USGS Landsat

USGS Landsat Joint USGS–NASA Landsat Program
Global Earth observation, open data, and a trusted long-term archive powering science, policy, and innovation.

Access imagery and resources ↓ The official USGS website can be found at https://usgs.gov. All comments on this page are monitored and managed based on the USGS Comment Policy: https://www.usgs.gov/usgs-comment-policy

What’s the value of Landsat seeing Earth 🌎 from space?For farmers and foresters, Landsat is a game changer!A recent USGS...
09/03/2026

What’s the value of Landsat seeing Earth 🌎 from space?

For farmers and foresters, Landsat is a game changer!

A recent USGS study took a closer look at how this long-term record supports agriculture and forestry across the United States.

Their conclusion? Landsat data help track crop conditions, assess wildfire impacts, monitor water resources, and understand how landscapes change over time. That information helps communities and land and natural resource managers make informed decisions and prepare for change.

Landsat has built a consistent record of Earth’s changing surface for more than 54 years. Since 2008, those data have been available at no cost.

That’s the value of Landsat’s view from space. 💚🌿

🔗 https://ow.ly/oMos50ZGJ79

📸1: A view of the Appalachian Mountains from Spruce K**b, the highest point in West Virginia. Credit: USGS
📸2: Corn begins to emerge in a field in northwestern Iowa in early June 2026. Credit: Linda Owen
📸3: A Landsat 9 image of irrigated crops in southwestern Kansas in August 2025. Credit: USGS

How does the Sun affect Landsat acquisitions? Sun glint occurs when sunlight reflects off a water surface toward a sate...
09/02/2026

How does the Sun affect Landsat acquisitions?

Sun glint occurs when sunlight reflects off a water surface toward a satellite sensor. This can change the appearance of the water, making smooth areas shine like a bright mirror.

🛰️ When this happens, it can make it difficult to use satellite imagery to study water because the reflected sunlight can obscure ocean color, aquatic vegetation and other features beneath the surface.

🌟 USGS scientists have been studying when sun glint is most likely to occur and how future Earth-observing missions could reduce it.

Their new article uses machine learning and observations from more than 14,000 cloud-free Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 images to estimate the likelihood of sun glint. The researchers also evaluated whether a modest across-track tilt, which changes the satellite’s viewing angle, could reduce sun glint over tropical and subtropical waters.

The results show that tilting the sensor westward, away from the point of strongest reflection, could substantially reduce sun glint. They conclude that this approach, combined with methods for detecting and correcting glint after acquisition, could improve aquatic observations from future missions.

Follow the link below to learn more about their methods and findings:

🔗 https://ow.ly/2Vb650ZGmAr

📸 1: A true-color, nadir-viewing Landsat 8 image along the northern coast of Australia on November 17, 2021. Bright sun glint is visible across the water, particularly on the eastern side of the image.
📸 2: A true-color Landsat 9 image of the same area acquired a few minutes later with the satellite tilted westward. The water appears darker and clearer because the altered viewing angle largely avoided sun glint.

Credit: USGS

There’s more to New Jersey than you might expect. 👀As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the USGS conti...
09/01/2026

There’s more to New Jersey than you might expect. 👀

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the USGS continues its America from Space journey through all 50 states in the order each state joined the Union. New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 18, 1787.

One of the nation's smallest states is also its most densely populated. But beyond its cities, the Garden State is home to pine forests, wetlands, beaches, and barrier islands. These Landsat views capture that contrast, from the densely developed landscape of northern New Jersey to the forests and coastline farther south.

In northern New Jersey, Landsat's thermal data helps identify urban heat islands where higher temperatures can increase the risk of heat related illnesses. Farther south, in the Pinelands, Landsat data support wildfire risk assessments that help guide land management and future development decisions. Along the Atlantic, coastal wetlands help buffer communities from storms and provide important wildlife habitats. After Hurricane Sandy struck New Jersey in 2012, researchers used Landsat data to study changes in marsh vegetation and identify areas that may be more vulnerable to future storms and sea level rise.

Landsat's long-term record helps scientists monitor changing landscapes across New Jersey, supporting efforts to better understand urban growth, reduce wildfire risk, and improve the resilience of coastal ecosystems.

Download this and other state satellite images from the EROS Media Gallery: https://ow.ly/Nbjp50ZGiky

📸1: A Landsat 9 image of the Atlantic City area shows dense development along New Jersey’s barrier islands surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, bays, tidal waterways, and expansive coastal wetlands. Acquired July 15, 2026.
📸2: A Landsat 8 view of the densely developed Newark and Jersey City area in northern New Jersey, including surrounding waterways and transportation infrastructure. Acquired August 8, 2026.

