Ground System Critical Design Review The Landsat 9 Ground System Critical Design Review (GCDR) is taking place September 24 & 25th in Brandon, South Dakota.

September 19, 2018 – Landsat - Sentinel 2 Session at Upcoming Conference The USGS and European Commission will be co-chairing a special session at the 69th International Astronomical Congress in Bremen, Germany on October 3, 2018. 

September 7, 2018 - New U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data Factsheet The newly-published U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data factsheet is now available from the USGS Publications Warehouse.  

August 29, 2018 - Summer 2018 Landsat Science Team Presentations Now Available Presentations from the summer Landsat Science Team meeting held August 8-10, 2018 at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences in Boulder, Co are now available.

August 28, 2018 - Landsat Collections Fact Sheet Now Available The U.S. Geological Survey has released a new fact sheet that describes its reorganization of the Landsat archive into a tiered collection structure. 

August 23, 2018 - Landsat 1-5 MSS Pre-Collection Data to be Removed On September 24, 2018, the Pre-Collection Landsat 1-5 Multispectral Scanner (MSS) dataset will be removed from EarthExplorer.

August 22, 2018 - Landsat 9 Element Critical Design Reviews Successfully Completed Landsat 9 Ground System Element Critical Design Reviews (CDR) were successfully completed in June, July and August for three elements of the ground system: the Landsat Multi-Satellite Operations Center (LMOC), the Ground Network Element (GNE), and the Data Processing and Archive System (DPAS).

August 2, 2018 - USGS Landsat Archive Hits 8 Million This week the USGS reached eight million scenes in the USGS Landsat archive. As the world's longest continuously acquired collection of space-based, moderate-resolution land remote sensing data, the USGS Landsat archive adds over 1,100 scenes each day. 

July 18, 2018 - New Landsat Update Issue Published Landsat Update Volume 12 Issue 2 includes Landsat 9 milestones, updates on the Landsat Science Team and Landsat Analysis Ready Data, as well as other Landsat topics. 

June 26, 2018 - Landsat Advisory Group undertakes a Landsat Cost Recovery Study The Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have requested a Federal Advisory Committee to review USGS’s current free-and-open policy for user access to Landsat data. 

June 25, 2018 - Landsat Sessions at AGU Fall Meeting A Landsat Session (session ID: 52769) at the 2018 AGU Fall Meeting will cover a breadth of topics from how the Landsat mission is operated, to how data is collected, archived and distributed, to what archive, products and data access enhancements are planned. 

June 15, 2018 - Landsat Data Access and Downloads Unavailable; New Acquisitions Delayed On Wednesday, June 20, 2018, the EarthExplorer interface will be unavailable from 7:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m. CT for scheduled monthly system maintenance. 

June 5, 2018 - U.S. Landsat ARD Special Issue Call for Manuscripts Remote Sensing is seeking manuscripts for a special issue on the Science of Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) that aims to explore the new generation of Landsat science data products that were released by the USGS in October 2017.

May 23, 2018 - Landsat 9 OLI-2 Instrument Focal Plane Integration Photos recently shared by Ball Aerospace in Boulder, CO show technicians working on Landsat 9’s Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) instrument in the cleanroom during focal plane integration. 

May 16, 2018 - Landsat MSS Collection 1 Data Now Available Landsat 1-5 Multispectral Scanner (MSS) Collection 1 Level-1 data are now available to download from the USGS Landsat archive. 

May 15, 2018 - Reminder: 2018 William T. Pecora Award Nominations Accepted through June 15, 2018 The William T. Pecora Award is presented annually to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing.

May 7, 2018 - ​Upcoming Data Processing and Download Interruptions Beginning Monday, May 14, 2018, access to Landsat Collection 1 Level-1 and Level-2 datasets will be intermittently available from all USGS data portals. 

April 25, 2018 - Successful Landsat 9 Mission Review The Landsat 9 Mission Critical Design Review was held April 17-20, 2018 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. NASA and USGS scientists and engineers provided the Standing Review Board (SRB) a status on all segments including the spacecraft, instruments, launch vehicle, and ground system to date.

April 24, 2018 - Continued Hold on U.S. Landsat ARD Production The USGS temporarily suspended the production of U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) tiles on March 19,2018 to allow for the integration of two new Landsat Science Products, Surface Temperature and Dynamic Surface Water Extent. 

April 20, 2018 - 10th Anniversary of Imagery for Everyone On April 21, 2008, the USGS officially announced the pursuit of an aggressive schedule to provide users with no charge electronic access to any Landsat scene held in the USGS-managed national archive of global scenes dating back to Landsat 1, launched in 1972. 

April 18, 2018 - LGAC Milestone Reached The ​5 millionth scene received in support of the Landsat Global Archive Consolidation (LGAC) effort has been added into the USGS Landsat archive. 

April 10, 2018 –Successful Landsat 9 Ground System Review Held The USGS and NASA held a Landsat 9 Ground System Preliminary Design Review (GPDR) on March 20-22, 2018 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  

March 28, 2018 - Sentinel-2B Data Now Available from USGS EROS The new Sentinel-2B multispectral imagery is equivalent to the Sentinel-2A data already being acquired to provide potential revisit coverage of the Earth’s global land surfaces every five days.  

March 26, 2018 - Landsat AOI Bulk Metadata Service to be Discontinued On April 6, 2018, the Landsat Bulk Metadata service for an area-of-interest (AOI) will be removed from the Landsat Missions Website.

March 19, 2018 - Landsat 9 Spacecraft Passes Latest Critical Design Review Orbital ATK has been given approval to begin building the NASA Landsat 9 spacecraft after completing a comprehensive design review of the mission.

March 14, 2018 - Upcoming Temporary Hold on U.S. Landsat ARD Production Starting Monday, March 19, 2018, U.S. Landsat ARD tile production will be temporarily suspended to allow for the integration of two new Landsat Science Products, Surface Temperature and Dynamic Surface Water Extent. 

March 13, 2018 - Winter 2018 Landsat Science Team Presentations Available Presentations from the inaugural 2018-2023 Landsat Science Team meeting held February 21-22, 2018 at the USGS EROS Center in Sioux Falls, SD are now available. 

March 8, 2018 - William T. Pecora Award Call for Nominations The William T. Pecora Award is presented annually to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing. 

March 1, 2018 - Landsat TM "no-Payload Correction Data" Processing Completes Over 260,000 unique Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes labeled "no-Payload Correction Data (PCD)", acquired between January 1986 and December 1999 and originally downlinked to International Ground Stations, have now been ingested into the Landsat Collection 1 inventory structure. 

February 17, 2018 – U.S. Landsat ARD Special Issue Call for Manuscripts Remote Sensing is seeking manuscripts for a special issue on the Science of Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) that aims to explore the new generation of Landsat science data products that were released by the USGS in October 2017. 

February 16, 2018 – Cryocooler for Landsat 9 Thermal Sensor Delivered Ahead of Schedule NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) received the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2) Flight Cryocooler for the Landsat 9 TIRS-2 instrument ahead of schedule.

February 8, 2018 - NASA and USGS Celebrate 5 Year Launch Anniversary of Landsat 8 February 11, 2018 will mark the 5th anniversary of the launch of Landsat 8 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 

February 2, 2018 – Landsat 7 completes 100,000th Orbit Landsat 7 completed its 100,000 orbit of Earth Thursday, February 1. 

January 31, 2018 - First 2018 Issue of Landsat Update Out Now Landsat Update Volume 12 Issue 1 includes major milestones for Landsat 7, Landsat 8, the ten year anniversary of Landsat data becoming available at no charge, as well as many other Landsat related topics you should know about. 

January 30, 2018 - Upcoming Landsat Data Processing Interruption Landsat Level-1 processing of newly-acquired Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 data will be interrupted from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm CST on Monday, February 5, 2018 for processing system updates. 

January 19, 2018 - Landsat Operations Update In the event that U.S. Federal agencies are confronted with a lapse in appropriations on January 19, 2018, the Landsat 7 and 8 satellites will continue mission essential operations. 

January 3, 2018 - Updated Landsat Spectral Characteristics Viewer Check out the new and improved Landsat Spectral Characteristics Viewer to determine which satellite bands are best suited for your research application. 

 

2017

December 22, 2017 - Landsat 8 Maneuver Update At approximately 5:25 am CST (11:25 UTC) on Thursday, December 21, 2​0​17, the Landsat Flight Operations Team (FOT) successfully performed a retro-burn maneuver to arrest Landsat 8's westward drift across its WRS-2 ground track.

December 20, 2017 - Landsat 8 Orbit Maneuver At approximately 5:25 am CST (11:25 UTC) Thursday, December 21, 2​0​17, Landsat 8 operations will be suspended for a short period of time during an orbit correction maneuver. 

