Images

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. Located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the East Coast, it runs north-south from the mouth of the Susquehanna River near Havre de Grace, Maryland, to the Atlantic Ocean near Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed has experienced substantial population growth over the last several decades. Since 1950, the population has more than doubled, and between 1980 and 2023, the number increased from 12.7 million to 18.6 million.

A bird’s eye view of the Thacker Pass lithium mine captured in late February 2025 reveals the contours of the process plant pad taking shape. Lithium Americas, the company that owns the mine, used Landsat data to help determine its potential impact on sagebrush environments and groundwater.

On Tuesday, January 21, 2025, Winter Storm Enzo brought an exceptionally rare snowfall to the Greater Houston metro area of Texas. The National Weather Service reported 5.5 inches (14 cm) in Baytown, a city located east of Houston on the northern shore of Galveston Bay. Other cities and locales received upwards of 3 to 4 inches (7.6 to 10.2 cm).

The USGS provides research-quality, applications-ready Landsat Level-2 and Level-3 science products to support an array of land surface change studies. Collection 2 Level-2 scene-based science products include Surface Reflectance, Surface Temperature, Surface Reflectance-Derived Spectral Indices, and Provisional Aquatic Reflectance.

Louisiana is home to numerous salt domes, including the five distinct coastal salt dome islands that can be found in the southern part of the state near the Gulf of America. Formed by the upward pressure of ancient salt deposits, these hills rise above the surrounding marshes and coastal plains of Louisiana.

The tragic fires sweeping across the Greater Los Angeles area in January 2025 have burned more than 40,000 acres, destroyed more than 12,300 structures, and prompted evacuation orders and warnings for as many as 200,000 residents. Exceptionally dry conditions, coupled with strong Santa Ana winds, have fueled the fires.

The tragic fires sweeping across the Greater Los Angeles area have burned more than 40,000 acres, destroyed more than 12,300 structures, and prompted evacuation orders and warnings for as many as 200,000 residents. Exceptionally dry conditions, coupled with strong Santa Ana winds, have fueled the fires.

Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 kicked off 2025 by acquiring over 1,400 scenes on the first of January. This Landsat 9 image of Emi Koussi in the Tibesti Range of Chad is a mosaic of two of the many scenes collected. Emi Koussi is an extinct shield volcano that rises to 11,204 feet (3,415 meters) above sea level, making it the highest summit in Chad and the Sahara Desert.

This map shows 2024 shrub cover from the Rangeland Condition Monitoring Assessment and Projection (RCMAP) project across the McDermitt Caldera, outlined in gray, along the Nevada–Oregon border. Dark green areas indicate high shrub cover, typically found in riparian zones and at higher elevations.

Existing surficial geologic maps of project areas to be converted to digital geologic databases (Barry and Van Buren counties) and web-based maps (Allegan County).

On December 12, 2024, heavy lake effect snow blanketed the Buffalo, New York metro area with over 2 feet accumulating in less than 24 hours. This area normally receives heavy snowfall each year during the Northern Hemisphere winter months due to being situated along the shore of Lake Erie. 

The Wind River Range, located in west-central Wyoming, is a unique wilderness area that rises from the high plains of the South Pass of the Continental Divide and runs northwest to the Yellowstone Plateau. The Winds, as they are affectionately known, are exceptionally long, wide, high, rugged, and remote.

Landsat 8 image of Lake Thompson in South Dakota, showing a November algal bloom.

Image date: November 22, 2024
Path 30, Row 29
Band combinations: 654 (false color) to show the algal bloom, and then blended with 432 (natural color) to show the snow.

Photo of Pecora 2024 Team Award winners with representatives from USGS and NASA.

This Landsat 9 image shows the Washington D.C. area on August 1, 2024. The image was created using Bands 6,5,4 and was then sharpened using the panchromatic band (Band 8) which has a higher resolution than the other bands (15 meters compared to 30 meters).

Path 15 Row 33

Landsat 8 image of the Massachusetts Coast, showing Boston, Plymouth, and Cape Cod.

Published on social media on November 28, 2024, for Thanksgiving.

Mosaic of two different Landsat 8 images:
Image dates: November 8 and 17, 2024
Path 11, Row 31 and Path 12, Row 31 

Topobathymetric digital elevation model of the Santiam River in the Willamette Valley southeast of Salem, Oregon.

Topobathymetric digital elevation model of the Santiam River in the Willamette Valley southeast of Salem, Oregon.

USGS geographer and remote pilot Mark Bauer sets up a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) base station, which will be used to correct uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) lidar data during post-processing. It's early during the field day and a layer of frost covers the ground.

Topobathymetric digital elevation model of the Santiam River in the Willamette Valley southeast of Salem, Oregon.