The images,\u202freferred to as \u201cfirst light\u201d\u202fby operators,\u202fwere\u202fall acquired Oct. 31\u202fand\u202fprovide a preview of how the mission will\u202fcontinue\u202fand improve on\u202fthe Landsat program\u2019s unprecedented almost 50-year history of\u202fEarth\u202fsatellite imagery.<\/p>\n
Landsat\u202fhelps\u202fpeople\u202fprepare for and\u202frespond\u202fto\u202fnatural disasters such as landslides and wildfires, manage vital natural resources and understand the impacts of climate change.\u202fFirst light images are curated by NASA\u202fas part of\u202fthe 100-day\u202ftesting period after launch,\u202fbefore control of the satellite is handed over to the USGS\u202fin January 2022.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n Vice-President Kamala Harris meets with USGS Acting Director Dave Applegate (bowtie) and NASA officials to discuss the\u00a0OSAM-1 (On-orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing 1) robotic arm.\u00a0(Public domain.)<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d said\u202fUSGS Acting Director Dr. David Applegate.\u202f\u201cThis\u202fhistoric moment\u202fis the culmination of\u202four\u202flong\u202fpartnership with NASA on Landsat 9\u2019s development, launch and initial operations, which will better support environmental sustainability, climate change resiliency and economic growth \u2013 all while expanding an unparalleled record of Earth’s changing landscapes.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Shown in the images are coastal ecosystems in Australia; the intersection of cities and coastlines in the Florida Panhandle; glaciers in High Mountain Asia; and farm fields surrounding Lake Erie.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Eucalypt Woodland of northwest Australia is seen in this Landsat 9 image captured on October 31, 2021, by Landsat 9\u2019s Operational Land Imager-2. The woodlands are prone to bushfires during the dry season and this shows an ongoing fire and several burn scars which appear reddish brown. Landsat 9 will help scientists understand the role climate change plays in present and future bushfires as well as vegetation recovery. The Landsat Archive holds\u00a0nearly 50\u00a0years of land cover data, including\u00a0information\u00a0on\u00a0wildfires from around the world and\u00a0their\u00a0ecosystems\u2019 recovery. Through\u00a0Landsat, scientists and land managers can glean a\u00a0landscape-scale\u00a0view of changes happening on\u00a0our planet\u2019s\u00a0surface.\u00a0\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u00a0(Public domain.)<\/p>\n \u201cFirst light is a big milestone for Landsat users \u2013 it\u2019s the first chance to really see the kind of quality that Landsat 9 provides. And these look fantastic,\u201d said Jeff\u202fMasek,\u202fNASA\u2019s Landsat 9 project scientist. \u201cWhen we have Landsat 9 operating in coordination with Landsat 8, it\u2019s going\u202fto\u202fprovide\u202fa\u202fwealth of data, allowing us to monitor changes to our home planet every eight days.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u202fLandsat program,\u202fbegun in 1972,\u202fis the longest\u202fcontinuous satellite\u202frecord of Earth\u2019s\u202fsurface\u202fin existence. Its images are provided free by the USGS,\u202fmaking it\u202fa vital\u202fresource for all land managers, planners, policymakers, scientists\u202fand natural\u202fdisaster responders.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Part of the\u00a027,000-square-mile Navajo Nation appears in this image that straddles the Arizona and New Mexico border. The landscape of the largest reservation in the United States ranges from deserts and mesas to 10,000-foot mountains and alpine forests, along with rock formations and the ruins of ancient cliff dwellings. Landsat and other satellite data<\/a> help\u00a0people monitor crop health and\u00a0manage irrigation water. Interior Secretary Deb\u00a0Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico, is the first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history and honors the role of Tribal Nations in America\u2019s history and lands. This\u00a0was captured on October 31, 2021, by Landsat 9\u2019s Operational Land Imager-2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0(Public domain.)<\/p>\n Landsat 9 is similar in design to its predecessor Landsat 8 but features several improvements.\u202fIt\u202fcarries two instruments that capture imagery:\u202fthe\u202fOperational Land Imager 2, or OLI-2, which detects nine different wavelengths of visible, near-infrared and shortwave-infrared light; and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2, or TIRS-2, which detects two wavelengths of thermal radiation to measure Earth\u2019s surface temperatures and its changes.