December 15, 2017 - New Landsat Science Team Announced The USGS, in cooperation with NASA, has selected an expert team of national and international land remote sensing leaders to provide technical and scientific input to USGS and NASA on issues critical to the success of the Landsat program. 

December 6, 2017 - USGS, NASA Preparing to Commit to Launch Date, Cost for Landsat 9 NASA and USGS officials are meeting December 6, 2017 at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C., at which time NASA will be asked to commit to a total cost and launch date for Landsat 9.

December 5, 2017 - Landsat 9 Ground Network Element Reaches Successful Milestone The Landsat 9 Ground Network Element (GNE) Preliminary Design Review (PDR) took place at the USGS EROS Center on November 30, 2017. 

November 29, 2017 - Delivery changes to Band 4 Solar/Sensor Zenith/Azimuth Angle Bands A recent software release to the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) on-demand interface changes the delivery to users of the Band 4 Solar/Sensor zenith/azimuth angle bands.

November 21, 2017 - Landsat Analysis Ready Data for Alaska and Hawaii Available USGS Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) for Alaska and Hawaii are now available for download from EarthExplorer. 

November 8, 2017 – New Video Introduces Landsat Analysis Ready Data A new video introducing Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) has been added to the Landsat ARD webpage, as well as the Landsat Media Library.  

November 1, 2017 - Upcoming Infrastructure Maintenance On Tuesday, November 7, 2017, the USGS EROS Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota will temporarily halt Landsat data processing at 11:00 am CST.

October 30, 2017 - Landsat Analysis Ready Data Available USGS Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) for the conterminous United States are now available for download from EarthExplorer.

October 23, 2017 – NASA Awards Landsat 9 Launch Services Contract NASA has selected United Launch Services LLC (ULS) of Centennial, Colorado, to provide launch services for the Landsat 9 mission. 

Oct 3, 2017 - Landsat Pre-Collection Level-1 Dataset Removal Prompts EarthExplorer Changes Landsat Pre-Collection Level-1 scenes for Landsat 4-5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+, and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS are no longer available for download from EarthExplorer. 

September 29, 2017 - Upcoming Changes to Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance Code On October 5, 2017, a number of modifications will be made to the Landsat Surface Reflectance Code (LaSRC) to optimize Landsat 8 surface reflectance processing and to improve Landsat 8 surface reflectance quality assessment information.

September 25, 2017 - Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) Coming Soon USGS Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) for the conterminous United States will start becoming available for download in October 2017.

September 14, 2017 – Landsat 7 Anomaly Resolution Engineers have successfully completed recovery efforts of the Landsat 7 Solid State Recorder (SSR) anomaly that occurred on September 13, 2017.

​September 13, 2017 - Landsat 7 Solid State Recorder Anomaly Early morning September 13, 2017, the Landsat 7 Solid State Recorder (SSR) experienced an anomaly. 

September 12, 2017 - Upcoming Landsat 9 Preliminary Design Review The Landsat 9 Preliminary Design Review (PDR), scheduled for September 12-14, 2017, allows for an independent Standing Review Board to understand and determine if all of the components of Landsat 9 are integrated collectively through the preliminary design phase. 

September 1, 2017 – Countdown to Landsat Pre-Collection Datasets Removal During the week of October 1, 2017, Landsat 4-5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI)/ Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) Pre-Collection datasets will be removed from EarthExplorer.

August 25, 2017 - Landsat 7 Reaches Peak Outer Boundary Landsat 7 recently reached its peak outermost boundary of 10:14:58 Mean Local Time (MLT) on August 11, 2017, since the final Delta-Inclination (Delta-I) maneuver took place on February 7, 2017. 

August 18, 2017 – Upcoming Solar Eclipse & Landsat Acquisitions As Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 orbit the earth and acquire data, the Landsat Flight Operations Team (FOT) engineers had to determine if and how the upcoming August 21 solar eclipse would affect Landsat acquisitions over the United States.

July 21, 2017 - Celebrating Forty-Five Years of Landsat On July, 23 2017, the Landsat Program will celebrate forty-five years of continuous Earth observation. 

July 20, 2017 – Landsat Science Team Presentations Available Presentations from the Landsat Science Team meeting recently held at the USGS EROS Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota are now available.

July 13, 2017 - Future Landsat Missions RFI Deadline Extended As first announced on June 15, 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is requesting information from the land imaging community for user requirements for future Landsat systems. 

July 6, 2017 – Over Seven Million Landsat Scenes Now Available in the USGS Archive The Landsat archive, the world’s longest continuously acquired collection of space-based, moderate-resolution land remote sensing data, has now surpassed 7 million scenes since Landsat 1 first began collecting data in July 1972. 

June 30, 2017 – Celebrating Forty-Five Years of Landsat Acquisitions On July, 23 2017, the Landsat Program will celebrate forty-five years of continuous Earth observation. 

June 29, 2017 – Useful updates made to ESPA EROS Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) users now have the ability to cancel orders. 

June 27, 2017 – Landsat Multi-Mission Operations Contractor Selected USGS and NASA are celebrating a significant milestone after selecting General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) to combine the flight operations of Landsat 8 and Landsat 9.

June 20, 2017 – Pecora 20 Conference Deadlines Approaching Abstracts and workshop proposals for the Pecora 20 Conference are due July 1, 2017. The conference will be held November 14-16, 2017 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

June 15, 2017 - Request for Information for Future Landsat Missions The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is requesting information from the land imaging community for user requirements for future Landsat systems.

June 9, 2017 – William T. Pecora Award Nominations Reminder The deadline to submit nominations for the 2017 William T. Pecora award is THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2017.

June 2, 2017 - Watch Landsat LIVE A recent release of the EarthNow! Landsat Image Viewer displays imagery in near real-time as Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 orbit the Earth. 

May 31, 2017 - Landsat 8 scenes top 1 million  As of today, there are now over 1 million Landsat 8 scenes available to download from the Landsat archive!  

May 26, 2017 - Notice of CFMask Discontinuation from Landsat Higher-Level Data Products Starting June 2, 2017, users will no longer be able to order CFMask processing for Landsat Collection 1 Higher-Level data products via the ESPA on-demand interface. 

May 24, 2017 - Request for Proposals: Landsat Science Team The USGS, in cooperation with NASA, is requesting proposals for membership on the 2018-2023 Landsat Science Team. 

May 24, 2017 - Pecora 20 Conference Reminder The Pecora 20 Conference will be held November 14-16, 2017 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

May 16, 2017 - REMINDER: Upcoming Required Infrastructure Maintenance As previously announced on May 8, 2017, the USGS EROS Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota will temporarily halt data processing, as well as all data distribution from EarthExplorer, GloVis, and the LandsatLook Viewer at 6:00 am CDT on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 due to required infrastructure maintenance.

May 11, 2017 - USGS Distribution of Resourcesat-2 Products via ISRO Resourcesat products acquired by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are now available for download from USGS.

May 10, 2017 - Landsat 4-8 Collection 1 Processing Complete The new Landsat Collection 1 inventory structure has completed processing over 5.6 million Landsat 4-5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager/ Thermal Infrared Sensor (OLI/TIRS) scenes from around the world, which are now available for download from EarthExplorer.

May 8, 2017 - Upcoming Infrastructure Maintenance Due to required infrastructure maintenance, the USGS EROS Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota will temporarily halt data processing, as well as all data distribution from EarthExplorer, GloVis, and the LandsatLook Viewer at 6:00 am CDT on Wednesday, May 17, 2017. 

April 21, 2017 - Reminder: Upcoming Changes to Landsat Pre-Collection Inventory As previously announced, effective April 30, 2017, newly-acquired Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS scenes will be processed into the Landsat Collection 1 inventory structure only; Landsat Pre-Collection inventory will no longer be populated with newly-acquired data.

April 19, 2017 - Landsat Collection 1 Surface Reflectance Ordering through EarthExplorer Surface Reflectance processing for Landsat 4-8 Collection 1 data can now be ordered through EarthExplorer. EarthExplorer has been updated with Collection 1 Higher-Level data sets which contain Landsat scenes that are available for On-Demand Surface Reflectance Processing. 

April 17, 2017 - Landsat Highlighted at USGS and NASA Earth Day Celebration An Earth Day Celebration, hosted by several agencies, will take place at Union Station in Washington, D.C., on April 20, 2017. 

April 3, 2017 – Upcoming Changes to Landsat Pre-Collection Processing Effective April 30, 2017, newly-acquired Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS scenes will be processed into the Landsat Collection 1 inventory structure only; Landsat Pre-Collection datasets will no longer be populated with new data.

