Landsat's Role in Agriculture and Food Security
Worldwide, millions of people are helped by Landsat-data-based decisions that impact food and water management. Food and farming organizations rely on the unbiased, accurate and timely information provided by Landsat satellites. The data enable people to analyze the health and vigor of crops as they mature over the growing season; the needs of specific fields for fertilizer, irrigation and rotation; planted acreage to forecast crop production and fight crop insurance fraud; how much water is used in irrigation; and the impacts of drought.
Improving Crop Yield Predictions with Satellite Assist
New Michigan State University research found that incorporating in-season water deficit information into remote sensing-based crop models significantly improves corn yield predictions.
Tracking the Start of Swine Waste Lagoons with Landsat
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed an automated technique that uses Landsat to determine when swine waste lagoons were constructed and how they may have affected environmental quality.
Reading the Landscape
More than 100 countries at the UN Climate Change Conference this past year made the bold commitment to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.
OpenET: A Satellite-Based Water Data Resource
Data from Landsat powers OpenET, a new web-based platform that puts water use information for 17 western United States into the hands of farmers, water managers and conservation groups.
Bill Kustas: Advancing Water Research Drop by Drop
Kustas’ research informed the new OpenET app that uses Landsat thermal data as a key data input.
Shoring up the Corn Belt’s Soil Health
Soil is the foundation of our food systems, and sustainable farming depends upon healthy soil, which has impacts far beyond the field on air, water and climate.
