 we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, which was established to better manage Yellowstone and other national parks within the Department of Interior, Landsat continues to prove the outstanding value of its land-monitoring mission. The June 2016 image, captured by Landsat 8, portrays the widespread recovery of tree cover and other vegetation within the 28-year-old burn scar.
The national park’s western border is easily evident in images acquired shortly before and after the fire, on Sept. 22, 1987, and again on Oct. 10, 1988. A prohibition on logging in the national park is revealed in a dividing line of land use that shows dark green forests to the right of the park boundary, and the pink and light green hues of forest clearcuts to the left.
Yellowstone’s healing since the fire is obvious in the time-series views as well. Landsat 5’s shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and red bands combine in the October 1988 image to reveal vibrant red burn scars above and below Yellowstone Lake. In 2016, the scars have faded beneath the lush, green forest canopies and resurgent grasslands.
Landsat, ASTER Work Together on Russian Wildfires July 14, 2016
Remotely sensed imagery of wildfires burning in the Siberia region of Russia shows the complementary possibilities of Landsat 8 and NASA’s ASTER sensor aboard its Terra satellite.
Lightning triggered dozens of forest fires in remote Siberia in late June 2016, burning as much as 7,400 acres, according to Russia’s TASS news agency. Imagery acquired from Terra ASTER on June 29 shows smoke billowing from a small and a large fire, as well as some older burn scars. A day later, when Landsat 8 passed overhead, there was almost no smoke coming from the smaller fire, and a more pronounced scar. Vegetation appears red in the false-color imagery because near infrared (NIR) spectral bands used by both sensors are sensitive to vegetation greenness and were placed in the red position of Red-Green-Blue (RGB) composite images. Burn scars appear a dark brown to black with this band combination.
Though the Terra satellite images the entire Earth every 1 to 2 days, its ASTER instrument with its three separate telescopes only collects data when it is remotely programmed to do so over requested areas of land. That makes it valuable for monitoring disasters. Because Terra’s orbit is similar to that of Landsats 7 and 8—though timed differently—they prove quite complementary when it comes to identifying the impacts of wildfire, flooding, and other events.
Though there is little population in the wildfire area, Russia’s Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities asked the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters,” of which USGS and EROS are members, for assistance. That request was granted July 2, giving Russia rapid access to satellite data for assessing the extent of damage and helping with disaster response.
Landsat Reveals Industrial Growth in Powder River Basin July 1, 2016
The expanding coal fields in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin serve as prime examples of Landsat’s ability to monitor land cover change related to industrial growth across the American landscape.
In imagery acquired more than three decades apart, Landsat time-series data illustrate what USGS scientists call a central reality of industrial growth in this country—changing the use of land to increase its economic output. Agriculture remained the main occupation in the basin into the 1970s, until the coal boom took off. The largest U.S. coal mine, the North Antelope Rochelle Mine south of Gillette, WY, opened late in 1983.
The influence of mining is readily apparent in these Landsat images. In 1984, the Landsat 5 scene is largely devoid of open-pit mining signatures. But 32 years later, in 2016, Landsat 8 captures how the Black Thunder Mine and the North Antelope Rochelle Complex have expanded over the last few decades. In 2014, the two mines produced 22 percent of the nation’s coal supply.
USGS officials estimate that mines in the Powder River Basin generally have less than 20 years of economically recov