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National Land Imaging Program

Our Nation’s economic security and environmental vitality rely on continuous monitoring of the Earth’s continents, islands, and coastal regions. 

The USGS National Land Imaging (NLI) Program makes it possible to record, study, and understand how the surface of the Earth is changing at local, regional, national and global scales. 

News

Using Spectral Imaging to Map Vital Mudflat Microbial Life in San Francisco Bay

Latest in Landsat June 2025 - Vol. 4 | Issue 5

End of an Era: Landsat 7 Decommissioned After 25 Years of Earth Observation

Publications

Validation of the geometric accuracy of airborne light detection and ranging data for eastern Iowa, 2019 Validation of the geometric accuracy of airborne light detection and ranging data for eastern Iowa, 2019

A geometric accuracy assessment of lidar data collected in eastern Iowa in 2019 as part of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) was conducted. The assessment involved evaluating interswath accuracy, same surface precision, point density, absolute accuracy, and consistency with adjacent 3DEP datasets. The results demonstrate that the data meet or exceed the quality level 2 specifications...
Authors
Aparajithan Sampath, Jeffrey Irwin, Travis Kropuenske

System characterization report on Resourcesat-2A Advanced Wide Field Sensor System characterization report on Resourcesat-2A Advanced Wide Field Sensor

Executive Summary This report documents the system characterization of the Indian Space Research Organisation Resourcesat-2A Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) and is part of a series of system characterization reports produced by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence. These reports describe the methodology and procedures used for...
Authors
Mahesh Shrestha, Minsu Kim, Aparajithan Sampath, Jeffrey Clauson

Landsat surface product validation instrumentation: The BigMAC exercise Landsat surface product validation instrumentation: The BigMAC exercise

Users of Earth remotely sensed optical imagery are increasingly demanding a surface reflectance or surface temperature product instead of the top-of-atmosphere products that have been produced historically. Validating the accuracy of surface products remains a difficult task since it involves assessment across a range of atmospheric profiles, as well as many different land surface types...
Authors
Dennis Helder, Mahesh Shrestha, Joshua J. Mann, Emily Maddox, Jeffrey Irwin, Larry Leigh, Aaron Gerace, Rehman Eon, Lucy Falcon, David Conran, Nina G. Raqueno, Timothy Bauch, Christopher Durell, Brandon Russell

Science

Eyes on Earth Episode 135 – Exotic Annual Grasses and Sheep Grazing

Eyes on Earth Episode 135 – Exotic Annual Grasses and Sheep Grazing

Invasive grasses are degrading sagebrush in western states. Can sheep help us restore these ecosystems?
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WebDART: A Cutting-edge Web Tool that Evaluates Land Condition

WebDART is an online ecological assessment tool available to a wide audience that incorporates Landsat satellite remote sensing imagery, topography, geology, soil conditions, and rangeland geospatial and vegetation mapping to compare altered terrain with an unspoiled area that has similar characteristics in the same region. The tool gives resource managers, landowners, companies, and other...
WebDART: A Cutting-edge Web Tool that Evaluates Land Condition

WebDART: A Cutting-edge Web Tool that Evaluates Land Condition

WebDART is an online ecological assessment tool available to a wide audience that incorporates Landsat satellite remote sensing imagery, topography, geology, soil conditions, and rangeland geospatial and vegetation mapping to compare altered terrain with an unspoiled area that has similar characteristics in the same region. The tool gives resource managers, landowners, companies, and other...
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Eyes on Earth Episode 134 – Data Accuracy: The Calibration and Validation of Landsat

Eyes on Earth Episode 134 – Data Accuracy: The Calibration and Validation of Landsat

Researchers and other satellite programs rely on the scientifically correct data from Landsat—every pixel and every spectral band that is measured.
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