What do a Wyoming coal mine, billions of satellite pixels, and the future of Earth observation have in common? 🛰️They’re...
08/27/2026

What do a Wyoming coal mine, billions of satellite pixels, and the future of Earth observation have in common? 🛰️

They’re all featured in the August edition of Latest in Landsat.

See how decades of Landsat imagery document the transformation of Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, from native grassland to active coal mining and reclaimed land. Landsat’s long record of land change data helps researchers and land managers track these changes over time.

Also in this issue:

🔹Explore a new Landsat portrait of the United States celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary
🔹Look ahead to Landsat 10 and its next-generation imaging capabilities
🔹Discover new research using Landsat data to advance Earth observation science

🔗 https://www.usgs.gov/latest-landsat-newsletter/latest-landsat-august-2026

📸: An open-pit rare earth element mine at Mountain Pass, California, in 2022. Credit: USGS

Pennsylvania’s story is told through its rivers, forests, and mining landscapes. 🛰️As the United States celebrates its 2...
08/26/2026

Pennsylvania’s story is told through its rivers, forests, and mining landscapes. 🛰️

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the USGS explores all 50 states through a satellite lens, following the order each state joined the Union. Today, our journey continues with Pennsylvania, the second state to ratify the Constitution on December 12, 1787.

These Landsat views highlight Pennsylvania's industrial heritage, coal mining landscapes, and vital waterways. Pittsburgh grew into one of the nation's major steel-producing cities, and today the city sits where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio River. In northeastern Pennsylvania, former anthracite mine lands continue to change as grasses and trees become established. Farther south, the Delaware River Basin supplies drinking water to millions of people, including those in Philadelphia.

For more than five decades, the United States’ Landsat Program has provided a continuous record of Earth's changing land surfaces. In Pennsylvania, Landsat observations help monitor mine land recovery and support water resource management.

🔗 See Pennsylvania's landscapes from a new perspective. Explore the Pennsylvania State Mosaic: https://eros.usgs.gov/media-gallery/state-mosaics/pennsylvania

📷 1: Landsat 9 image of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, showing the city's urban landscape and surrounding forests. Acquired October 5, 2025.
📷 2: Landsat 9 image of Pennsylvania’s Anthracite Coal Region near Hazleton. Former mines stand out from the surrounding forests and agriculture, highlighting a landscape shaped by mining and recovery. Acquired March 24, 2026.
📷 3: Landsat 8 image of the Delaware River Basin near Philadelphia, highlighting the river, surrounding forests, and developed areas within a watershed that supplies drinking water for millions. Acquired July 23, 2026.

What does the life cycle of a coal mine look like? With Landsat, you can watch it unfold over decades. Coal mining east ...
08/24/2026

What does the life cycle of a coal mine look like? With Landsat, you can watch it unfold over decades.

Coal mining east of Wright, Wyoming, began in the 1970s around the same time the first Landsat satellite launched. Since then, Landsat has captured the landscape as mining expanded, coal was extracted, and reclamation restored portions of the land.

Based on Landsat imagery, the Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) reveals how the landscape changed from native grasslands and shrublands to active mining areas and, in many places, back to vegetation as reclamation efforts progressed.

This long-term record provides consistent information that supports land management decisions, tracks reclamation progress, and helps researchers study how mining reshapes the landscapes over time.

Learn more about how Landsat illustrates the life cycle of a mine: https://ow.ly/AvSk50ZC6S1

📷1: 1985: Side-by-side comparison of Landsat imagery (left) and the corresponding Annual NLCD map (right) of the Powder River Basin near Wright. The Landsat image shows a largely undeveloped landscape before major mining expansion. The Annual NLCD map shows the area dominated by shrub/scrub (tan) and grassland/herbaceous cover (light tan), with relatively small areas of barren land (gray).

📷2: 2024: The same area is shown decades later in Landsat imagery (left) and an Annual NLCD map (right). Large surface coal mines are visible in the Landsat image, while the Annual NLCD map shows expanded areas of barren land (gray) associated with mining, surrounded by shrub/scrub (tan) and grassland/herbaceous cover (light tan), including areas where vegetation has been restored through reclamation.

For nearly 40 years, satellites have been watching California’s beaches change. 🛰️🌊A new USGS-led study used Landsat and...
08/21/2026

For nearly 40 years, satellites have been watching California’s beaches change. 🛰️🌊

A new USGS-led study used Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery from 1984 through 2022 to examine how groins—rock or concrete structures built out from the beach—affect shoreline behavior at Ventura, Santa Monica and Newport Beach.