March 31, 2017 - Immediate ESPA changes affect Landsat Pre-Collection data Effective April 7, 2017 at 10:00 am CDT, the ability to request Surface Reflectance and other Higher-Level data processing for all Landsat 4-5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+, and Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS Pre-Collection scenes will no longer be supported by the EROS Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) Interface.  

March 23, 2017 - Landsat 7 ETM+ Surface Reflectance Interruption On March 12, 2017, the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) onboard the NASA Aura satellite entered survival mode. 

March 20, 2017 – Landsat Collection 1 Higher-Level Data Products Status Starting March 30, 2017, users will be able to request processing of Landsat Higher-Level (Surface Reflectance) data for Landsat 4-8 Collection 1 scenes from EarthExplorer, as shown in the graphic below. 

March 17, 2017 - ESPA Updated to Support Landsat Collection 1 Science Processing Recent algorithm updates to the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) on-demand interface allow for the processing of Landsat science products.

March 16, 2017 – Elevation discrepancy prompts reprocessing of Landsat 7 Antarctic data During Collection 1 Level-1 data processing of Landsat 7 ETM+ scenes covering Antarctica, it was discovered that about 2,700 scenes were processed using incorrect elevation data. 

March 9, 2017 – Harmonized Landsat, Sentinel-2 Surface Reflectance Products Available Landsat and Sentinel-2 products represent the most widely accessible medium-to-high spatial resolution multispectral satellite data. 

March 7, 2017 - Pecora 20 Conference Announcement The Pecora 20 Conference will be held November 14-16, 2017 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

March 6, 2017 – Landsat 8 Collection 1 Data Available Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS Collection 1 data acquired over the United States from 2015 to present are now available for download from Collection 1 Level-1 dataset category on EarthExplorer. 

March 1, 2017 - Historic Landsat 5 launched 33 years ago today On March 1, 1984, Landsat 5 launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Landsat 5 was designed and built at the same time as Landsat 4 and carried the Multispectral Scanner System (MSS) and the Thematic Mapper (TM) instruments.

February 27, 2017 – Landsat 9 Spacecraft Systems Review USGS and NASA officials will participate in the Landsat 9 Spacecraft System Requirements Review February 28 and March 1 at the Orbital ATK facility in Gilbert, Arizona. 

February 22, 2017 - Updated LandsatLook Viewer, New Sentinel2Look Viewer Released As of February 21, 2017, a new version of the LandsatLook Viewer is available. 

February 7, 2017 – Recent Landsat Science Team Meeting Presentations Available In January 2017, the Landsat Science Team (LST) met to assess the current status of Landsat acquisitions, archive improvements, and product development plans.

January 31, 2017 - Upcoming Landsat 8 Data Unavailability and Landsat 7 Satellite Maneuver Landsat 8 Data Access

In order to implement Landsat 8 Collection 1 Level-1 data processing into the USGS systems, Pre-Collection Landsat 8 processing and data distribution will be unavailable on Tuesday, February 7, and Wednesday, February 8, 2017. 

January 9, 2017 – Landsat Science Team: 2016 Summer Meeting Summary The Landsat Science Team held their biannual meeting in July, 2016, at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota.

 

2016

December 5-9, 2016 - Landsat Ground Station Operators Meeting The 45^th Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group Meeting is being held December 5-9 in Libreville, Gabon. 

December 2, 2016 - Landsat 9 Ground System Review On November 30 – December 1, USGS EROS hosted the Landsat 9 Ground System Requirements Review (GSRR) in Sioux Falls, SD. 

October 21, 2016 - Landsat 8 Collection 1 Sample Data Landsat 8 Collection 1 Level-1 sample data are available.  

October 11, 2016 – Earth Observation Day Landsat satellites have been imaging our planet since 1972, producing data that are valuable for land surface change detection, agricultural yield forecasting, disaster monitoring, and many other applications. 

September 30, 2016 - Landsat Science Team Leader Named Pecora Award Recipient Dr. Curtis Woodcock of Boston University received the 2016 William T. Pecora Award for achievement in Earth remote sensing recently during a special event held in Washington, D.C. 

September 27, 2016 - Landsat Collection 1 Data Available Landsat Collection 1 data are now available on EarthExplorer.

September 21, 2016 - 50 years of Landsat Vision Today we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall’s 1966 announcement of "Project EROS (Earth Resources Observation Satellites)”.

September 1, 2016 - Landsat 9 Passes Mission Milestone Landsat 9 passed one of its important reviews: “Key Decision Point B (KDP-B)” on August 17, 2016. 

August 23, 2016 - Landsat Collection 1 Release Date Change The recently published Landsat Update announced that Landsat 4-5 and Landsat 7 Collection 1 data will become available by the end of August; however, to properly address issues discovered during the operational verification period, we now plan on making Collection 1 data available by the end of September. 

August 22, 2016 – Latest Science Team Meeting Presentations Available In July, the Landsat Science Team Meeting was held at McCrory Gardens Education and Visitor Center in Brookings, South Dakota. 

July 18, 2016 – Webpage, factsheets highlight 50 years of “Project EROS” In 1966, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall announced his vision to create “a program aimed at gathering facts about the natural resources of the earth from earth-orbiting satellites.” 

July 7, 2016 – Mapping Water Use Fact Sheet Published A new USGS Fact Sheet "Mapping Water Use - Landsat and Water Resources in the United States" was recently published.

June 20, 2016 – New Landsat Update Available Landsat Update Volume 10 Issue 3 provides details about the upcoming Landsat Collection 1 reprocessing timeline and modified sample data links

June 17, 2016 - New Landsat-derived Global Land Cover Data Available A new 30-meter Global Land Cover data product is now available to download.

May 31, 2016 - Thermal Infrared Sensor-2 Instrument Cryocooler Contract Awarded for Landsat 9 NASA has awarded a sole source contract to Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation of Boulder, Colorado, for the Thermal Infrared Sensor-2 (TIRS-2) instrument Cryocooler for Landsat 9.

May 24, 2016 - JACIE 2016 Meeting Materials Available Presentations and other meeting materials from the 2016 Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) Workshop are now available. 

May 17, 2016 - Landsat 7, Landsat 5 Collection 1 Level-1 Sample Data Available Collection 1 Level-1 sample data products for Landsat 7 and Landsat 5 are now available.

April 18, 2016 - Landsat 8 Thermal Data Update On Monday, April 25, 2016, from 11 am to 3 pm CT, a system release will be implemented to restore the ability to produce valid* Landsat 8 thermal data for all scenes from this date forward. 

April 12, 2016 - Upcoming Landsat 8 TIRS Reprocessing Information Toward the end of April, reprocessing efforts will begin for Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS scenes acquired from January 1 to March 31, along with data acquired during April, to create nominal Level-1 products containing valid TIRS data. 

March 30, 2016 - Earth as Art 4: A Fusion of Science and Art As announced in this USGS Top Story, the 37 images (created from data acquired by the Landsat 8 satellite) that comprise the Earth as Art 4 (EAA4) collection are now available to view and download from the USGS EROS Image Gallery.

March 28, 2016 - New Landsat Update Available The latest Landsat Update announces the plans for Phase 3 Ground Control Points, as well as information about the Sentinel-2A data that is now available from the USGS.

March 14, 2016 - Call for 2016 William T. Pecora Award Nominations The William T. Pecora Award is presented annually to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing. 

February 18, 2016 - Sentinel-2 Data Distribution from USGS Coming Soon A partnership has been established between European Space Agency (ESA) and the USGS to allow for USGS storage and redistribution of data acquired by the multispectral instrument (MSI) on ESA’s Sentinel-2A satellite that was launched in June 2015. 

February 16, 2016 – New Landsat Update Available The latest Landsat Update contains important information about changes coming in 2016 – including a new collection management strategy, and numerous Landsat data product changes.

February 16, 2016 – Landsat Phase 2 Ground Control Points Updates Complete The reprocessing effort that started in January 2016 to update the Phase 2 Ground Control Points is now complete. 

February 11, 2016 – Landsat 8: Three Years In Space! Since its launch on this date in 2013, the Landsat 8 satellite has acquired more than 675,000 scenes, adding valuable time series data to the USGS Landsat Archives!

February 10, 2016 – Landsat 8 Thermal Level-1 Data Update As of February 10, 2016, many* of the scenes acquired from October to December 2015 have been reprocessed into nominal Level-1 products containing valid Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) data and are available for download.

January 28, 2016 – Science Team Meeting Presentations Available In early January, the Landsat Science Team Meeting was held at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Presentations from the meeting are now available on the Meetings Webpage. 

January 13, 2016 - Landsat 8 Thermal Data Update Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor  (TIRS) data continue to be collected with the scene select mirror encoder electronics disabled (mode 0).  

