A Half-Century of Landsat: 50 Years, 50 Stories
In the 50 years since the launch of Landsat 1, scientists, resource managers, mapmakers, communicators and others have relied on images from the satellite series.
To mark the anniversary of this record-breaking mission in 2022, we’re asking 50 Landsat users to tell us a bit about an image that is significant to them or their work.
How Early Astronaut Photographs Inspired the Landsat Program
In the 1960s, NASA was pioneering a new era of human spaceflight—and astronaut photography—that would change Earth observation forever.
At Land’s Edge – Tracking Coastal Ecosystem with Landsat
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.
Landsat at Work: Preparing Residents Where Hurricanes Threaten
Landsat-based National Land Cover Database (NLCD) helps predict hurricane wind risk to homes and other structures.
Mapping Reservoirs for Better Water Management
Using data from Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS), researchers developed a new algorithm to better monitor reservoir water levels in the contiguous U.S.
Annual NLCD’s Insights Rely on Long Landsat Record
The Landsat satellite program, with its unparalleled 53-year historic record, can reveal changes through the Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD).
A New and Improved Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 Dataset
In July, 2025, a team of researchers unveiled the Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) version 2.0 surface reflectance dataset and algorithms.