Researchers found distinct patterns of sand buildup and erosion around these coastal structures, showing how groins can alter the natural movement of sediment along the coast. Longer groins generally produced larger differences in shoreline position, while seasonal changes in waves also influenced how sand moved around the structures.

The study highlights how decades of satellite observations can reveal patterns that would be difficult to capture through field surveys alone.

Learn more at https://www.usgs.gov/centers/pcmsc/news/decades-satellite-imagery-show-how-groins-reshape-california-beaches

📷1: An image shows an aerial view of groin fields in coastal California

Delaware, from space. 🛰️As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the USGS explores all 50 states through a...
08/20/2026

Delaware, from space. 🛰️

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the USGS explores all 50 states through a satellite lens, following the order each state joined the Union. Our journey begins with Delaware, the first state to ratify the Constitution on December 7, 1787.

Each U.S. state has a different story to tell from space. These three Landsat views showcase some of Delaware’s defining landscapes.

Delaware’s low-lying coast makes it especially vulnerable to flooding, erosion, and rising seas. Wetlands like those at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge help protect nearby communities while providing critical habitat for migratory birds. Along the Atlantic coast, barrier islands and beaches are constantly reshaped by waves, tides, and storms. Farther inland near Bridgeville, forests give way to patchwork of agricultural fields that support one of Delaware’s most important industries. Landsat data help monitor crop conditions throughout the growing season and provide a long-term view of how these landscapes change over time.

For more than 53 years, the Landsat Program has provided a continuous record of Earth's changing land surfaces. These satellite observations help scientists monitor wetlands, track shoreline change, assess crop conditions, and better understand how Delaware's landscapes change over time.

🔗 Explore the Delaware State Mosaic and see more of the First State from space: https://eros.usgs.gov/media-gallery/state-mosaics/delaware

📷1. Landsat image of Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge highlights tidal marshes and surrounding waterways.
📷2: Landsat image of Delaware’s Atlantic coastline, showing barrier islands, beaches, bays, and coastal communities.
📷3: Landsat image near Bridgeville, Delaware, showing a patchwork of forests and agricultural fields.

These aren’t your average snapshots. 📸🌎🛰️ For National Photography Day, we’re sharing a few of our favorite Landsat view...
08/19/2026

These aren’t your average snapshots. 📸🌎🛰️

For National Photography Day, we’re sharing a few of our favorite Landsat views of Earth, from swirling sediment and icy glaciers to winding rivers, fish farms, and volcanic landscapes.

They may look like works of art, but there’s science in every image. For more than 54 years, Landsat has given us a unique view of Earth, helping scientists observe features, patterns, and changes across its surface.

Explore more incredible views of Earth and the stories behind them with USGS Earthshots: https://eros.usgs.gov/earthshots

📸1: Sediment carried by China’s Huang He (Yellow) River flows into the sea, creating swirling patterns along the coast.

📸2: Bear Glacier flows from the Harding Icefield in Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park. Satellite imagery helps scientists monitor changes in remote glaciers that can be difficult to reach on the ground.

📸3: The Mississippi River winds through northwestern Mississippi, surrounded by cropland, forests, oxbow lakes, and catfish farms. The blue squares and rectangles scattered among the fields are catfish ponds.

📸4: Mount Pinatubo rises above the surrounding landscape in the Philippines. Landsat’s long-term record has helped scientists observe changes and regrowth following its massive 1991 eruption.

📣Job AnnouncementJoin the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as a Geographer or a Physical Scientist and help lead national l...
08/12/2026

📣Job Announcement

Join the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as a Geographer or a Physical Scientist and help lead national land-change monitoring efforts.

This position will provide technical leadership and serve as the project manager and coordinator for land-change monitoring activities at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.

🌎 Location: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
🗓️ Closing date: September 1, 2026

Some specific duties include:
• Managing land-cover monitoring, assessment, and projection activities at USGS EROS, including project planning, budgeting, coordination, and oversight.
• Leading the development and oversight of national-scale land-change monitoring products, including moving new research and methods into operations.
• Coordinating with external partners and stakeholders, including supporting the Multi-Resolution Landscape Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium and sharing scientific and technical expertise.
• Providing technical leadership in remote sensing and land-cover mapping and advancing the use of these technologies for land-change monitoring, assessment, and projection.

🔗 Open to the Public: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/880228300

📸: A 2025 Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) map shows the tornado’s path through southern Kentucky near Somerset and London. Yellow represents pasture and hay, brown is cropland, dark blue is open water, and pink and red indicate developed areas. The light tan line, indicating the tornado’s path, shows where the land cover shifted from forest to grass.

Address

Sioux Falls, SD

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when USGS Landsat posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category