January 7, 2016 - Phase 2 Ground Control Point Updates to be implemented In 2015, we provided information about the Phase 2 Ground Control Points plan. 

 

2015

December 28, 2015 - NASA Highlights Landsat from Recent User Conference A number of interesting articles, based on the recent American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference presentations, are now posted on the NASA Landsat Science Archive web page.

December 14, 2015 - ​Upcoming Landsat Science Team Meeting The next meeting of the Landsat Science Team (LST) will be held January 12-14, 2016, at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

December 9, 2015 - New Landsat Update available The latest Landsat Update contains information about the Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor anomaly, the increasing requests for science data products, and a link to the updated Landsat Fact sheet. 

November 17, 2015 Landsat 8 TIRS Anomaly Update The Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) Scene Select Mirror (SSM) encoder electronics anomaly investigation continues.

November 3, 2015 - ​TIRS Scene Select Mirror Encoder Current Anomaly At approximately 4:00 PM Central Standard Time (22:00 GMT) Sunday November 1, 2015 the TIRS instrument experienced an anomalous condition related to the instrument's ability to accurately measure the location of the Scene Select Mirror (SSM).

October 28, 2015 - Landsat 8 Thermal Sensor Electronics Condition The Landsat 8 Flight Operations Team is monitoring an increasing trend in the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) B-Side Encoder Electronics current. 

October 21, 2015 - Upcoming Processing System Updates and Landsat Data Changes In late November 2015, updates to the Landsat processing system will be released resulting in changes to the data products.

October 13, 2015 - Recent Landsat 8 Data Acquired in Lower Truncation In September and October 2015, some Landsat 8 scenes were acquired using the lower 12 bits of the entire 14-bit range.

October 2, 2015 - NASA's Landsat Science The partnership between the USGS and NASA has proven successful for many years. 

September 28, 2015 - Upcoming Landsat 7 Maneuver, No Data To be Acquired Landsat 7 inclination maneuver (delta i) operations for 2015 will begin on Tuesday September 29, 2015 (DOY 272).

September 28, 2015 - Update to Provisional Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance (L8SR), Landsat 4-7 Surface Reflectance (LEDAPS) and CFmask shadow prediction Provisional Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance (L8SR) version 0.3.1 was implemented on September 28, 2015, and included changes to how the climate modeling grid (CMG) is accessed at scene edges, as well as at land/water boundaries.

July 24, 2015 - Science Team Meeting Presentations Available In early July, the Landsat Science Team Meeting was held at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

June 19, 2015 - Landsat 8 Data Users Handbook Available The Landsat 8 Data Users Handbook is now available! 

May 28, 2015 - Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance Processing Resumes Surface Reflectance processing has resumed for Landsat 8 scenes acquired after December 18, 2014.

May 27, 2015 - Upcoming Changes to LandsatLook Geographic Bundle Product Format On June 3, 2015, the format of the files contained in the LandsatLook Geographic Bundle product will be changing from the current .jpg images, to geoereferenced GeoTIFF files.

May 18, 2015 - Landsat 8 TIRS Reprocessing Complete The reprocessing effort to provide valid thermal data for Landsat 8 scenes acquired December 19, 2014 to March 13, 2015 has been completed. 

May 1, 2015 - 2015 William T. Pecora Award Announcement  Nominations for the William T. Pecora Award, presented annually to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing, must be received by June 15, 2015. 

April 27, 2015 - Continuing the Land Imaging Mission; NASA, USGS Begin Work on Landsat 9 NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have started work on Landsat 9, planned to launch in 2023, which will provide mission-critical continuity in the Earth-observing program’s record of land images. 

April 23, 2015 - Landsat 8 Data Processing Changes New production code was released today to enhance the usability of Landsat 8 products. 

April 16, 2015 - Landsat 8 Thermal Data Reprocessing Update On March 6, 2015 we reported that the Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) resumed normal imaging operations, and outlined plans for reprocessing data acquired since December 19, 2014, when problems occurred in the A-side electronics of the sensor. 

March 20, 2015 - Attention Landsat Data Users The Landsat 1-7 browse and full resolution browse products for MSS, TM and ETM+ data need to be reprocessed to correct a recent problem.  

March 16, 2015 - Landsat 8 Thermal Data Processing Resumed On March 13, 2015 at 4:00 pm CT, processing of Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) data resumed. 

March 13, 2015 - Landsat Data Processing Changes Scheduled On Tuesday March 17, 2015, the changes described in the recent Landsat Update will be implemented, starting at 8 am CT and lasting for up to four hours.

March 6, 2015 - Landsat 8 TIRS Sensor Resumes Nominal Operations The Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) resumed normal imaging operations on March 4, 2015, and nominal blackbody and deep space calibration data collection will resume on March 7, 2015.

February 27, 2015 - Upcoming Landsat data changes A number of changes affecting Landsat data are planned to take place during the Spring of 2015. 

February 26, 2015 - Landsat 8 Thermal Sensor Update  After extensive investigation and testing, the decision has been made to switch the TIRS Mechanism Control Electronics from the primary to redundant side on Monday, March 2, 2015.

February 20, 2015 - Landsat 8 Thermal Sensor Update The Landsat 8 satellite continues to acquire data from both onboard sensors, however Level-1 processing of Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) data remains suspended – TIRS data bands currently consist of only zero-fill.

February 19, 2015 - Landsat Goes Over the Top On June 21, 2014, Landsat 8 acquired an unbroken swath of 52 individual scenes over the Arctic. 

February 10, 2015 - Landsat 8 Thermal Sensor Update The Landsat 8 satellite continues to acquire data from both onboard sensors, however Level-1 processing of Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) data remains suspended – TIRS data bands currently consist of only zero-fill. 

February 9, 2015 - Upcoming Landsat 7 Data Unavailable During Orbit Maneuver The Landsat 7 satellite will be conducting an orbit maintenance maneuver beginning at 15:00 UTC (9:00 am CT) Tuesday, February 10, 2015 (DOY41), which will cause an interruption of Landsat 7 data products.

January 28, 2015 - Important Information about Upcoming Landsat Data Processing Changes During Spring 2015, significant changes to Landsat products will improve the consistency of Landsat 4-8 data records.

January 27, 2015 - Landsat 8 TIRS Update Landsat 8 continues to acquire OLI and TIRS data, although TIRS Level-1 processing remains suspended.

January 23, 2015 - Landsat 7 Data Update The Landsat 7 Gap Phase Statistic (GPS) errors reported in the January 21, 2015 Headline have been corrected, and all data acquired on January 19, 2015 (DOY 19) forward have been reprocessed with valid GPS values.

January 21, 2015 - Landsat 4-7 Surface Reflectance Data Fixes Landsat Ecosystem Disturbance Adaptive Processing System (LEDAPS) version 2.2.1 was implemented on January 21, 2015 and includes the correction of two issues introduced by LEDAPS 2.2.0 on December 23, 2014.

January 21, 2015 - Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared (TIRS) data are still being collected but product generation remains suspended The Flight Operations Team and subject matter experts have conducted numerous tests in an effort to determine the cause of the current anomaly associated with the TIRS scan select mirror (SSM) encoder.

January 21, 2015 - Recent Landsat 7 data changed On Monday, January 19, 2015 (DOY 19) at 03:14:07 GMT, Gap Phase Statistic (GPS) errors were discovered in the compilation of Landsat 7 ETM+ Level-1 data products. 

January 15, 2015 - Known Issues Reporting for Provisional Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance Data Available User feedback regarding the usability of Provisional Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) Surface Reflectance (SR) data products is now available in the “Known Issues” section of the Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance Product Guide. 

January 15, 2015 - Landsat Seen as Stunning Return on Public Investment The Landsat Advisory Group of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee is a team of commercial, state/local government, and NGO geospatial information experts. 

 

2014

December 24, 2014 - Landsat 8 Data Update Landsat 8 Level-1 data products continue to be generated and contain valid Operational Land Imager (OLI) data; however the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) band data will consist of zero-fill and will be unusable at this time. 

December 23, 2014 - Provisional Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance Data Available Provisional Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) Surface Reflectance (SR) data products are now available through the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) On Demand Interface and EarthExplorer. 

December 22, 2014 - TIRS Level-1 Processing is Still Suspended The configuration of the TIRS instrument on Landsat 8 remains unchanged since the detection of anomalous current levels associated with the scene select mirror (SSM) encoder electronics. 

December 19, 2014 - TIRS Calibration Reconfiguration At 10:34 am (CST) the configuration of the TIRS instrument on Landsat 8 was reconfigured due to detection of anomalous current levels associated with the scene select mirror encoder electronics.

