Due to the lapse in federal government funding, NASA is not updating this website. We sincerely regret this inconvenience.

Landsat Science

Landsat Science

Landsat Science

LDCM Operational Land Imager (OLI)—VIS/IR Instrument

July 8, 2011

LDCM Operational Land Imager (OLI)—VIS/IR Instrument

July 8, 2011

Special Topics: LDCM and LDCM Components

LDCM's Operational Land Imager's VIS/IR Instrument — LDCM’s Operational Land Imager’s VIS/IR Instrument

The Operational Land Imager (OLI) is being built by the Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation. The Ball contract was awarded in July 2007. OLI improves on past Landsat sensors using a technical approach demonstrated by a sensor flown on NASA’s experimental EO-1 satellite. OLI is a push-broom sensor with a four-mirror telescope and 12-bit quantization. OLI will collect data for visible, near infrared, and short wave infrared spectral bands as well as a panchromatic band. It has a five-year design life.

Categories: News

Post Last Updated on July 8, 2011

Recent Posts

A side-by-side image comparison of the Persian Gulf as seen by the Gemini-12 spacecraft (left) and the Landsat 8 satellite (right). The Gemini-12 photograph shows Iran, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Trucial Oman, Muscat and Oman, Zagros Mountains, and Qeshm Island. On the right is the natural-color Landsat 8 image of the Persian Gulf and Qeshm Island acquired on November 21, 2024. In the image, deep ocean is dark blue, sediment surrounding an island off the coast is turquoise, and bare earth is tan. The Gemini-12 photo was captured during its 54th revolution of the Earth in 1966.

How Early Astronaut Photographs Inspired the Landsat Program

September 26, 2025

In the 1960s, NASA was pioneering a new era of human spaceflight—and astronaut photography—that would change Earth observation forever.

Thumbnail of the "At Land's Edge: Tracking Coastal Ecosystems and Landsat" video. The graphic shows a vector pelican, trees, water, grass, and a yellow sun.

At Land’s Edge – Tracking Coastal Ecosystem with Landsat

September 25, 2025

Discover how Landsat’s 50-year record of Earth helps scientists track the health of coastal ecosystems while providing tools to monitor water quality and reveal changes at the edge of land and sea.

This map shows the surface roughness categories (open, suburban, treed) used for Bay County, Florida, in the Panhandle region. The categories are based on National Land Cover Database classifications. This type of surface roughness information can help inform wind mitigation assessments. Image used with permission from Applied Research Associates Inc.

Landsat at Work: Preparing Residents Where Hurricanes Threaten

August 26, 2025

Landsat-based National Land Cover Database (NLCD) helps predict hurricane wind risk to homes and other structures.

Related Posts

A side-by-side image comparison of the Persian Gulf as seen by the Gemini-12 spacecraft (left) and the Landsat 8 satellite (right). The Gemini-12 photograph shows Iran, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Trucial Oman, Muscat and Oman, Zagros Mountains, and Qeshm Island. On the right is the natural-color Landsat 8 image of the Persian Gulf and Qeshm Island acquired on November 21, 2024. In the image, deep ocean is dark blue, sediment surrounding an island off the coast is turquoise, and bare earth is tan. The Gemini-12 photo was captured during its 54th revolution of the Earth in 1966.

How Early Astronaut Photographs Inspired the Landsat Program

September 26, 2025

In the 1960s, NASA was pioneering a new era of human spaceflight—and astronaut photography—that would change Earth observation forever.

Thumbnail of the "At Land's Edge: Tracking Coastal Ecosystems and Landsat" video. The graphic shows a vector pelican, trees, water, grass, and a yellow sun.

At Land’s Edge – Tracking Coastal Ecosystem with Landsat

September 25, 2025

Discover how Landsat’s 50-year record of Earth helps scientists track the health of coastal ecosystems while providing tools to monitor water quality and reveal changes at the edge of land and sea.