sistent worldwide record of land use and land cover changes as they occur across the Earth’s surface.
Urban Expansion of Shenyang, China August 22, 2014
The city of Shenyang is one of the largest cities in northeastern China. Situated along the Hun River, the city is a major transportation hub. It is also an important industrial center, representing the core city of the Shenyang Economic Zone. Its urban and outlying areas are home to over 8 million people.
These images show the city of Shenyang in 1984, and again in 2014. The expansion of Shenyang’s urban area over the past 30 years is striking, as the urban developed area (shades of silver and gray) has expanded into the previous farmland and forested areas (green shades) surrounding the city. The large green feature in the north-central part of the urban area is Beiling Park, the largest park in the city.
The 40+ year archive of Landsat imagery provides a valuable tool for recording urban growth and other types of land cover change over time. The information in these images can also be useful for monitoring the effects of urban growth on the surrounding landscape and ecosystems.
Dam Breach at Mount Polley Mine, Canada August 13, 2014
On August 4, 2014, an earthen dam failed at the Mount Polley Mine in central British Columbia, Canada. The dam had been built to hold a tailings pond that contained water and waste materials from local gold and copper mining operations.
The tailings pond covered over 4 square kilometers and within a few days, millions of cubic meters of wastewater and slurry had flowed from the pond into neighboring Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek, and Quesnel Lake.
These two Landsat images show the area of active mining and associated tailings pond. In both images, the dark areas indicate clear water. The suspended materials within the tailings pond (first image) are more reflective, so this water appears brighter. In the August 6 image, the waste materials from the tailings pond can be seen (blue, green, and silver) flowing down Hazeltine Creek and 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.
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