December 17, 2014 - Landsat 8 Processing Resumed Landsat 8's Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) returned to its normal operating mode December 13, 2014 after completing a TIRS test activity that began December 9, 2014. 

December 9, 2014 - Temporary Delays of Landsat 8 Processing As of December 9, 2014 at 00:00 UTC (6:00 pm CST), Landsat 8 operations staff began necessary TIRS testing which caused a delay in the routine processing of OLI/TIRS image data. 

December 8, 2014 - Geometric Excellence of Landsat 8 Highlighted Excellent geolocation and internal geometric performance of the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) on board Landsat 8 permit all Landsat images to be georegistered accurately.

December 3, 2014 - Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance Climate Data Record Development Nears Completion By the end of 2014, Prototype Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) Surface Reflectance (SR) Climate Data Records (CDRs) will be available through the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) On Demand Interface.  

November 4, 2014 - Landsat Ghostbusters Shortly after the launch of Landsat 8, the Landsat calibration team noticed something strange: bright and dark stripes, or “banding” was showing up across certain images collected by the satellite’s Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS). 

October 31, 2014 - Updates made to the LandsatLook Viewer The LandsatLook Viewer is a prototype tool that was developed to allow rapid online viewing and access to the USGS Landsat image archives. 

October 10, 2014 - Upcoming Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance Data Products As announced in the latest Landsat Update, prototype Landsat 8 Surface Reflectance product options will be available to all users via the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) On Demand Interface in the upcoming months. 

September 30, 2014 - Landsat 7 Acquisitions Resume Landsat 7 resumed acquiring data Monday, September 29, 2014 (DOY 272) at 16:32 CT (21:32 UTC). 

September 29, 2014 - Landsat 7 Acquisitions Suspended The Landsat 7 satellite stopped acquiring data Saturday afternoon, September 27, 2014 (DOY 270) due to an onboard telemetry unit issue. 

September 5, 2014 - Upcoming Landsat 7 maneuver Due to a satellite maneuver, no Landsat 7 data will be acquired from 9:30 CT (14:30 UTC) on September 9, 2014, until approximately 9:00 CT (14:00 UTC) on September 10, 2014. 

September 2, 2014 - Landsat metadata (MTL) and Ground Control Point (GCP) changes starting September 3 Landsat MTL changes including MTL padding and Ground Control Point (GCP) MTL versioning, and GCP updates will go into affect starting the afternoon of September 3, 2014.

August 19, 2014 - Landsat 8 Online Cache Cleanup Planned Since launch, nearly 300,000 Landsat 8 Level-1 (L1) data Products have been added to the online cache and made available for immediate download. 

July 23, 2014 - Ground Control Point (GCP) versioning to be added to Landsat Metadata (MTL) file The version number of the GCPs used to register an image will be recorded in the MTL file following the next processing system release in September 2014. 

July 21, 2014 - Changes to ESPA Processing and Output Options On July 29, 2014, the EROS Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) will be upgrading its interface to incorporate more high-level processing options for Landsat 4/5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+ products. 

July 9, 2014 - Landsat Metadata (MTL) File Changes The Metadata (MTL) file distributed with the Level-1 data products will be changing in September 2014, to remove padding from the end of the file. 

July 1, 2014 - Ground Control Points to be Updated In September 2014, the Landsat Project will be updating Ground Control Points (GCPs) for 171 paths/rows for data from all Landsat missions. 

June 26, 2014 - ESPA Login Changes Users are reminded that as of today, June 26, 2014, the ESPA on demand ordering interface uses the USGS login credentials - the same used to access EarthExplorer. 

May 21, 2014 - Increasing the Landsat 8 Daily Imaging Rate During the 2014 Northern Hemisphere growing season the daily imaging rate will be gradually increased to optimize Landsat 8’s science data collection..

May 1, 2014 - Landsat 8 Data Acquisitions Resume On April 30, 2014 the Landsat 8 satellite successfully recovered from the safehold condition that started at 05:44:13 GMT on April 29, 2014. 

April 30, 2014 - Landsat 8 in Safehold On April 29, 2014 at 05:44:13 GMT, Landsat 8 entered a ‘safehold’ condition that has suspended the collection of science data. 

April 21, 2014 - UPDATE on Landsat Surface Reflectance Climate Data Record Sample Data Several changes will be implemented for Landsat Surface Reflectance CDRs on July 30, 2014.  

April 15, 2014 - Landsat 7's 15 year Anniversary! Launched on April 15, 1999, the Landsat 7 satellite has now been observing Earth from outer space for 15 years.

March 28, 2014 - Upcoming Changes to Landsat Surface Reflectance Climate Data Records, Sample Data Available In the near future, several changes will be made to the processing and output options of SR CDR products. 

February 27, 2014 - Peeling Back Landsat's Layers of Data Landsat satellites circle the globe every 99 minutes, collecting data about the land surfaces passing underneath.

February 14, 2014 - Landsat 8: Good Things, Getting Better It’s hard to believe a year has passed since the launch of Landsat 8. This first anniversary is going to be an exciting, upbeat celebration because the new satellite is meeting, if not exceeding, all expectations.  

February 11, 2014 - Landsat 8's 1st Anniversary! It's hard to believe it has been a full year since the launch of the Landsat 8 satellite!

February 11, 2014 - Recent Landsat 7 Maneuvers Affect WRS footprints On January 9, 2014, the USGS executed a delta-velocity (delta-v) maneuver to pre-position Landsat 7 for a larger delta-inclination (delta-i) maneuver used to maintain the satellite's mean local crossing time.

February 3, 2014 - Landsat 7 Acquisitions to be Interrupted No Landsat 7 data will be acquired beginning at 8:30 a.m. CT on Tuesday, February 4, 2014, until about 2:15 p.m CT on Wednesday, February 5, 2014 due to a Delta-I maneuver. 

January 29, 2014 - Landsat 8 Reprocessing to Begin February 3, 2014 On February 3, 2014, the entire Landsat 8 archive will be cleared from the online cache and reprocessed to take advantage of calibration improvements identified during its first year of operation. 

January 23, 2014 - Immediate TIRS Data Adjustment An incorrect bias adjustment for Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) data was discovered in the latest release of the Landsat 8 processing system, which has caused a significant error in the TIRS products produced from Landsat 8 scenes acquired from January 14, 2014, to January 23, 2014. 

January 16, 2014 - New Ground Control Points for Select Landsat 8 Scenes New Ground Control Points (GCPs) will become available for three WRS-2 path/rows and GCPs contained within large water bodies will be removed on February 3, 2014 to coincide with the Landsat 8 archive reprocessing. 

January 6, 2014 - Landsat 8 Reprocessing Details Beginning February 3, 2014, all Landsat 8 data held in the USGS archives will be reprocessed. 

 

2013

December 2, 2013 - Landsat Users Confirm Its Unique Value Recently published in a USGS report, survey findings demonstrate that a very wide range of customers use Landsat — from educators to Earth scientists, foresters to urban planners, agricultural managers and water users, and many more.

November 20, 2013 - New Ground Control Available Soon for Select Path/Rows New Ground Control Points (GCPs) will become available for a number of WRS-1 and WRS-2 path/rows on December 5, 2013. 

November 15, 2013 - Changes in World’s Forests Portrayed Using Landsat 7 Data  A new study discussing the importance of forest ecosystems has been published in the November issue of Science magazine.

November 14, 2013 - Landsat 8 Reprocessing Rescheduled The previously-planned reprocessing effort of all Landsat 8 data in the USGS archive will begin in early 2014.

October 28, 2013 - Upcoming Landsat 8 Reprocessing Within the upcoming weeks, all Landsat 8 data held in the USGS archive will be reprocessed using updated calibration parameters for OLI and TIRS data. 

October 17, 2013 - Landsat Data Processing Resumes Processing has resumed for Landsat 8 and Landsat 7 data acquired from October 1, 2013 to October 17, 2013. 

September 30, 2013 - Operations Update In the event that U.S. Federal agencies are confronted with a lapse in appropriations on October 1, 2013, the Landsat 7 and 8 satellites will continue mission essential operations. 

September 27, 2013 - Landsat 7 Thermal Band Calibration Update Effective October 1, 2013, the calibration of the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) Band 6 will be updated to correct a bias error that has been present in all thermal data since the last calibration update in 2010.

September 27, 2013 - CPF update for Offset Following Safehold On September 19, 2013 (DOY 262) at approximately 20:08 UTC, Landsat 8 experienced an unplanned transition to safe hold following an attitude control anomaly. 

September 24, 2013 - Landsat 8 safehold update On Saturday September 21, 2013, the Landsat 8 flight operations team successfully recovered the Landsat 8 observatory from ‘safehold’ and resumed the collection of science data at 17:07:03 GMT (11:07:03 CDT). 

