Earth has a brand-new eye in orbit to monitor our altering world.
Landsat 9 released on September 27, 2021 continuing the Landsat household of satellites almost 50-year tradition of making crucial observations to help with energy and water management, forest tracking, ecological and human health, metropolitan preparation, catastrophe healing and agriculture.
” The Landsat mission is like no other,” stated Karen St. Germain, director of the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters. “For almost 50 years, Landsat satellites observed our home world, providing an unparalleled record of how its surface has actually altered over timescales from days to decades. Landsat imagery is utilized to keep an eye on natural disasters, such as these contrast images showing before and after images of flooding of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in 2011. “As the impacts of the climate crisis intensify in the United States and throughout the globe, Landsat 9 will offer information and images to help make science-based choices on key problems including water use, wildfire effects, coral reef destruction, glacier and ice-shelf retreat, and tropical deforestation.”.
Landsat 9 has two instruments on board: the Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2).
The objective introduced from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, on board an Atlas V rocket. The payload and booster reached orbit about 16 minutes after launch, and Landsat 9 separated from the rocket about an hour later on, signing up with Landsat 8– which has been in orbit since 2013– along with the rest of NASAs Earth-observing fleet.
Landsat is a joint mission between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The first Landsat introduced in 1972.
” The Landsat mission is like no other,” said Karen St. Germain, director of the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters. “For almost 50 years, Landsat satellites observed our house planet, offering an exceptional record of how its surface area has altered over timescales from days to decades.
Landsat 9 is now making its way to its last orbital altitude of 438 miles (705 kilometers). It will remain in a near-polar, Sun-synchronous orbit.
Integrating the power of both Landsat 8 and 9, the two satellites can now photograph the entire Earth every eight days. Researchers and researchers utilize the images to monitor phenomena consisting of farming efficiency, forest degree and health, water quality, reef environment health, and glacier dynamics..
Anybody can look at or utilize the images, as Landsat data from over the years are offered to download and view at this USGS website. You can likewise see other pictures of Earth from orbit at the NASA Earth Observatory website.
Landsat images is used to monitor natural catastrophes, such as these contrast images revealing before and after images of flooding of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in 2011. Credit: NASA/USGS.
” [This] effective launch is a major turning point in the almost 50-year joint partnership in between USGS and NASA who, for decades, have actually partnered to gather important scientific details and utilize that data to shape policy with the utmost clinical integrity,” stated Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “As the impacts of the environment crisis magnify in the United States and around the world, Landsat 9 will provide information and imagery to assist make science-based choices on crucial problems including water use, wildfire effects, reef destruction, glacier and ice-shelf retreat, and tropical logging.”.
Landsat 9 has 2 instruments on board: the Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2). Working together, the 2 instruments can determine 11 wavelengths of light reflected or radiated off Earths surface, in the visible spectrum as well as other wavelengths beyond what our eyes can see.
Earth orbiting satellites and missions, as of 2019. Credit: NASA.
Additional reading about the launch: NASA Earth Observatory, NASA blog sites.
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