Landsat Next Defined

Landsat Next Defined

June 29, 2023

Landsat Next is on the horizon—the new mission will not only ensure continuity of the longest space-based record of Earth’s land surface, it will fundamentally transform the breadth and depth of actionable information freely available to end users. Take a look at the new capabilities that will define the next Landsat mission.

Read More »
Landsat Next Defined

Landsat Next Defined

June 29, 2023

Landsat Next is on the horizon—the new mission will not only ensure continuity of the longest space-based record of Earth’s land surface, it will fundamentally transform the breadth and depth of actionable information freely available to end users. Take a look at the new capabilities that will define the next Landsat mission.

Read More »

“As the climate continues to warm and affect urban health, the Landsat satellites’ sensors are among our best tools for monitoring the thermal variations of the urban heat island.”


— Daniel P. Johnson, Associate Professor of Geography, IUPUI , Jun 14, 2022
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“A 35-year dataset in marine biology is really hard to find… But we need long-term data to understand climate change and how it impacts populations. This was an exponential increase in the amount of information available about kelp forests in Oregon.”


— Sara Hamilton, OSU marine biologist , on the importance of Landsat data for her work , Mar 5, 2020
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“The Landsat collection 1 datasets represent a milestone in remote sensing science, with comparatively stable radiometric calibration and atmospheric correction.”


— Bruce Cook, NASA Landsat 9 deputy project scientist , Jul 1, 2019
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“Satellite imagery can help us get the biggest bang for our buck by targeting conservation initiatives in a specific window of time at key locations. Landsat is the longest running Earth observation satellite system we have, and free access to this data enables researchers to look at the effects of seasonality, climate cycles, and long-term trends in land-use change.”


— Danica Schaffer-Smith, doctoral student, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University , Mar 27, 2017
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“Having Landsat 9 in progress, and a long-term commitment to sustainable land imaging, is great for natural resource science and for data-driven industries such as precision agriculture and insurance.”


— Sarah Ryker, USGS deputy associate director for climate and land use change , Apr 16, 2015
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“There is no other asset in the sky that can show us what Landsat does in terms of the effect of this eruption and also the effect of recovery following the eruption.”


— Dr. Sean Healy, U.S. Forest Service , May 18, 2020
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“For more than fifty years now, Landsat satellites have helped us learn more about how Earth systems work, how human activities affect those systems, and how we can make better decisions for the future. Landsat 9, the latest joint effort by NASA and USGS, proudly carries on that remarkable record.”


— NASA Administrator Bill Nelson , Aug 11, 2022
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“Landsat Next… will provide significantly improved data on global environment change, natural resource utilization, and dynamic landscapes; all information needed to inform future policy decisions and to drive groundbreaking advances for multiple scientific disciplines.”


— National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine , Sep 1, 2024
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“Anything that’s historic, it’s got to be Landsat. In temporal depth, Landsat is really the only game in town.”


— Mike Wulder, Canadian Forest Service, on historical land use change , Jan 16, 2018
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“@USGSLandsat @NASA_Landsat wrote the book on open data, how to do it right, how it creates businesses and benefits economy, and — of course — gifts the world with a 4+ decade *scientific* record of our planet’s changing dynamics.”


— Chris Herwig, Google GeoData Engineer, on 100 millionth Landsat download from USGS , Mar 11, 2020
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“[I]n 2008 USGS first instituted the policy of giving away Landsat data for free (first with Landsat 7, then the rest of the archive in 2009). It probably felt like a crazy choice at the time after billions of dollars of investment in the program… but the effect was immediate and extraordinary. Roughly a 100-fold increase in downloads in a decade.”


— Joe Morrison , May 23, 2022
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“We like to think about Landsat as being, for this particular problem, sort of the sweet spot—the perfect asset. We found Landsat was really good at mapping the bulk of biomass for this particular test area we were looking at.”


