In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk with several people involved with the next Landsat mission, targeted for launch around 2030. While that may seem like a ways into the future, it takes a lot of work to prepare for such a big mission.
Landsat Next
Landsat Next is on the horizon — with a launch planned for late 2030/early 2031, the new mission will ensure continuity of the longest space-based record of Earth’s land surface and fundamentally transform the breadth and depth of actionable Earth Observation information freely available to end users.
Landsat Next will provide new capabilities for the next generation of Landsat users. The enhanced spatial and temporal resolution of the 26-band “superspectral” Landsat Next constellation will unlock new applications for water quality, crop production and plant stress, ice and snow dynamics, soil health, and critical mineral mapping.
Landsat Next continues Landsat’s decades-long data record of multispectral imagery, which affords global, synoptic, and repetitive coverage of Earth’s land surfaces at a scale where natural and human-induced changes can be detected, differentiated, characterized, and monitored over time.
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Landsat Next Defined
Landsat Next will be a constellation of three identical observatories sent into orbit on the same launch vehicle. The triplet observatories will be spaced 120 degrees apart at an orbital altitude of 653 kilometers (406 miles). Each observatory will consist of a spacecraft and a Landsat Next Instrument Suite (LandIS), which will acquire all bands nearly simultaneously. The simultaneity will minimize illumination changes between bands, facilitating both cloud screen detection and products derived from multispectral surface reflectance and thermal emission data (e.g., evapotranspiration).
The Landsat Next constellation will provide an improved collective 6-day temporal revisit, a significant increase from the 16 intervals of either Landsat 8 or Landsat 9.
While Landsat’s 8 and 9 measure 11 spectral bands from the visible to thermal infrared wavelengths, Landsat Next will collect data across 26 bands; this includes refined versions of the 11 Landsat “heritage” bands, ten new visible to shortwave spectral bands s, and three additional thermal bands to support emerging Landsat application. All bands will have higher spatial resolutions than former Landsat missions, with ground sample distances of 10 to 20 meters for visible, near infrared, and shortwave infrared bands and 60 meters for atmospheric and thermal infrared bands.
With these improvements, Landsat Next will collect on average about 20 times more data than its predecessor, Landsat 9, and continue to provide free and open data access for all users.
The Landsat Next mission launch is planned for late 2030/early 2031.
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The Path to Landsat Next
Following the successful launch of Landsat 8 and during the development of Landsat 9, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA assembled a team of experts from within both agencies for a Joint Agency Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study Team to evaluate how to inform an acquisition strategy for a follow-on mission that would best satisfy the diverse and evolving user needs. (Wu et al., 2019).
The highest-recommended architecture was a small constellation of “superspectral” space-based sensors that would improve the spectral, spatial, and temporal capabilities. Another goal is to be sufficiently consistent with data from earlier Landsat missions allowing land cover and land use change studies over multi-decadal periods.
Why Landsat Next
Landsat is a civilian satellite program that was initiated to map, monitor, and manage Earth’s natural resources. It has provided an unbiased and unvarnished history of the planet and its changing conditions during the past half-century. Landsat data are critical for mapping natural resources and impact numerous societal benefits such as food security, water use, disaster response and more. Landsat also provide essential data for monitoring the ecosystems, water quality, land cover and land use change, and an unparalleled data record.
Landsat has been the cornerstone of Earth observing for more than half a century, and Landsat Next will add to this record for the next generation:
- Landsat has been ranked as a top Earth-observation program in terms of societal benefits provided, along with GPS and weather satellites according to the 2014 National Science and Technology Council report.
- Landsat is the most widely used land remote sensing data source within Federal civil agencies.
- Commercial providers rely on Landsat’s rigorous calibration to build/improve products.
- Landsat has been an essential data source for a wide range of Earth science research. Landsat is the most cited Earth-observation data set within the scientific literature (Wulder et al., 2022):
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Landsat Next will provide enhancements over traditional Landsat “heritage” data:
- Improved temporal revisit will increase the probability of acquiring cloud-free scenes and enhance monitoring and management of dynamic and changing landscapes. The enables better monitoring of dynamic land and water surfaces such as vegetation and crop phenology, burn severity, water use and quality, coastal and wetland change, glacier, and ice sheet dynamics.
