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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) archive of Earth images acquired by Landsat 1-8 sensors is organized in collections of consistently calibrated, geolocated, and processed data products. Such an organization ensures consistent quality of the archived data within a collection over time and across all instruments within the Landsat mission. In...

In late 2020 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began the distribution of Landsat products associated with their collection 2 reprocessing of the archive. Several changes were implemented within the Landsat Product Generation System (LPGS) and the calibration parameters applied to the Landsat imagery for the collection 2 processing. When comparing...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has completed processing of the historical Landsat archive to Collection-2 as of December of 2020 and has released it to the public. As part of Collection-2, several geometric changes have been implemented, including changes to the ground control points (GCPs) and elevation datasets. These datasets...

The Green Mountain State of Vermont is known for its vast swaths of deciduous forest, patches of evergreen, and the Green Mountains that run through its center.Valuable insight into the forests and landscape features of Vermont can be gleaned from the 50-year historical record of Landsat satellite imagery. The archive...

Landsat 9 is in its final preparations for launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on 16 September 2021. It has completed its environmental testing at Northrop Grumman Space (NGSP) in Gilbert, Arizona and has been transported to its California launch site. It will be launched into a 705 km orbit...

An increasing number of sports fields around the world are equipped with artificial turf. This solution has been endorsed by numerous sports federations, despite concerns about the potential for injuries and higher surface temperatures. In this work we analyzed land surface temperature in 4 pairs of...

Executive SummaryThis report addresses system characterization of Planet’s Dove Classic satellites and is part of a series of system characterization reports produced and delivered by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence. These reports present and detail the methodology and procedures for characterization; present...

Arizona is a land of massive grandeur, deep gorges, lofty mountains, immense plains, and elevated mesas—and, without question, its crown jewel is the Grand Canyon. The spectacular canyon, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, was created when the Colorado River carved a channel through northern Arizona, revealing...

SummarySpatiotemporal patterns of Spartina alterniflora belowground biomass (BGB) are important for evaluating salt marsh resiliency. To solve this, we created the BERM (Belowground Ecosystem Resiliency Model), which estimates monthly BGB (30-m spatial resolution) from freely available data such as Landsat-8 and Daymet climate summaries.Our...

Identifying meaningful measures of ecological change over large areas is dependent on the quantification of robust relationships between ecological metrics and remote sensing products. Over the past several decades, ground observations of wildfire and prescribed fire severity have been acquired across hundreds of wildland fires in the United States, primarily utilizing...

Hyperspectral narrowbands (HNBs) capture data as nearly continuous “spectral signatures” rather than a “few spectral data points” along the electromagnetic spectrum as with multispectral broadbands (MBBs). Almost all of satellite remote sensing of the Earth in the twentieth century was conducted using MBB data from sensors such as the Landsat-series, Advanced...

Water temperature is a key element of freshwater ecological systems and a critical element within natural resource monitoring programs. In the absence of in situ measurements, remote sensing platforms can indirectly measure water temperature over time and space. The Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center has processed archived Landsat...

In contrast to abrupt changes caused by land cover conversion, subtle changes driven by a shift in the condition, structure, or other biological attributes of land often lead to minimal and slower alterations of the terrestrial surface. Accurate mapping and monitoring of subtle change are crucial for an early warning...

Few States derive as much of their social and economic well-being from the land as South Dakota. Agriculture is the State’s primary industry. Hunting, fishing, tourism, mining, and hydroelectric power are also important economic and cultural drivers. Data from the U.S. Geological Survey Landsat program, archived at the U.S. Geological...

California has remarkable geographic diversity, from 1,100 miles of Pacific shoreline to 33 million acres of trees, including its famous redwood forests along the Pacific Coast Highway, U.S. Route 101. And although California’s nickname is “The Golden State," it may also deserve the title of “The Extreme State.” Mount Whitney,...

Landsat surface temperature and land cover products have been used to estimate surface temperatures in urban and surrounding nonurban areas and to quantify urban heat island intensity. Understanding the intensity and long-term temporal trends of urban heat islands enables the heat-related health challenges associated with heat waves to be monitored...

Executive SummaryThis report addresses system characterization of Gaofen-1 and is part of a series of system characterization reports produced and delivered by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence in 2020. These reports present the detail methodology and procedures for characterization; present technical and...

Executive SummaryThis report addresses system characterization of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS) and is part of a series of system characterization reports produced and delivered by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence. These reports present the methodology and...

Riparian ecosystems provide critical habitat for many species, yet assessment of vegetation condition at local scales is difficult to measure when considering large areas over long time periods. We present a framework to map and monitor two deciduous cover types, upland and riparian, occupying...

Development of comprehensive spatially explicit fire occurrence data remains one of the most critical needs for fire managers globally, and especially for conservation across the southeastern United States. Not only are many endangered species and ecosystems in that region reliant on frequent fire, but fire risk analysis, prescribed fire planning,...

Maryland, called “America in Miniature,” encompasses nearly every geographical feature in the United States except a desert. Water dominates the State, whose borders run along much of Chesapeake Bay. The bay is the country’s largest estuary, where freshwater from watershed tributaries mingles with the ocean’s saltwater and teems with life.The...

From the iconic skyline of New York City to the forested landscapes of the Adirondack Mountains and the countryside of the Allegheny Plateau, the State of New York is overflowing with diversity and life. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and two of the Great Lakes to the...

The Landsat 7 (L7) spacecraft and its instrument, the enhanced thematic mapper plus (ETM+), have been consistently characterized and calibrated since its launch in April of 1999. These performance metrics and calibration updates are determined through the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat image assessment system (IAS), which has been...

Vegetation has the potential to respond to underground nuclear explosions, yet these links have not been fully explored. Given the lack of previously described signatures, the changes in vegetation are possibly subtle. The integration of multiple different data streams is potentially a useful approach to improve...

Oregon’s landscape is as complex and diverse as it is beautiful. Mountain peaks in the Cascade Range soar higher than 10,000 feet. Crater Lake sinks to a depth of 1,943 feet, making it the deepest lake in the United States. Oregon’s lands feature forests, farm fields, grasslands, ocean coastline, rivers,...