Photos from Landsat 9 will showcase the impact of climate change on the Earth: Digital photography review

NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) have exit First images from Landsat 9, a joint mission between the two organizations. Landsat 9 launched on September 27 and took the first pictures on October 31.

The photos provide a look at how the mission will help people manage vital natural resources and help us understand the impacts of climate change. Images and data from Landsat 9 combine with an existing data catalog spanning nearly five decades of Earth observations in space.

‘Variety sediments in Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair in this Landsat 9 image of both Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, from October 31, 2021. The Great Lakes serve as a source of freshwater, recreation, transportation, and habitat for the upper midwestern United States, and water quality remains a priority. ‘ Image credit and caption: NASA/USGS. Click to view in high resolution.

‘Landsat 9’s first images capture important observations of our changing planet and will advance this joint mission of NASA and the US Geological Survey, providing important data important to the landscape and coastline of the Earth as seen from space,’ said Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator. ‘This program has been proven to have the power to not only improve lives, but save lives. NASA will continue to work with USGS to strengthen and improve access to Landsat data so that policymakers in the US – and around the world – better understand the devastation of the climate crisis, manage agricultural activities, conserve valuable resources, and respond more effectively to natural disasters. ‘

‘The white sands of Pensacola Beach stand out in this Landsat 9 image of the US Florida Panhandle, with Panama City visible under some popcorn-like clouds. Landsat and other remote sensing satellites help track changes to the US coastline, including urban growth and the potential impacts of sea level rise. ‘ Image credit and caption: NASA/USGS. Click to view in high resolution.

The first photos from Landsat 9 show a variety of information from locations as diverse as Detroit, Michigan and Lake St. Nearby Clair, changing beaches along the Florida coast, and images from Navajo Country in Arizona, can be used to help monitor crop health and identify better ways to irrigate. The image also shows the changing landscapes in the Himalayas and the changing coastal islands of Northern Australia.

Landsat 9 is similar in design to Landsat 8, launched in 2013 and continues to operate from orbit. The Landsat 9 features a number of improvements over its predecessor, including higher radiometric resolution imaging. According to NASA, ‘Landsat 9 can distinguish more than 16,000 shades of a color of a given wavelength; Landsat 7, the satellite being replaced, detected only 256 shades. ‘ This significant difference in capabilities will allow Landsat users to view changes with greater accuracy.

‘The first image obtained by Landsat 9, on 31 October 2021, shows the remote islands and coastal estuaries of the Kimberly region, Western Australia.’ Image credit and caption: NASA/USGS. Click to view in high resolution.

‘First light is a huge milestone for Landsat users – it’s the first chance to really see the quality Landsat 9 has to offer. And they look amazing,'” said Jeff Masek, NASA’s Landsat 9 project scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center. ‘When we have Landsat 9 working in concert with Landsat 8, that will be a wealth of data, allowing us to track changes to our home planet every eight days.’

Landsat 9 carries a pair of photographic equipment. It includes Operation Land Imager (OLI-2), which detects visible, near-infrared, and short-wave light at nine wavelengths. Another imaging tool, Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2), detects thermal radiation at two wavelengths to measure changes in Earth’s surface temperature.

Landsat 9 carries two different imaging devices that can collect visualization data across a wide variety of wavelengths. Image credit: NASA/USGS. Click to view in high resolution.

Together, the two imaging tools will provide Landsat users with important information and data on crop health, irrigation use, water quality, wildfire severity, deforestation, and deforestation. , glaciation, urban expansion and more. Karen St. Germain, Director of the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said: ‘Data and images from Landsat 9 are expanding our ability to see how the Earth has changed over many years. decade’. ‘In a changing climate, constant and free access to Landsat data and other data within NASA’s Earth observation team helps data users, including city planners. , farmers and scientists, planning for the future.’

NASA’s Landsat 9 is currently working on a 100-day check-out period. Engineers are testing the satellite’s systems and calibrating its instruments before handing over the mission to the USGS in January. From there, USGS will operate Landsat 8 and 9. Together, Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 will collect approximately 1,500 images of the Earth’s surface each day, covering the entire globe every eight days.

‘The city of Kathmandu, Nepal, seen in the lower left of this Landsat 9 image, is located in a valley south of the Himalayas between Nepal and China. Glaciers and lakes formed by melting ice, can be seen in the top center of this image. ‘ Image credit and caption: NASA/USGS. Click to view in high resolution.

Once Landsat 9 starts operating normally, Landsat 9 data will be freely available to the public on USGS website. In the meantime, you can check out all the Landsat 9 images currently available here.