balse Allende (“Vineyard Dam”) can be seen in the two images.
This region has been long noted as an important center for potato production. In this semiarid climate, a double crop is possible when the potatoes are given enough moisture through irrigation. Other important local crops include wine grapes, olives, tobacco, walnuts, and jojoba.
These two images show 20 years of change to the agricultural landscape. The first image was acquired in January 1994 and shows areas of active cropland (bright green and lighter tones). The second image, from January 2014, shows apparent conversion of additional areas to agricultural use. The bright green circles indicate center pivot irrigation systems, which have been installed over the past two decades.
Since both images were acquired during the same time of year (mid-January) the overall difference in color tones also suggests a difference in weather conditions between the two years. The 1994 image (green) was likely a year of higher precipitation, compared to the 2014 image (brown) which has been relatively dry.
Landsat imagery is an important tool for monitoring change to the Earth’s landscape over time.
32 Years of Change: Incheon, South Korea February 25, 2014
The shoreline area of Incheon, South Korea, has been changing dramatically over the past 32 years, as depicted by these Landsat images acquired in 1981 and again in 2013. Previous marsh areas have been turned into usable land through land reclamation. Urban growth has also expanded.
In the center of these images, previously separate islands have been joined together as reclaimed land to become home to Incheon International Airport. The airport opened in 2001 and is now one of the largest and busiest in the world. The new Incheon Bridge (also called the Incheon Grand Bridge) can also be seen in the second image; it opened in October 2009.
The Landsat archive contains 40 years of data, which allows users to see changes as they are occurring throughout the Earth’s landscape.
On January 15, 2014, lightning sparked a brushfire in Grampians National Park in the State of Victoria in southeastern Australia. The combination of dry, hot weather and strong winds contributed to a rapidly spreading complex. The fire became so intense it created a 12-km (7.5-mi) wide convection column that created its own weather, generated lightning strikes, and sparked many smaller spot fires.
Residents of the town of Halls Gap, just south of the burned area, were evacuated. The fire claimed at least one life and scorched over 53,000 hectares (131,000 acres) before it was contained on January 21.
These two Landsat 8 images show the area on January 12, 2014 (before the start of the fires) and again on January 28, 2014. The dark tones in the later image depict the burned areas.
The information contained in Landsat images is useful for mapping wildfires, along with many other types of land cover change.
Effects of Flooding: Hyères, France February 7, 2014
In mid-January 2014, unusually heavy rains in southeast France led to flooding, landslides, and evacuations. In some areas, up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) of rainfall occurred over three days, far exceeding the typical monthly totals.
These Landsat 8 images show the area around Hyères, along with the Giens Peninsula (Presqu’île de Giens) and nearby islands.
The two images were acquired on January 15, 2014 (one day before the rains began) and again on January 31, 2014. The bright blue colors in the right image show the flow of the sediment-rich floodwaters as they moved out into the Mediterranean Sea.
Gaborone is the capital and largest city in Botswana. Its current residential population is estimated at 250,000 within the city limits (450,000 when including the outlying areas).
Almost all of this urban development has occurred within the last 50 years. Development of initial infrastructure began in 1963, and the city was formally established in 1966 on the eve of Botswana’s independence. Since that time, Gaborone has experienced rapid urban growth. This expansion is expected to continue as economic a