Landsat 9, a joint NASA-US Geological Survey (USGS) mission that started on September 27, 2021, has collected his first photographs of the earth.
The images, captured on October 31, preview how the mission will help people manage vital natural resources and understand the effects of climate change, according to a NASA press release.
Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson said, “The first Landsat 9 imagery captures critical observations of our changing planet and will advance this joint NASA and US Geological Survey mission to provide critical data from space on Earth’s landscapes and coastlines . “
He added, “This program has a proven power to not only improve lives, but also save lives. NASA will continue to work with USGS to strengthen and improve access to Landsat data so that decision-makers in America and around the world can better understand the ravages of the climate crisis, manage agricultural practices, protect valuable resources, and respond more effectively to natural disasters . “
The first image collected by Landsat 9 shows remote coastal islands and bays in the Kimberly region of Western Australia. (Image: NASA)
The first light images collected by Landsat 9 show Detroit, Michigan, with neighboring Lake St. Clair, the intersection of cities and beaches along a changing Florida coastline, and images from Navajo Country, Arizona, adding to the abundance will contribute to data that will help us monitor crop health and manage irrigation water.
In the western United States, in places like the Navajo Nation, as seen in this Landsat 9 image, Landsat and other satellite data are helping people monitor drought conditions and manage irrigation water. (Image: NASA)
Sediments swirl in Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair in this Landsat 9 image from Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario. The Great Lakes serve as the freshwater sources, recreational activities, transportation, and habitat for the upper Midwest, and water quality remains a high priority. (Image: NASA)
The white sands of Pensacola Beach stand out in this Landsat 9 image of the United States’ 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 development and the potential impact of rising sea levels. (Image: NASA)
The new images also provided data on the changing landscapes of the Himalayas in the high mountains of Asia and the coastal islands and coastlines of Northern Australia.
Landsat 9 is equipped with two instruments that work together to cover a wide range of wavelengths. (Image: NASA)
WHAT IS LANDSAT 9?
Landsat 9 is an advanced satellite, ninth in the series, that will monitor vital natural and economic resources from orbit. The satellite is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and will carry two key instruments aboard the Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2), which collects images of the Earth’s landscapes in visible, near infrared, and shortwave infrared light, and the Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 ( TIRS-2), which measures the temperature of land surfaces.
Landsat 9 is part of a joint mission between NASA and the US Geological Survey that has contributed over five decades to understanding how the planet works and the rapid changes it is undergoing. The Landsat series has helped measure various changes, including the speed of Antarctic glaciers, tracking water use in arable fields, and monitoring deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
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Landsat 9 was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base on September 27th.
Landsat 9, along with its sister satellite Landsat 8, will collect images from around the world every eight days to monitor the health of the earth and help people manage essential resources such as crops, irrigation water and forests. The satellite will orbit the planet every 99 minutes and complete 14 orbits around the planet every day.
Nasa said the Landsat 9 images will be added to nearly 50 years of free and publicly available data from the mission, the longest record of Earth landscapes from space.
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