Science
The Landsat Program has been a boon to the study of the Earth's land resources, shorelines, and inland waters. Five decades of imagery revealing the land surface's visible and invisible features have sparked or advanced innovations in science that are now folded into the way we understand our planet, inside and outside of the research community.
Today, for example, agricultural producers take for granted the ability to track and measure the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values of the crops in their fields. Fifty years ago, the notion of tracking crop health from space was a distant dream, if pondered at all.
NDVI is measurement of crop health (greenness) built from a mathematical equation that factors in visible and near infrared light reflected from the Earth’s surface. It’s just one of several vegetation indices made possible by the recording of reflected light in the near infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum—something every Landsat satellite since 1972 has done, and something that simply wasn't possible prior to the land remote sensing era. The Multispectral Scanner (MSS) onboard the first Landsat marked the first time a civilian satellite recorded repeat, near-infrared information at the global scale.
Landsat was the driving force behind the first space-based global crop assessment project in the 1970s. Today, geospatial information system (GIS) software applications—even online-only tools for satellite data viewing—often allow users to calculate NDVI values with the click of a button, using data from Landsat or a host of other satellite sources for which visible and near-infrared data collection is standard.
Landsat imagery also serve as the backbone of another agriculture tool producers in the U.S. now take for granted: the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cropland Data Layer (CDL), which tracks crop types across the U.S.
The program’s contributions to agriculture, of course, represent just one of countless examples of the ways the longest continuously collected satellite data source in history has improved our understanding of our planet’s form and function over the past 50 years.
The first National-scale land cover maps, the land cover and fuel-mapping information made available by the LANDFIRE program, global forest health monitoring, and much, much, more owe their existence to the Landsat program and its consistent, reliable record of the Earth's surface.
Click the “Societal Benefits,” “Stories,” and “Innovations” tabs at your left to explore just a few of the examples of how Landsat has improved our understanding of Earth.
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Explore more Landsat Science!
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StateCU and Landsat, Colorado Water Conservation Board and Riverside Technology, inc.
Russian River NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) Methodology and Use, California
E. and J. Gallo: Improving Irrigation Technology and Grape and Wine Quality
Vineyards and Apple and Olive Orchards, Chile
A and B Irrigation District, Idaho: Call on the River
Clear Springs Foods Inc., Idaho: Curtailment Order
Zone Mapping with Landsat Imagery
Agriculture from 'Landsat Imagery: A Unique Resource'
Technology from 'Landsat Imagery: A Unique Resource'
Read about Landsat science, Landsat milestones and more!
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Explore more Landsat Science!
Filter Total Items: 33Data Discovery
USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center provide tools that allow user to view, search, query, download, and utilize onlne interfaces for available remote sensing and geospatial data.Landsat Science Team
Landsat Science Teams consist of USGS and NASA scientists and engineers, external scientists, engineers, and application specialists, representing industry and university research initiatives. Members contribute technical and scientific input to ensure success and provide science support on issues including data acquisition, product access and format, and science and applications opportunities.Fire Danger Forecast
USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS), in conjunction with the US Forest Service Pacific Southwest (PSW) Region, has developed several new products for understanding and forecasting the probability of large wildland fires on all land in the conterminous U.S.StateCU and Landsat, Colorado Water Conservation Board and Riverside Technology, inc.
In the State of Colorado, Riverside Technology, inc. conducted a project, in collaboration with the CWCB, to compare traditional consumptive-use estimates from Colorado StateCU decision support system (DSS) and Landsat thermal data processed in METRIC. The results showed that application of METRIC model on Landsat thermal imagery provides more consistent output than that of the StateCU model. The...Russian River NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) Methodology and Use, California
In 2013, the SCWA updated the crop field GIS mapping in the watershed last completed in 2009. To facilitate the heads-up digitizing of crop fields, the SCWA developed a “screening tool” layer to identify changes in vegetation from the previous imagery to the most recent. The SCWA’s screening tool helped by highlighting changes using NDVI to track land use changes from 2006 to 2012. The SCWA...E. and J. Gallo: Improving Irrigation Technology and Grape and Wine Quality
Landsat imagery is increasingly used in the private sector. E. & J. Gallo (Gallo), located in California, is the largest winery in the world and the first known company in the U.S. beverage industry to use Landsat data in viticulture practices. A pioneer of efficient water-management practices through Landsat, Gallo uses the imagery on approximately 20,000 acres of Gallo-owned vineyards from...Vineyards and Apple and Olive Orchards, Chile
Landsat has been instrumental in helping Chile estimate water demand. The country often faces drought conditions, and although some level of water supply is guaranteed from dams and reservoirs, seasonal supply is uncertain. Agricultural production is a large enterprise in Chile, and water shortages create uncertainty in agricultural production as well as economic growth and sustainability. Landsat...A and B Irrigation District, Idaho: Call on the River
In 2006, A and B Irrigation District (A and B), a senior groundwater user, claimed it was materially injured due to junior groundwater pumping. Landsat data processed with the METRIC model served as key evidence for the case. One way of determining if there was a shortage of water in A and B was to analyze three archived Landsat scenes. Water use was compared through the evapotranspiration...Clear Springs Foods Inc., Idaho: Curtailment Order
In 2009, Snake River Farm, a trout farm owned by Clear Springs Foods, Inc., in Snake River Canyon saw a decrease in surface water from springs and sought curtailment of junior groundwater pumping. In this case, the Director of IDWR found that Clear Springs was materially injured by junior groundwater pumping and ordered curtailment. Landsat imagery processed with METRIC was used to establish water...Zone Mapping with Landsat Imagery
Farmers have long known that not all areas in a field produce the same yield, yet the ability to measure and map this variability is a fairly recent arrival in agronomic management. The practice of measuring and mapping yield limiting variables throughout a field is generally referred to as zone mapping (Zhang and others, 2010). Zone maps are used to identify areas within a field that express a...Agriculture from 'Landsat Imagery: A Unique Resource'
Landsat satellites provide high-quality, multi-spectral imagery of the surface of the Earth. These moderate-resolution, remotely sensed images are not just pictures, but contain many layers of data collected at different points along the visible and invisible light spectrum.Technology from 'Landsat Imagery: A Unique Resource'
Landsat satellites provide high-quality, multi-spectral imagery of the surface of the Earth. These moderate-resolution, remotely sensed images are not just pictures, but contain many layers of data collected at different points along the visible and invisible light spectrum. - News
Read about Landsat science, Landsat milestones and more!
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