Recently, NASA shared the first Landsat 9 images of Earth.
These images show how the mission will help people manage vital natural
resources and understand the impacts of climate change.
These first light images show Detroit, Michigan, with
neighboring Lake St. Clair, the intersection of cities and beaches along a
changing Florida coastline, and images from Navajo Country in Arizona that will
add to the wealth of data helping us monitor crop health and manage irrigation
water. The new images also provided data about the changing landscapes of the
Himalayas in High Mountain Asia and the coastal islands and shorelines of
Northern Australia.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, “Landsat 9’s first
images capture critical observations about our changing planet and will advance
this joint mission of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey that provides
critical data about Earth’s landscapes and coastlines seen from space.
This program has the proven power to not only improve lives
but also save lives. NASA will continue to work with USGS to strengthen and
improve accessibility to Landsat data so decision-makers in America – and
around the world – better understand the devastation of the climate crisis,
manage agricultural practices, preserve precious resources and respond more
effectively to natural disasters.”
Landsat 9 is an advanced version of its predecessor, Landsat
8. It transmits data with higher radiometric resolution back down to Earth,
thereby detecting more subtle differences, especially over darker areas like
water or dense forests.
It can differentiate more than 16,000 shades of a given
wavelength color. With such enhanced sensitivity, it allows users to see much
more subtle changes than ever before.
With its two imaging instruments, the Operational Land
Imager 2 (OLI-2) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2), Landsat 9 will
offer essential information about crop health, irrigation use, water quality,
wildfire severity, deforestation, glacial retreat, urban expansion, and more.
Karen St. Germain, Earth Science Division director at NASA
Headquarters in Washington, said, “The data and images from Landsat 9 are
expanding our capability to see how Earth has changed over decades. In a changing
climate, continuous and free access to Landsat data, and the other data in
NASA’s Earth-observing fleet, help data users, including city planners,
farmers, and scientists, plan for the future.”
USGS Acting Director Dr. David Applegate said, “The incredible
first pictures from the Landsat 9 satellite are a glimpse into the data that
will help us make science-based decisions on key issues including water use,
wildfire impacts, coral reef degradation, glacier and ice-shelf retreat, and
tropical deforestation.
This historical moment is the culmination
of our long partnership with NASA on Landsat 9’s development, launch, and
initial operations, which will better support environmental sustainability,
climate change resiliency, and economic growth – all while expanding an
unparalleled record of Earth’s changing landscapes.”
The images, all acquired on Oct. 31, are available online.
Landsat 9 data will be available to the public, for free, from USGS’s website
once the satellite begins normal operations.
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