- Improved spatial resolution for agricultural monitoring, ecological monitoring, urban studies, water resources management and other applications.
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Landsat Next will provide new capabilities for the next generation of Landsat users:
- New spectral bands and refined bands will support new and evolving applications, including surface water quality, cryospheric science, geology, and agricultural applications including crop management and water consumption.
- The new bands will have similar spatial/spectral characteristics to those of the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, allowing easier integration of data products.
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Landsat Next Spectral Bands
| Spectral band number/name | Pixel Resolution (m) | Wavelength Range (nm) | Observational Rationale | |
1 | Violet | 60 | 402 - 422 | Aerosol retrieval, atmospheric correction, detection of colored dissolved organic matter |
2 | Coastal/Aerosol | 20 | 433 - 453 | Landsat heritage, Sentinel-2 synergy, vegetation health and plant vigor assessments |
3 | Blue | 10 | 457.5 - 522.5 | Landsat heritage, Sentinel-2 synergy, bathymetry, soil/vegetation mapping, detection of snow impurities |
4 | Green | 10 | 542.5 - 577.5 | Landsat heritage, Sentinel-2 synergy, vegetation health and plant vigor assessments |
5 | Yellow | 20 | 585 - 615 | Detection of leaf chlorosis and vegetation stress, aquatic health and water quality assessments |
6 | Orange | 20 | 610 - 630 | Phycocyanin (cyanobacteria) detection |
7 | Red 1 | 20 | 640 - 660 | Landsat heritage, phycocyanin flourescence (cyanobacteria) detection, chlorophyll content mapping |
8 | Red 2 | 10 | 650 - 680 | Landsat heritage, Sentinel-2 synergy, chlorophyll content and vegetation mapping, vegetation differentiation |
9 | Red Edge 1 | 20 | 697.5 - 712.5 | Sentinel-2 synergy, leaf area index mapping, chlorophyll content and plant stress mapping |
10 | Red Edge 2 | 20 | 732.5 - 747.5 | Sentinel-2 synergy, leaf area index mapping, chlorophyll content and plant stress mapping |
11 | NIR Broad | 10 | 784.5 - 899.5 | Sentinel-2 synergy, 10 meter NDVI, biomass content and shoreline detection |
12 | NIR 1 | 20 | 855 - 875 | Landsat heritage, Sentinel-2 synergy, biomass content and shoreline detection |
13 | Water Vapor | 60 | 935 - 955 | Sentinel-2 synergy, atmospheric correction for land surface temperature, surface reflectance |
14 | Liquid Water | 20 | 975 - 995 | Liquid water and water surface state detection, vegetation water content mapping |
15 | Snow/Ice1 | 20 | 1025 - 1045 | Snow grain size mapping |
16 | Snow/Ice 2 | 20 | 1080 - 1100 | Ice absorption, snow grain size mapping |
17 | Cirrus | 60 | 1360 - 1390 | Landsat heritage, Sentinel-2 synergy, detection of cirrus (high-altitude) clouds |
18 | SWIR 1 | 10 | 1565 - 1655 | Landsat heritage, Sentinel-2 synergy, detection of non-photosynthetic vegetation, fuel moisture mapping |
19 | SWIR 2a | 20 | 2025.5 - 2050.5 | Cellulose/crop residue mapping |
20 | SWIR 2b | 20 | 2088 - 2128 | Landsat heritage, cellulose/crop residue and soil moisture content mapping, fire scar detection |
21 | SWIR 2c | 20 | 2191 - 2231 | Landsat heritage, cellulose/crop residue and soil moisture content mapping, fire scar detection |
22 | TIR 1 | 60 | 8175 - 8425 | ASTER synergy, mineral and surface composition mapping |
23 | TIR 2 | 60 | 8425 - 8775 | ASTER synergy, emissivity separation, volcano/sulfur dioxide emissions mapping |
24 | TIR 3 | 60 | 8925 - 9275 | ASTER synergy, mineral and surface composition mapping |
25 | TIR 4 | 60 | 11025 - 11575 | Landsat heritage, surface temperature retrieval, carbonate mineral mapping |
26 | TIR 5 | 60 | 11725 - 12275 | Landsat heritage, surface temperature retrieval, snow grain size and moisture content mapping |
NASA News about Landsat Next:
Related
Landsat's Next Chapter
With a trio of smaller satellites that can each detect 26 wavelengths of light, the Landsat Next mission is expected to look very different from its predecessors that have been observing Earth for 50 years. This new plan for Landsat Next, a joint mission of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, is designed to provide more frequent, and finer resolution, data of the changing surface of Earth.
