Landsat 8 Swath Animation
(Credit: Andy Dykstra (Contractor), USGS EROS. Public domain.)
Detailed Description
The Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center has created a video animation describing how Landsat 8 orbits the Earth. The video explains the 16-day cycle for capturing imagery of the entire world. Learn more about USGS Landsat.
Details
Date Taken:
Length: 00:01:01
Location Taken: Sioux Falls, SD, US
Transcript
As we orbit the sun,
Landsat 8 positions itself
to capture imagery in direct sunlight.
It’s called a sun synchronous orbit.
And it happens every 99 minutes,
and about 14 times a day.
As Landsat travels
from the north pole to the south,
it’s capturing data over
a 115 mile wide “swath”
So every day we add 14 swaths.
And over 16 days
we complete a full picture of our planet.
And we start the cycle again
to watch global changes as they happen.