DEVELOPMENT OF LANDSAT INFORMATION PRODUCTS TO SUPPORT LAND CHANGE MONITORING, ASSESSMENT, AND PROJECTION (LCMAP)

Abstract:

The USGS operates the Landsat series of satellite missions that systematically collect multispectral imagery over the Earth’s sunlit landmasses. These data have always been publicly available on a nondiscriminatory basis, but since 2008 these data have been accessible at no cost to the user community. This change in the Landsat data policy has revolutionized the use of Landsat data for scientific research and applications, enabling the construction of time series of observations with which to establish historical trends in land cover state and condition. The USGS provides interdisciplinary scientific expertise to the U.S. Department of the Interior to support the stewardship and management of more 500 million acres of Federal lands. Landsat data serve as the basis from which numerous information products can be derived in order to map, monitor, and assess the natural and human-induced impacts on the landscape and natural resources. By leveraging capabilities developed through programs such as the NASA Earth Observing System, scientific algorithms and data processing capabilities can be used to retrieve geophysical and biophysical parameters from Landsat data that can be integrated with in situ observations and other remotely sensed and geospatial data for use in process modeling and decision-making.