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n These instruments will provide Landsat 9 users essential information about crop health, irrigation use, water quality, wildfire severity, deforestation, glacial retreat, urban expansion and more.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Scads of living color swirl on the surface of Lake Erie (lower) and Lake St. Clair in this image, captured on October 31, 2021 by Landsat 9\u2019s Operational Land Imager-2. This\u00a0image\u00a0includes rural and urban areas in the U.S. states of Ohio and Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario. The scene offers a glimpse into how data from the recently launched Landsat 9 satellite can be used to monitor the harmful algal blooms (HABs) caused by microscopic cyanobacteria.\u00a0It also identified\u00a0the co-mingled rural and urban land use patterns that can contribute to them through stormwater and fertilizer runoff.\u00a0\u00a0(Public domain.)<\/p>\n The new satellite transmits data with higher radiometric resolution back down to Earth, allowing it to detect more subtle differences, especially over darker areas\u202fsuch as\u202fwater or dense forests.\u202fFor example, Landsat 9 can differentiate more than 16,000 shades of a given wavelength;\u202fLandsat 7, the satellite being replaced, detects only 256 shades.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n As part of the 100-day check-out period,\u202fNASA\u2019s Landsat 9 team\u202fwill test\u202fthe satellite\u2019s different systems and subsystems and calibrate\u202fthe instruments in preparation for\u202fthe\u202fhandoff\u202fto the USGS. The USGS will operate Landsat 9 along with Landsat 8, and together the two satellites will collect approximately 1,500 images of Earth\u2019s surface every day, an area roughly equivalent to the combined landmasses of North and South America.\u202fThe Landsat 7 satellite will be\u202fdecommissioned.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n This image, captured on October 31, 2021, by\u00a0Landsat 9\u2019s Operational Land Imager-2,\u00a0shows a part of\u00a0the\u00a0Florida Panhandle that lies just east of Pensacola and borders Alabama to the north. Beaches edge the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, while forests, farmland, and lakes lie inland. The\u00a0Choctawatchee\u00a0River flows south into\u00a0Choctawatchee\u00a0Bay in the center of the image.\u00a0Landsat and other remote sensing satellites help to track the long-term impacts of climate change, including how rising seas could impact coastal communities.(Public domain.)<\/p>\n \u201cUsers worldwide are eager to incorporate Landsat 9 data into their Earth science studies and automated change-detection systems.\u202f Right after launch,\u202fwe were already receiving inquiries about the data,\u201d said Joe\u202fBlahovec, New Missions Branch Chief for the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. \u201cThese images signal to our users that Landsat\u2019s\u202funparalleled long-term record of precision Earth observations will continue to provide them the benefits they\u2019ve come to expect.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n Landsat 9 data will be available free to the public from USGS\u2019s website as soon as the satellite begins normal operations.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n For more information on Landsat 9 and the Landsat program, visit:\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n www.nasa.gov\/Landsat9<\/a>\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n or\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n www.usgs.gov\/landsat<\/a>\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n USGS News: Landsat MissionsRead More<\/a> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The images,\u202freferred to as \u201cfirst light\u201d\u202fby operators,\u202fwere\u202fall acquired Oct. 31\u202fand\u202fprovide a preview of how the mission will\u202fcontinue\u202fand improve on\u202fthe Landsat program\u2019s unprecedented almost 50-year history of\u202fEarth\u202fsatellite imagery. Landsat\u202fhelps\u202fpeople\u202fprepare for and\u202frespond\u202fto\u202fnatural disasters such as landslides and wildfires, manage vital natural resources and understand the impacts of climate change.\u202fFirst light images are curated by NASA\u202fas part of\u202fthe…
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