— Michael Sayers, Research Scientist, Michigan Tech Research Institute (MTRI), on mapping submerged aquatic vegetation in the Great Lakes , Jul 9, 2021
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“Landsat is proof-positive of the value of Earth observation data, and particularly open access to Earth observation data.”


— Jay Neuner , Oct 4, 2018
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“We have mapped then analyzed the area of forest converted each year to industrial oil palm and pulpwood plantations from 2001 to 2016, looking mainly at land under company management – that is, concessions. We use LANDSAT satellite imagery to monitor the annual expansion of plantations. We combine this information with annual maps of forest loss also derived using LANDSAT satellites by Matthew Hansen’s research group at the University of Maryland. The Hansen dataset, as we call it, produce…


— David Gaveau, co-creator of the newly updated Atlas of Deforestation and Industrial Plantations in Borneo , Nov 30, 2017
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“Since late 2008, when Landsat data was made available to all users free of charge, over 22 million Landsat scenes have been downloaded through the USGS-EROS website—and the rate of downloads is still increasing.”


— USGS press release , Jan 14, 2015
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“We looked at satellite images taken by the NASA-U.S. Geological Survey Landsat missions from 1972 and 1999 and the loss of forest and woodland cover along valleys and steep slopes was clear: eighty percent of the forests were gone. Through our analysis of Landsat forest change maps using GIS, we also calculated that the risk of landslide had increased fivefold during that time.”


— Lilian Pintea, VP of conservation science, Jane Goodal1 Institute, “ , Sep 29, 2015
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“The long-term acquisition plan of the Landsat mission provides a unique and invaluable dataset for tracking multi-decadal changes in the density and distribution of mangroves at continental scales.”


— Dr. Leo Lymburner, Landsat Science Team Member , Dec 4, 2019
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“An alert system operating at the scale presented here depends on systematic global acquisitions, robust preprocessing, and free and accessible data. Only Landsat has these criteria at medium spatial resolutions, with Sentinel aspiring to emulate Landsat.”


— Matt Hansen, University of Maryland , Apr 27, 2016
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“With the Landsat satellite system capable of delivering global coverage every 8 days, we have an unprecedented ability to monitor global forest change. The 2014 tree cover loss data, incorporating hundreds of thousands of Landsat images, confirms that deforestation is not just high in certain countries, it’s speeding up. The next step is to use this information to improve forest protection and more equitably balance economic development with the invaluable ecosystem services forests provid…


— Matt Hansen, Professor of Geography, University of Maryland , Sep 2, 2015
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“[I]n 2008 USGS first instituted the policy of giving away Landsat data for free (first with Landsat 7, then the rest of the archive in 2009). It probably felt like a crazy choice at the time after billions of dollars of investment in the program… but the effect was immediate and extraordinary. Roughly a 100-fold increase in downloads in a decade.”


— Joe Morrison , May 23, 2022
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“[Landsat] has transformed our understanding of Earth and allows us to better monitor and respond to changes on our planet.”


— Dave Applegate, acting USGS director , Feb 8, 2022
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“The analysis enabled by Landsat heat data provides a foundation for planning and problem solving. Without the data, we’re just guessing about what interventions work best to mitigate hot spots… unraveling the complexity of urban heat will ultimately help us build better cities and improve residents’ quality of life.”


— Jamie Ponce, executive director of Civic Infrastructure Collaborative , Dec 1, 2021
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“[T]o look at long-term changes, you’re going to need Landsat because Landsat is the only thing that’s going back four decades.”


— Sean Vitousek, USGS Research Oceanographer, referring to the 30-meter, seven-plus-spectral-band Landsat Thematic Mapper-era and beyond , Jul 15, 2024
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“Land cover is fundamental for a plethora of applications. Approaches using #Landsat time series have been transformative.”


— Dr. Joanne C. White, Research Scientist, Canadian Forest Service , May 6, 2020
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ABOUT LANDSAT

The NASA/USGS Landsat Program provides the longest continuous space-based record of Earth’s land in existence. Landsat data give us information essential for making informed decisions about Earth’s resources and environment.