September 19, 2013 - Landsat 8 in Safehold On September 19, 2013 at 15:38 CDT, Landsat 8 entered a ‘safehold’ condition that has suspended the collection of science data. 

September 16, 2013 - Notice of Landsat 8 Data Reprocessing The Landsat project has determined that a bias correction needs to be applied to Landsat 8 thermal infrared sensor (TIRS) band 10 (10.3 - 11.3 um) data.

July 16, 2013 - Landsat 8 QA Data Tool Available The USGS now offers a tool that accurately translates and interprets Landsat 8 OLI Quality Assessment (QA) bits, within the Landsat QA Tools. 

July 8, 2013 - Old data being made newly available As part of the Landsat Global Archive Consolidation effort, the first international Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) data from Canada has been added to the archive.

July 1, 2013 - All Early Landsat 8 Data Available All Early Landsat 8 Data Available

June 5, 2013 - Final command sent to Landsat 5 For over 29 years, commands have been sent to Landsat 5 for acquisitions, orbital maneuvers, to fix problems, and even to avoid space junk.

May 30, 2013 - Landsat 8 Data Available NASA has declared that the Landsat Data Continuity Mission's on-orbit checkout is complete, and it has been renamed Landsat 8 with the hand-off of operations to the USGS.

May 17, 2013 - Surface reflectance is now available Surface reflectance is now available as a Landsat climate data record (CDR) product through EarthExplorer. 

May 15, 2013 - Fly with LDCM On April 19, 2013, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission passed over one long swath from Russia to southern Africa.

May 13, 2013 - Wildfire data available for download Last week, NASA Earth Observatory released a change pair of Landsat Data Continuity Mission images that showed before and after the southern California wildfire. 

May 9, 2013 - Landsat 8 view of southern California burn scar Stunning before and after images of the burn scar of the southern California wildfire have been released on the NASA Earth Observatory page.

May 9, 2013 - Landsat Images Provide the Gold Standard for New Earth Applications Images from Landsat satellites provided free to the public by the Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey were the starting points for "a new breakthrough" reports.

May 1, 2013 - Landsat Data Continuity Mission on WRS-2: Sample Data Available Since launch, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) has been gradually making its way to operational orbit (called WRS-2) at 705 km (438 miles) above the surface of Earth.

May 1, 2013 - Landsat 5 MSS 2012-2013 Data Available The workhorse of the Landsat 5 mission was the Thematic Mapper (TM) instrument. In November of 2011, the TM failed, and the MultiSpectral Scanner (MSS) instrument was brought back online a few months later.

April 26, 2013 - USGS and NASA to Host Social Media Event On May 30, 2013, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission will begin its life's work as an operational mission under the new moniker Landsat 8.

April 25, 2013 - Old Metadata Format to be Removed For over 6 months, Landsat 1-7 products have included a new metadata format to align with operational data from the Landsat Data Continuity Mission. 

April 23, 2013 - Landsat Data Continuity Mission Images of the Salton Sea Wondering what the thermal band is all about? Check out this LDCM Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) example from the Salton Sea.

April 8, 2013 - New LDCM/Landsat 8 Image Examples Available Greenbelt, Vandenberg, Gilbert and Sioux Falls: these four areas played important roles in the creation and implementation of the LDCM. 

March 21, 2013 - First image from LDCM On March 18, 2013, the first images were taken with the Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). 

March 8, 2013 - Landsat 7 Lifetime Calibration Update The Calibration team has recently documented that the gains of the reflective bands have degraded over the past 14 years. 

February 21, 2013 - LDCM begins on-orbit testing  While the Landsat Data Continuity Mission launch on February 11th was the conclusion of years of effort, it was also a beginning. 

February 11, 2013 - Interior Prepares to Conduct Landsat 8 Scientific Programs After Successful Launch of Latest Earth-Observing Satellite Secretary Salazar says Interior-NASA partnership provides model for new strategy to strengthen science education and careers. 

February 11, 2013 - The Launch of LDCM The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 10:02 a.m. PST on February 11, 2013. 

February 11, 2013 - Landsat 5 Sets Guinness World Record Landsat 5 successfully set the new Guinness World Records title for 'Longest-operating Earth observation satellite’ as stated in an e-mail from Guinness World Records sent to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

January 17, 2013 - Web-Enabled Landsat Data (WELD) The 2012 Web-Enabled Landsat Data (WELD) GeoTIFF data products are now available to download. 

January 14, 2013 - LDCM Media Briefing Held NASA recently held a media briefing about the upcoming launch of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), which is scheduled to launch February 11, 2013. 

January 9, 2013 - Watch LDCM launch prep LDCM now resides at Vandenberg Air Force Base, but there are still necessary steps to complete to get ready for launch on February 11, 2013. 

January 7, 2013 - Landsat Science Team Meeting Landsat Science Team members presented their research objectives and plans at the Landsat Science Team Meeting in Washington, D.C. on December 12 -13, 2012. 

January 3, 2013 - Surface Reflectance Data Available Landsat Surface Reflectance Climate Data Records (CDR) for Global Land Survey (GLS) collections 2000, 2005, and 2010 are now available from the Landsat CDR/ECV data set on EarthExplorer.

 

2012

December 21, 2012 - The End of an Era Today, the USGS announced that Landsat 5 will be decommissioned over the coming months, bringing to a close the longest-operating Earth observing satellite mission in history.

December 14, 2012 - Witness a bit of history! NASA is hosting a social media event at the launch of Landsat 8 in Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in early February.

November 27, 2012 - Sabers talks about Landsat 8 Jenn Sabers, Remote Sensing Branch Chief at the USGS EROS Center, answers questions about Landsat science, the Landsat legacy, and the future of the mission.

November 7, 2012 - Members of the Landsat Science Team Interviewed on SDPB Drs. Dennis Helder and David Roy were interviewed on South Dakota Public Broadcasting's Dakota Midday about Landsat 8 and their roles in the Landsat Science Team.

October 30, 2012 - Landsat TM data removed from downloadable state All Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes were removed from downloadable state on October 29, 2012, to resolve issues with thermal band 6 processing.

October 26, 2012 - Landsat 5 Thermal band 6 issues Issues have been identified with thermal band 6 of Landsat Thematic Mapper processed data, due to the Calibration Parameter File (CPF) updates implemented on October 1, 2012.

October 22, 2012 - LTWG#21 Meets in Sioux Falls, SD The Landsat Technical Working Group #21 (LTWG#21) meeting was held in Sioux Falls, SD, USA, on September 24 through September 28, 2012.

October 19, 2012 - New Landsat Science Team Announced The USGS, in cooperation with NASA, has selected an expert team of scientists and engineers to provide technical and scientific input to USGS and NASA on issues critical to the success of the Landsat program.

October 19, 2012 - New Earthshots Website The USGS EROS Center recently released a revised and updated Earthshots.

October 15, 2012 - Global Land Survey Collections Processed to Surface Reflectance Global Land Survey (GLS) collections from 2010 and 2005 have been processed to surface reflectance and are available for discovery and download from the ESPA GLS Visualization Interface. 

October 15, 2012 - New GLS Visualization Interface Available The USGS EROS Science Processing Architecture (ESPA) GLS Visualization Interface was released today.

October 1, 2012 - Remote Sensing of Environment Landsat Legacy Special Issue The July 2012 edition of Remote Sensing of Environment is a special Landsat Legacy issue.

September 28, 2012 - Landsat releases quarterly Calibration Parameter File Once a quarter, the radiometry experts on the Landsat team craft a new Calibration Parameter File (CPF), which is then incorporated into processing new and archived data.

September 4, 2012 - 9 million Landsat downloads...and counting The use of Landsat data has exploded since the USGS began distributing the data at no cost via the internet.

August 20, 2012 - Delayed Release of Metadata Changes Due to unforeseen circumstances, the release that will align the Landsat 1 through Landsat 8 metadata has been delayed.

July 23, 2012 - USGS Rolls Out New LandsatLook Viewer In honor of this, the 40th Anniversary of the Landsat 1 launch, and in preparation for Landsat 8 in February 2013, the USGS has rolled out a prototype viewer that allows easy access to the over 3 million scenes in the Landsat archive.

July 23, 2012 - Landsat celebrates 40th anniversary In honor of this, the 40th Anniversary of the Landsat 1 launch, and in preparation for Landsat 8 in February 2013, the USGS has rolled out a prototype viewer that allows easy access to the over 3 million scenes in the Landsat archive.

June 11, 2012 - Vote for Your Favorite Landsat Image In celebration of Landsat's 40th anniversary, we invite you to vote on some of the prettiest Landsat scenes in our archive.

