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About National Land Imaging

By National Land Imaging Program

The surface of the Earth is changing rapidly, at local, regional, national, even global scales, with significant repercussions for people, the economy, and the environment.

Back to the NLI Program

Remote sensing satellites and aircraft monitor the Earth providing information that is broad, precise, impartial, and easily available. In addition to operating the Landsat satellites, USGS provides the Nation's portal to the largest archive of remotely sensed land data in the world, supplying continuous access to current and historical land images worldwide. These images serve many purposes from assessing the impact of natural disasters to monitoring global agricultural production, from monitoring the impact of climate and other global changes to supporting national defense.

National Land Imaging Program Objectives

  • Acquire regional and global remotely sensed datasets from multiple sources, and participate in defining and developing future satellite missions. 
  • Ensure the preservation of and access to the Nation's remotely sensed land data.
  • Expand the understanding and applications of remotely sensed data.

National Land Imaging Partners