Landsat's Role in Responding to Disasters
In 2022, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) reported 387 natural hazards and disasters worldwide, resulting in the loss of over 30,000 lives and affecting more than 185 million individuals. Economic losses totaled around US$223.8 billion. Fires, floods, heat waves, drought, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters can be particularly tragic and costly when critical facilities such as power plants, airports, roads, and hospitals are threatened. When a disaster strikes, remote sensing is often the only way to get a big-picture view of what is happening on the ground. With its consistent, reliable, repeated observations of Earth’s changing surface, Landsat keeps a record of Earth’s land surfaces before and after disasters, serving as an essential tool for assessing risk, mapping the extent of damage, and planning post-disaster recovery. Landsat produces 185-kilometer-wide images with 30-meter resolution in visible and infrared wavelengths of light, making it possible to map impacts on the landscape in ways otherwise not visible to human sight. For example, Landsat sensors enable us to see the heat from fires both during and after the burns, and the lava flows from volcanic eruptions even when gaseous substances obscure the view to human eyes.
74 Landsat Images Provided to the Disaster Charter, Oct. 2016
The Charter concept is this: a single phone number is made available to authorized parties providing 24/7 contact to a person who can activate the charter.
3 Landsat Images Provided to the Disaster Charter, Sept. 2016
This month, three Landsat scenes were ingested by the USGS Hazard Data Distribution System to provide data for Charter activations.
Landsat Image Provided to International Charter, July 2016
This month, one Landsat scene was ingested by the USGS Hazard Data Distribution System to provide data for Charter activations.
14 Landsat Images Provided to International Charter, June 2016
These maps, provided to responders for free, often show where the damage is and where crisis victims are, allowing responders to plan and execute relief support.
12 Landsat Images Provided to International Charter, May 2016
The International Charter is a system that supplies free satellite imagery to emergency responders anywhere in the world. The Charter concept is this: a single phone number is made available to authorized
Decades of Foothill Forest Growth in Sierra Nevada Mountains Erased Due to California’s Extreme Drought
Analyzing a three-decade record of vegetation cover change from the Landsat to compare previous controls on Sierra Nevada forest growth rates and effects of recent fluctuations in water availability since the mid-1980s.