June 6, 2012 - Landsat 7 Back on Track In late April, Landsat 7 had to move away from a piece of oncoming space debris.

June 4, 2012 - Aging Landsat 5 Changes Glasses At 28, Vintage Satellite Finds New Life with Alternate Imaging System.

May 24, 2012 - Landsat Contest Offers View of Local Landscape Change from Space To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the United States' Landsat Earth-observing program, NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are holding a contest that will offer winners customized satellite views of changing local landscapes.

May 14, 2012 - Landsat 7 Maneuver to Return to WRS Landsat 7 maneuvered away from a piece of space debris in mid-April, which meant that some data are outside of the Worldwide Reference System.

May 8, 2012 - Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper Ceases Routine Acquisitions - Update After a silent winter, the USGS turned on the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) in late April to determine the state of the electronics problem that suspended operations in November, 2011.

April 25, 2012 - Testing the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper Plans to test the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper downlink begin today, April 25, 2012.

April 18, 2012 - Landsat 7 Maneuvers to Avoid Space Debris More than half a million pieces of space junk are in orbit floating in and around operational missions.

April 12, 2012 - Landsat 5 Captures MSS Data Landsat 5 recently captured and downlinked Multispectral Scanner (MSS) images for the first time in over a decade.

April 10, 2012 - USGS Seeks Landsat Science Team Proposals The U.S. Geological Survey, Center for EROS, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is seeking proposals from scientists and engineers interested in serving on the Landsat Science Team.

March 5, 2012 - Anne Castle, DOI Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, recently discussed Landsat's 40 years At the Association for American Geographer's Annual Meeting, Anne Castle spoke to Landsat's long legacy, its benefit to humanity, and the future of the mission.

March 2, 2012 - LDCM Observatory LDCM Observatory with both instruments onboard, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS). LDCM is due to launch in January 2013.

March 1, 2012 - Happy 28th Birthday Landsat 5

February 29, 2012 - Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group (LGSOWG#40) The 40^th Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group Meeting was held January 30 through February 3, 2012, in Bali, Indonesia.

February 16, 2012 - USGS extends suspension of operations for Landsat 5 Landsat 5 imaging was suspended in November 2011 when a vital transmission component showed signs of imminent failure.

February 10, 2012 - The Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) instrument The Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) instrument was shipped from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) in Gilbert, Arizona, where it will be integrated with the LDCM satellite bus built by OSC.

February 8, 2012 - Dr. Alan Belward discusses the value of Landsat Alan Belward, head of the Land Resource Management Unit with the Institute for Environment and Sustainability at the European Commission's Joint Research Center, talks about why Landsat is important to global forest mapping.

February 7, 2012 - The NASA TIRS instrument The NASA TIRS instrument development team successfully completed the Pre-Ship Review (PSR), capping a major milestone for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission.

January 19, 2012 - The TIRS instrument The TIRS instrument completed the last of its functional testing at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

 

2011

November 23, 2011 - Dr. John Schott and his 30 years with Landsat Since 1981, Dr. John Schott has been involved in calibration of the Landsat instruments from his home institution, Rochester Institute of Technology.

November 18, 2011 - Landsat 5 Mission in Jeopardy Over the past 10 days, problems with the amplifier have led to drastically reduced image download capabilities, a sign of impending failure.

November 18, 2011 - 27 Years of Earth Images for the World It may not be widely known that Landsat 5 is the longest operating Earth-orbiting satellite.

November 17, 2011 - Possible interruptions in Landsat 5 acquisitions Landsat 5 has been on orbit for more than 27 years.

November 9, 2011 - LDCM Launch Schedule Change Due to changes in the launch manifest, the LDCM Launch Readiness Date has been changed from no earlier than December 1, 2012 to no earlier than January 15, 2013.

October 26, 2011 - Landsat Adds to World Memory A United Nations group established to preserve humanity's documentary history has selected a portion of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat archive of Earth imagery to be added to the Memory of the World International Register. 

October 13, 2011 - 40th Anniversary of Landsat Missions approaching As we look forward to the 40th Anniversary, we take an opportunity to look back at our history. This video tells a bit about the Landsat 5 story.

August 25, 2011 - Critical Milestone Reached for LDCM The Operational Land Imager (OLI) has been approved by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for integration onto the LDCM spacecraft.

August 16-18, 2011 - Landsat Science Team Meeting The Landsat Science Team Meeting was held at USGS EROS Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

June 28, 2011 - Landsat 7 was overhead Landsat 7 was overhead on Saturday, June 25, 2011 as the Souris River in Minot, North Dakota exceeded the 1881 flooding record by over 4 feet.

June 7, 2011 - USGS hosted the 20th Landsat Technical Working Group meeting Participants from 17 countries, including members of the USGS and NASA Landsat and Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Projects, represented 23 U.S. and international ground stations and discussed a wide range of technical topics.

June 6, 2011 - Landsat 5 captures image of Massachusetts tornado A tornado cut a massive 39-mile swath of destruction across southwest and south-central Massachusetts on June 1, 2011.

May 23, 2011 - Landsat Images on Display at the Library of Congress The most recent USGS Earth as Art exhibit, the third in the series of award-winning Landsat satellite images, will be on display at the Library of Congress beginning May 31.

May 4, 2011 - Esri Releases ChangeMatters Viewer On Tuesday, May 2nd 2011, Esri released the ChangeMatters viewer at the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) annual conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

April 19, 2011 - Call for Pecora Award Nominations The William T. Pecora Award is presented annually to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing.

April 14, 2011 - Landsat: Who are the Customers Exactly who uses Landsat satellite imagery and what value do they derive from the information? 

April 8, 2011 - The First Landsat Scientist On March 17, 2011, the Landsat program lost one of its first champions, Stanley C. Freden.

March 24, 2011 - MSS orders held until April 1st Starting on Friday, March 25th, MSS orders will be held so that radiometric enhancements can be implemented.

March 22, 2011 - Landsat Science Team Members Interview with EarthSky Landsat Science Team members have participated in a series of interviews with EarthSky.

March 16, 2011 - Landsat 5 Update As of March 16, 2011, Landsat 5 is acquiring data normally.

March 15, 2011 - Space News Reports on LDCM NASA Racing To Launch Next Landsat Mission Before 2013.

March 15, 2011 - Short-term Suspension of Landsat 5 Acquisitions On March 14, 2011, Landsat 5 experienced a minor anomaly.

March 13, 2011 - Pending MSS and L4 TM Calibration Release In the upcoming weeks, the Landsat Project will incorporate new radiometric enhancements for all Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) and Landsat 4 Thematic Mapper (TM) thermal data.

March 9, 2011 - LandsatLook Images LandsatLook images are full-resolution files included as options when downloading Landsat scenes from EarthExplorer or Glovis.

January 28, 2011 - TerraLook Software Released TerraLook software Version 2.0 beta has been released, complete with a new user interface and improved usability.

 

2010

December 5, 2010 - Thousands of Landsat Scenes in Google's Earth Engine On December 2, 2010, Google.org launched their new Earth Engine at the climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico.

Nov 1-2, 2010 - The Landsat Data Products Workshop II The Landsat Data Products Workshop II was held at Boston University.

October 26, 2010 - Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group (LGSOWG#39) The Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group (LGSOWG#39) meeting was held September 27–October 1, 2010, in Rome, Italy.

October 15, 2010 - Landsat Processing Down Time Landsat is installing a suite of new hardware for processing Landsat data on Wednesday, October 20 through Friday, October 22.

September 15, 2010 - MSS Data Products now created with LPGS processing system Beginning September 15, 2010, all MSS data are processed using the LPGS processing system.

August 25, 2010 - MSS Transition to LPGS Processing The Landsat project will begin processing MSS data on the Landsat Product Generation System (LPGS) on September 15, 2010.

August 9, 2010 - A Landsat Milestone: Three Million Scenes USGS EROS has distributed over three million scenes for free via the internet since October 1, 2008.

June 15-17, 2010 - Landsat Science Team Meeting The Landsat Science Team Meeting was held June 15-17, 2010, in Boise, Idaho.

May 7, 2010 - New Landsat 5 Scheduler A new Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) acquisition scheduler was released on May 6, 2010.

April 6, 2010 - Modification to Landsat 5’s Acquisition Plan During Landsat 5’s first 25 years, the Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor acquired data over assigned ground stations regardless of cloud cover or season.

April 1, 2010 - Former Secretary Udall's Contribution to Earth Imaging Stewart Udall, Grandfather of the Landsat Mission.

March 22 - 26, 2010 - Landsat Technical Working Group (LTWG#19) Meeting This year's Landsat Technical Working Group (LTWG#19) meeting was held in Phuket, Thailand, March 22–26, 2010.

