Daily Average = 3,125 scenes of web-enabled data

delivered

• Over 2.4 million images available today• Seven fold increase in scientific and educational users • Data delivered to 180 countries• Exceeded 1 million scenes delivered on August 17, 2009

Total Landsat Scenes Delivered Since October 1, 2008

Worldwide Usage of Landsat

Bryant CramerAssociate Director for Geography, USGS

U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological Survey

• A Long View Landsat provides the longest continuous record of global land surface conditions. The Landsat archive is an objective, comprehensive chronicle of the land.

• Appropriate technology for the missionLandsat is designed to provide the scientific data and tools necessary to support decision-makers in selecting wise land management strategies.

• Building for the Future Landsat data continuity is required by law (Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992).For future missions, an operational strategy rather than a research approach is most efficient.

Outline

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“… the time is now right and urgent to apply space technology towards the solution of many pressing natural resource problems being compounded by population and industrial growth.”

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall, 1966

Origin of Landsat

Bolivia Deforestation

These images show the progression of deforestation in Bolivia from 1975 to 2003. This area lies northeast of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, in an area of tropical dry forest. Since the mid-1980s, the resettlement of people from the Altiplano (the Andean high plains) and a large agricultural development effort (the Tierras Baja project) has led to this area’s deforestation.

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Landsat 7Enhanced Thematic Mapper

Plus (ETM+) 30/15 meter

Landsat 4 - 5Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) 79 meter

Thematic Mapper (TM) 30 meter

LandsatInternationalCooperatorStations

37-year Archive of Global Data

Department of the Interior is a Center of Expertise in Satellite Imaging and Land Science

The World’s Model for International Collaboration in Earth Observation

The World’s Most Sophisticated Optical Observatories of the Earth

Landsat 1 - 3Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) 79 meter

Return Beam Vidicon (RBV) 80/40 meter

LandsatInternationalCooperatorStations

Modern Digital SiloEROS Center Sioux Falls, SD

Landsat program: since 1972

Agriculture & Forestry

Wildlife & Public Lands

Commerce & Industry

Regional, State, and Local Government

Disaster Management

International Economic Development

National Security / Homeland Security

Global Change Policy & Research

Uses of Landsat Imagery

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Worldwide Use of Landsat Imagery

Medium Resolution: A broad but thorough perspective

This figure shows all major land use changes and ecosystem disturbances between 1985 and present. Detected and mapped using Landsat imagery.

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Land cover and disturbance year

Persisting Nonforest

Persisting Forest

Water

Pre-1985

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

National Land Cover Dataset

NLCD 2001 landcover.usgs.gov

Role in Global Change Research • Impacts of land use and land cover change

– Carbon cycle dynamics– Changes in ecosystem services, e.g., deforestation

• Monitoring climate-driven land dynamics– Changes in snow and ice extent, e.g., glaciers– Changes in fire frequency and severity– Drought cycles

• Climate studies– Human dimensions of global change– Land-atmosphere interactions– Land use modifications of weather and climate

• Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) - Terrestrial– River discharge, Water use, Ground water, Lake levels,

Snow cover, Glaciers and ice caps, Permafrost and seasonally-frozen ground, Albedo, Land cover (including vegetation type), Fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (fPAR), Leaf area index (LAI), Biomass, Fire disturbance, Soil moisture

Landsat Remote Sensing of Global Change

Landsat 7: Lena Delta The Lena River, some 2,800 miles long, is one of the largest rivers in the world. The Lena Delta Reserve, the most extensive protected wilderness area in Russia, is an important refuge and breeding grounds for many species of Siberian wildlife. Image taken 7/27/2000

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Status of Landsats 5 and 7

Landsat 5 Launched in 1984; more than 26 years old Operating on several backup subsystem components Items of concern: Transmitters, Solar Arrays, Batteries… etc

Landsat 7 Launched in 1999; suffered key sensor degradation in 2003 Each scene retains 75% of high-quality data Scenes are still good for some uses “as is”

(with 25% missing along edges)Scenes filled in by ground system processing Items of concern: Gyroscopes

Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM)

NASA and USGS cooperation to ensure continuous availability of Landsat data.

• NASA:• Procures satellite, instrument, and launch services• Manages mission integration and post-launch system checkout• Transfers satellite to USGS after on-orbit checkout• Cooperates with USGS in ongoing data calibration/validation

• USGS:• Procures ground station network, ground data archive and processing systems,

and flight operations facility• Coordinates with NASA on mission integration and system checkout• Operates satellite and manages data archive and distribution• Sponsors Landsat Science Team co-chaired by USGS and NASA• Manages ongoing data calibration/validation

• Launch scheduled for December 2012

Continuing the Landsat mission to understand the earth

landsat.usgs.gov

The Earth behaves as a system in which oceans, atmosphere and land, and the living and non-living parts therein, are all connected.

Global Change and the Earth SystemSteffen et al. 2005