Eyes on Earth Episode 118 – Preparing for Landsat Next, Part 2
In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk with several people involved with the next Landsat mission, targeted for launch around 2030. While that may seem like a ways into the future, it takes a lot of work to prepare for such a big mission.
Eyes on Earth Episode 117 – Preparing for Landsat Next, Part 1
In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk with several people involved with the next Landsat mission. In Part 1, we’ll hear about how different Landsat Next will be from previous Landsat missions and how its additional spectral bands, higher resolution and 6-day revisit will benefit science and society.
In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk with several people involved with the next Landsat mission. In Part 1, we’ll hear about how different Landsat Next will be from previous Landsat missions and how its additional spectral bands, higher resolution and 6-day revisit will benefit science and society.
Spectral Bandpasses for all Landsat Sensors
This image shows the spectral bandpasses for the sensors on all Landsat satellites.
This image shows the spectral bandpasses for the sensors on all Landsat satellites.
Landsat Next - The Future of the Landsat Program
Landsat Next, planned for launch in late 2030/early 2031, will be a constellation of three identical satellites that together will view the Earth's surface more frequently and provide more detail about its surface.
Landsat Next, planned for launch in late 2030/early 2031, will be a constellation of three identical satellites that together will view the Earth's surface more frequently and provide more detail about its surface.
Landsat Next Planned Orbits and Swath Coverage
Landsat Next is the follow on mission to Landsat-9. Landsat Next which will provide data continuity to the decades long data record of the Earth’s land from space. It is still in the planning stages and is targeted for launch around 2030.
Landsat Next is the follow on mission to Landsat-9. Landsat Next which will provide data continuity to the decades long data record of the Earth’s land from space. It is still in the planning stages and is targeted for launch around 2030.
Related
Landsat's Next Chapter
With a trio of smaller satellites that can each detect 26 wavelengths of light, the Landsat Next mission is expected to look very different from its predecessors that have been observing Earth for 50 years. This new plan for Landsat Next, a joint mission of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, is designed to provide more frequent, and finer resolution, data of the changing surface of Earth.
Eyes on Earth Episode 118 – Preparing for Landsat Next, Part 2
In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk with several people involved with the next Landsat mission, targeted for launch around 2030. While that may seem like a ways into the future, it takes a lot of work to prepare for such a big mission.
In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk with several people involved with the next Landsat mission, targeted for launch around 2030. While that may seem like a ways into the future, it takes a lot of work to prepare for such a big mission.
Eyes on Earth Episode 117 – Preparing for Landsat Next, Part 1
In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk with several people involved with the next Landsat mission. In Part 1, we’ll hear about how different Landsat Next will be from previous Landsat missions and how its additional spectral bands, higher resolution and 6-day revisit will benefit science and society.
In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk with several people involved with the next Landsat mission. In Part 1, we’ll hear about how different Landsat Next will be from previous Landsat missions and how its additional spectral bands, higher resolution and 6-day revisit will benefit science and society.
Spectral Bandpasses for all Landsat Sensors
This image shows the spectral bandpasses for the sensors on all Landsat satellites.
This image shows the spectral bandpasses for the sensors on all Landsat satellites.
Landsat Next - The Future of the Landsat Program
Landsat Next, planned for launch in late 2030/early 2031, will be a constellation of three identical satellites that together will view the Earth's surface more frequently and provide more detail about its surface.
Landsat Next, planned for launch in late 2030/early 2031, will be a constellation of three identical satellites that together will view the Earth's surface more frequently and provide more detail about its surface.
Landsat Next Planned Orbits and Swath Coverage
Landsat Next is the follow on mission to Landsat-9. Landsat Next which will provide data continuity to the decades long data record of the Earth’s land from space. It is still in the planning stages and is targeted for launch around 2030.
Landsat Next is the follow on mission to Landsat-9. Landsat Next which will provide data continuity to the decades long data record of the Earth’s land from space. It is still in the planning stages and is targeted for launch around 2030.