into the two nearby lakes.
Algae blooms commonly happen in summer on Lake Erie, but the blooms have been increasing in recent years. This year, north winds pushed the algae toward the water intake system for Toledo, Ohio, the urban area visible in the lower left of these Landsat 8 images.
Certain types of freshwater algae produce a toxin that can be harmful to people. Whether harmful or not, algae blooms are often large enough to appear in satellite images. This Lake Erie bloom shows up as green swirls on the surface of the water in the August 1 image. The white spots above the land and water are clouds. The June 14 image is displayed for comparison.
Scientists often use satellite imagery (such as Landsat) along with aerial imagery and water-based sensors to monitor the algae blooms each summer. The information helps them determine the type and distribution of the algae. Furthermore, comparing the annual extent of the blooms helps scientists monitor long-term trends and predict the impacts and movement of future algae bloom events.
Heavy rains starting in June have brought the worst flooding the country of Paraguay has ever seen. Thousands of residents have been displaced due to flooding of the urban and rural areas along the Paraguay River in this central South American country.
These images, acquired by Landsat 8 on April 14, 2014, and July 19, 2014, show the Paraguay River, north of the city of Asuncion. The April image shows the area before the flooding began. The July image shows the dramatic change due to the flooding.
Future Landsat data acquisitions will be useful in monitoring the affected areas.
The Bone Valley region in Central Florida contains the largest known deposits of phosphate in the United States. These deposits were formed within layers of fossil-rich sediments that developed millions of years ago when the area was underwater. The rocks in this region contain phosphate minerals that are broken down for phosphorus, which is used to produce agricultural fertilizer and other applications.
These Landsat images show an area with phosphate mining activity in 1986 and again in 2014. The two images show numerous changes to the landscape during this time interval. The surface mining process involves removal of the vegetation and top layers. The exposed phosphate ore is removed and scooped into a pit, then mixed with water to create “slurry”. The slurry is pumped to a processing plant where the phosphate is extracted. After processing, the remaining waste by-products are pumped into settling ponds, and the land undergoes a reclamation process.
The multiple stages of this process are apparent in these Landsat images. The bright areas indicate exposed rock and land surface. The black, blue, and purple tones indicate water combined with other components in varying compositions, within the slurry and settling ponds. The green shapes with geometric outlines (particularly toward the center of the second image) indicate reclaimed areas with new vegetation.
Dry conditions have made this year another busy one for wildfires in the western United States. For example, responders in east-central Oregon are currently fighting several separate fires that were started by lightning near Malheur Lake on July 14, 2014. The combination of high winds, low humidity, and high temperatures has been making the firefighting work difficult.
These Landsat images were acquired on July 1, 2014 (left), and again on July 17, 2014. Malheur Lake is in the center of both images. The large fire scars visible in the second image show the area burned within the Buzzard Complex as of July 17. The bright orange areas also show where the fires were continuing to burn at the time the second image was collected.
Landsat imagery can be an important tool to help evaluate the areas damaged and destroyed by fire, and can assist in response planning and identifying areas of further risk. Future images from Landsat will also be helpful for monitoring the land recovery after major fires such as this.
2014 World Cup—Rio de Janeiro, Brazil July 11, 2014
The 2014