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The Landsat satellites have been collecting Earth imagery for more than 50 years. A key piece of equipment that moves the data from the spacecraft to the archive so researchers can use it is the antenna at the EROS Center. The antenna and its radome have a fascinating history of their own that adds to the overall Landsat story.

ECOSTRESS, which stands for the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station, collects land surface temperatures in an effort to answer questions about plants’ use of water. The NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) at EROS has provided storage and distribution of ECOSTRESS data for four years now and counting.

My name is Kristen Bennett. I'm at the Astrogeology Science Center and I've been there since 2018.

I'm Lauren Edgar. I'm a research geologist at the USGS astrogeology Science Center here in Flagstaff AZ

The Landsat archive at EROS contains an unparalleled 50 years of Earth observation data. But with earlier technologies, some Landsat scenes were collected and stored only by international ground receiving stations rather than in the central archive at EROS.

Government officials and scientists had high hopes for Landsat when the first experimental satellite launched July 23, 1972. Those hopes were soon realized when imagery came back depicting features never before seen. Since then, an archive of imagery surpassing 10 million scenes has amassed at EROS, collected from eight different Landsat satellites.

We don't need a scientist to tell us that city streets catch and hold heat. Anyone who's walked barefoot from a parking lot to a beach can tell you that. What scientists can help us understand, particularly scientists who work with spaceborne, remotely sensed data, is just how big a difference there is between cities and the countryside.

Spaceborne sensors orbit hundreds of miles over our heads. Even the most advanced among them struggle to capture high-resolution imagery of individual human beings. Mosquitos, of course, are far smaller than we are. Clearly, sensors on a satellite or space station can’t see them.

USGS seismologist Andrew Michael talks about the significance of the 1992 Landers earthquake.

USGS seismologist Andrew Michael talks about the remote location of the 1992 Landers earthquake and how researchers were able to use satellite data to better see the quake’s impacts.

USGS seismologist Joan Gomberg recalls the earthquake on Little Skull Mountain related to the 1992 Landers earthquake.

USGS geologist Jonathan Matti recalls fieldwork in the Mojave Desert soon after the 1992 Landers earthquake. 

USGS seismologist Ruth Harris talks about how the 1992 Landers earthquake caused concern for the San Andreas fault.

USGS field technician Scott Lydeen recalls what the aftermath of the 1992 Landers earthquake looked like.

USGS seismologist Susan Hough talks about her role following the 1992 Landers earthquake and seismic monitoring stations in Southern California.

USGS seismologist Susan Hough described the Southern California Seismic Network and how it was used for the 1992 Landers earthquake.

USGS seismologist Susan Hough recalls what the 1992 Landers earthquake felt like from Pasadena, CA. 

USGS seismologist Susan Hough discusses what we’ve learned since the 1992 Landers earthquake.

USGS scientists remember where they were during the 1992 Landers earthquake in Southern California

Clouds of dust kicked up in places like the Sahara can travel thousands of miles across the planet. We can see those clouds in satellite imagery, but we don’t typically know much about the composition of that dust. That’s a huge blind spot, because those unknown characteristics—such as the particles’ lightness or darkness—have an impact on what they do.

When the first Landsat satellite launched 50 years ago, it was the only game in town in terms of civilian land remote sensing. In the years that followed, a host of satellites have launched to serve similar purposes. But that data doesn't always play well together.