March 1, 2010 - Call for Nominations The William T. Pecora Award is presented annually to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing.

February 26, 2010 - Upcoming Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) Civil Commercial Imagery Evaluation Workshop The Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) Civil Commercial Imagery Evaluation Workshop will be held March 16-18, 2010 at the Marriott Fairfax at Fair Oaks, Fairfax, Virginia.

February 23, 2010 - Landsat 5 Testing The Landsat 5 Mission Operations Center will be conducting tests to document the performance of the transmitter.

February 16, 2010 - New release date for 30-meter thermal The new Landsat 30-m pixel size for thermal data, mentioned in the February 9, 2010 announcement, will be delayed until February 25, 2010.

February 9, 2010 - Thermal Data to be Resampled to 30 meters Commercial software has difficulty aligning the 30 meter multispectral data of Landsats 4-7 with the dissimilar thermal pixel sizes.

January 28, 2010 - Calibration update to ETM+ thermal band Effective January 1, 2010, the calibration of the ETM+ thermal band was modified to correct for a lifetime gain error detected by the vicarious calibration teams.

January 19-21, 2010 - Landsat Science Team Meeting The Landsat Science Team Meeting was held January 19-21, 2010, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

January 15, 2010 - Landsat 5 returns to operations Landsat 5 has continued to downlink data successfully. Data is available for order and download beginning with acquisitions on January 10, 2010.

January 7, 2010 - Landsat 5 Transmits Data Today, on January 7, 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey ground station at Sioux Falls, South Dakota successfully conducted a test to collect data from Landsat 5.

 

2009

December 18, 2009 - Landsat 5 Anomaly On Friday, December 18, 2009, the transmitter on Landsat 5 experienced technical difficulties.

December 3, 2009 - TerraLook TerraLook was developed to serve the traditional science communities that have used satellite data for analyzing and monitoring change.

September 28 - October 5, 2009 – Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group (LGSOWG#38) Meeting This year's Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group (LGSOWG#38) meeting was held in Berlin, Germany, September 28–October 5, 2009.

October 1, 2009 - USGS Scientists Survey Users of Moderate-Resolution Satellite Imagery Understanding the benefits and value of the imagery provided by moderate-resolution satellites, such as Landsat, is essential as future land-imaging initiatives move forward.

September 29, 2009 - New Bulk Download Tool for Free Landsat Data For the first 1.1 million free Landsat scenes, users had to download one scene at a time.

September 21, 2009 - Landsat Plays Key Role in Water-Use Maps Data from earth-observing Landsat satellites plays a central role in a new, award-winning type of mapping that tracks water use.

August 20, 2009 - Free Landsat Scenes Go Public by the Million On August 17, someone who wanted to see how the Earth looks from 440 miles away in space downloaded the one-millionth Landsat satellite image scene from a U.S. Geological Survey web site at its Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

August 17, 2009 - Landsat 5 Update Evaluation of the Landsat 5 data following the recent spacecraft anomaly is complete.

August 14, 2009 - Landsat 5 Update Landsat 5 operations continued successfully last night.

August 13, 2009 - Landsat 5 Anomaly Landsat 5 experienced an anomaly in the early morning hours of August 13, 2009.

June 22-24, 2009 - The Landsat Science Team meeting The Landsat Science Team Meeting was held at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Center for Imaging Science in Rochester, New York. LDCM development was discussed, and status reports of Landsat 5 and 7 operations were presented.

April 2, 2009 - Free data downloads hit 500,000 On April 2, 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat Project delivered its 500,000th free image for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009.

March 1, 2009 - Happy 25th Birthday, Landsat 5 On March 1, 1984, Landsat 5 launched onboard a Delta 3920 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

February 9-13, 2009 - Landsat Technical Working Group (LTWG#18) Meeting This year's Landsat Technical Working Group (LTWG#18) meeting was held in Maspalomas, Spain, February 9–13, 2009.

January 9, 2009 - USGS announcement: Opening the Landsat Archive Electronic access to the entire USGS Landsat 7 archive, enabling users to download standard-format scenes at no charge, has been an amazing success, with over 225,000 scenes downloaded since October 1st.

January 6-8, 2009 - The Landsat Science Team meeting The Landsat Science Team meeting was held in Fort Collins, CO. In addition to status reports on LDCM development and Landsat 5 and 7 operations, the meeting focused on technical issues associated with future Landsat data products and requirements for future missions.

 

2008

November 24, 2008 - Access to Landsat 1-5 Archive Electronic access to the entire USGS Landsat 7 archive, enabling users to download standard-format scenes at no charge, has been an amazing success with over 80,000 scenes downloaded since October 1st.

October 1, 2008 - Landsat 7 ETM+ Data Now Available at No Charge October 1, 2008 - All Landsat 7 ETM+ scenes held in the USGS EROS archive are now available at no charge.

September 17, 2008 - NASA Selects Contractor For LDCM Mission Operations Element NASA selected The Hammers Company, Greenbelt, Md., to build the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Mission Operations Element.

September 15-19, 2008 - LGSOWG-37 Meeting with International Cooperators The Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group (LGSOWG-37) meeting was organized by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and hosted by the Center for Earth Observation and Digital Earth (CEODE), Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, China, September 15 - 19, 2008.

July 31, 2008 – RFI: Landsat Raw Data Products The US Geological Survey seeks information to determine if there is interest by one or more commercial or non-profit vendors in offering Landsat products beyond those available from the US Geological Survey (USGS).

July 15-17, 2008 - Landsat Science Team Meeting A status review of Landsat 5 and 7 satellites and Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) development progress were the primary topics of discussion at the latest Landsat Science Team Meeting held at USGS Headquarters in Reston, Virginia July 15-17, 2008.

June 6, 2008 - Newly acquired Landsat 7 scenes over Eurasia now available at no charge The USGS Landsat Project has expanded its free data acquisitions to Eurasia.

May 7, 2008 - Landsat Satellite Imagery Used to Assess the Impact of Myanmar's Cyclone Nargis USGS is providing Landsat satellite imagery to aid rescue and recovery efforts in Myanmar in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis’s landfall on May 3.

May 2, 2008 - Request For Information: Satellite Ground Station Services for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission The Department of Interior (DOI), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, SD seeks information and capability statements for a "Satellite Ground Station Services for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM)." For more information, see here.

April 24, 2008 - Landsat Data Continuity Mission USGS Acquisition Strategy for Ground System Segments, LDCC, and TSSC Contracts Awarded The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) share responsibility for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission.

April 22, 2008 - NASA Selects Contractor for Landsat Data Continuity Mission Spacecraft NASA has selected General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Inc., to build the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) spacecraft. For more information, see the NASA News Release.

April 22, 2008 - The U.S. House of Representatives honors Landsat on Earth Day This week, the U.S. House of Representatives honored the Landsat missions by entering a resolution that expressed appreciation to all contributing scientists, engineers, and program personnel for the first 35 years of the Landsat program and urged continuation of the Landsat program for another 35 years.

April 21, 2008 - Imagery for Everyone By February 2009, any Landsat archive scene selected by a user will be processed, at no charge, automatically to a standard product recipe and staged for electronic retrieval.

March 31, 2008 - Newly acquired Landsat 7 scenes over Africa are now available at no charge As Landsat 7 acquires clear scenes over Africa (less than or equal to 20 percent cloud cover), the Landsat Project is automatically processing those scenes to an L1T, applying precision ground control and the SRTM DEM for geometric correction.

March 26, 2008 - The 17th Landsat Technical Working Group (LTWG) meeting The 17th Landsat Technical Working Group (LTWG) meeting, organized and hosted by the USGS, was held in Chantilly, Virginia, March 3–7, 2008.

March 10, 2008 - 2008 Pecora Award Nominations Call for Nominations for 2008 William T. Pecora Award: The William T. Pecora Award is presented annually to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing.

March 3, 2008 - Request for Proposal: Mission Operations Element The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Mission Operations Element (MOE) Request For Proposal (RFP) was released on March 1, 2008.

February 29, 2008 - Landsat 5 Satellite Back in Action Orbiter's Designed Three-Year Mission, Begins its 24th Year in Operation March 1! 

January 25, 2008 - Landsat 5 Update The USGS is pleased to announce that Landsat 5 tested imaging with the Thematic Mapper on January 10, 2008 during a pass over Brazil and Argentina.

January 22, 2008 – High Volume Distribution for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission The USGS is requesting information from individuals and organizations with an interest in accessing and regularly acquiring large volumes of data from the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) earth science data archive. 

January 17, 2008 – Landsat Data Policy Released The Landsat Data Policy document establishes Landsat Program Management Policy for distributing products derived from Landsat data collected by the U.S. since 1972.