andsat 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 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup began on June 12, 2014, and has been taking place at numerous venues across Brazil. The final match is on Sunday, July 13, at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
This Landsat 7 image was acquired on June 26, 2014. The main image shows the spectacular setting of the city of Rio, with its high mountains, islands, and famous long beaches that follow the coastline. The smaller image shows the location of the stadium (white circle) where the 2014 World Cup final match will take place.
These “pan-sharpened” images use Landsat’s panchromatic band (15-m resolution) in combination with the 3-band multispectral information (30-meter resolution). This technique is often used by scientists and analysts when it is necessary to show more details within the Landsat image than would be visible using the multispectral information alone.
These Landsat image products were created using hundreds of individual Landsat scenes. The images have been mosaicked and “draped” over elevation data to show the topography and landscapes across the United States.
The main image shows the Rocky Mountains and other mountain ranges that dominate the western United States. The central portion of the image consists mainly of rolling plains and farmland. The right portion of the main image shows the mountain ranges and coastal plains that make up the eastern U.S. seaboard. The Alaska and Hawaii mosaics show the predominant features of those landscapes as well.
An individual Landsat state mosaic has been prepared for every one of the 50 U.S. states plus Puerto Rico. All of the Landsat image mosaics are available in poster-ready format and may be viewed and downloaded via the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Image Gallery (http://eros.usgs.gov/imagegallery/landsat-state-mosaics).
The imagery that is collected by the Landsat satellites can be useful for general visualization of large areas and landscapes, and is often used in combination with other datasets 