Source: USGS Landsat Program
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat group has announced that the six-millionth free Landsat scene has been downloaded from the USGS archive. USGS made Landsat data available for no cost starting in October 2008 (with free Landsat 7 data). Then, in January 2009 Landsat 1–5 data were also made available at no cost. Since then, USGS has experienced a 60-fold increase in daily data downloads. Free Landsat data together with today’s powerful computer processing capabilities have enabled large-scale land use studies that in the past were too costly to be conducted by all but a few institutions—what some are calling a “democratization of satellite mapping.”
Further Information:
+ USGS Landsat Website
+ Within Reach: Easily Turning Landsat Data into Information
+ ESA To Follow Landsat’s Lead on Data Policy for its GMES Data
+ Free Landsat Scenes Go Public by the Million
![Natural-color Landsat 8 image of an algae bloom in Lake Erie. The bloom appears green and contrasts with blue water.](https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/erie_oli_2017269-1024x576.jpg)
Be Part of What’s Next: Emerging Applications of Landsat at AGU24
Anyone making innovative use of Landsat data to meet societal needs today and during coming decades is encouraged to submit and abstract for the upcoming “Emerging Science Applications of Landsat” session at AGU24.