Landsat’s Role in Managing Water Resources
Water is essential for life. A third of Earth’s populace has unreliable access to clean water. With current population growth and environmental trends, the U.N. Environmental Program estimates that 1.8 billion people will face water scarcity by 2025. Water means survival for people and other species we rely upon to thrive, making proper stewardship of our water resources vital. Good decisions require good data. Since 1972 the Landsat series of satellites has been providing such data. Landsat-based decisions on how to manage limited water resources have impacted millions of people worldwide. From finding water for refugees in arid nations to reducing pollution in our national waterways, Landsat enables decisions that directly help people.
Landsat Shows the Collapse of Northern California Kelp Forests
Most of Northern California’s kelp forest ecosystem is gone, replaced by widespread ‘urchin barrens’ that may persist long into the future, according to a new study.
Landsat Assists ICESat-2 with First Global Survey of Freshwater Fluctuation
Lidar measurements of surface water level combined with Landsat-based surface water maps have enabled the first quantification of how humans impact the water cycle.
Landsat & Drones Used to Reconstruct Past Environmental Change
Vegetation cover along the Kuiseb River in the Namib Desert has increased over the last 35 years, Landsat has helped show.
Keeping a Dry Eye on Drought in East Africa
The SERVIR team has developed models for groundwater demand based on Earth observations for parameters like rainfall and surface water from satellite missions.
Protecting Water for Generations to Come in Australia
Australia’s natural resource regulator uses drones and satellite imagery to monitor water use and compliance with their water laws across New South Wales to ensure our water resources are protected for generations to come.
A Well-Rooted Study
Using Landsat to keep an eye on the trees offers an effective way to monitor groundwater along river corridors in the Southwest.
