About "LANDSAT Images of the U.S.A. - Archive"
Quick Fact List --
Images in the "LANDSAT Images of the U.S.A. - Archive"...
- ...were aquired by Landsat 1-3 which operated between 1972 and 1983.
- ...are all MSS (Multispectral Scanner) Images (4 bands).
- ...are organized by STATE and CITY (cities are not necessarily in the center of
an image).
- ...have been cropped slightly for use online and therefore do not cover the entire
original scene.
- ...are provided for general browsing.
- ...are part of the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies' Regional Planetary Image
Facility collection and were obtained from EROS Data
Center.
The LANDSAT Images of the U.S.A are from a slide collection obtained from the EROS Data
Center. The collection includes imagery from the years 1972-1983 that was collected by the
Multispectral Scanner (MSS) remote sensing instrument aboard LANDSATs 1-3. The MSS
instrument has been carried on all subsequent LANDSAT satellites. LANDSAT 4 was the first
of the new generation of LANDSAT satellites to carry the advanced Thematic Mapper (TM)
sensor.
- More About LANDSAT:
- LANDSAT and
its Sensors
- LANDSAT Coverage
- Data Processing
Identifying Features in "LANDSAT Images of the U.S.A."
The LANDSAT scenes available here are useful in identifying large scale features such
as mountain ranges, rivers and other bodies of water, coastlines, and large cities. Major
highways can be visible at times as well. (The Landsat 1-3 MSS had a resolution of 80
meters. The TM instrument added to Landsat 4 and 5 could resolve features as small as 30
meters.)
Satellite images are often rendered in false color, and the color of various types of
features can be arbitrary. In this set of images, red colors indicate vegetation. Urban
areas tend to appear grey.
In this image of the Chesapeake Bay, Washington D.C.(N.W. of
center) and Baltimore, MD (top, center) are visible as grey areas. Major roads are visible
between them and radiating outward as grey lines. The airstrips at Dulles International
Airport can also be seen directly west of D.C. (small grey check-mark shape):
Large clear, calm, deep bodies of water absorb light and do not reflect much back to the
sensor so they look almost black. Murkier deep water reflects more than clear water and
will look bluer/grey. River deltas with sediments flowing out into open water will look
like this image of the Mississippi River delta:
Shallow clear water will appear crystal blue, like this image off the coast of Florida:
Landsat Images of the
U.S.A.
In this image of the Chesapeake Bay, Washington D.C.(N.W. of
center) and Baltimore, MD (top, center) are visible as grey areas. Major roads are visible
between them and radiating outward as grey lines. The airstrips at Dulles International
Airport can also be seen directly west of D.C. (small grey check-mark shape):
Large clear, calm, deep bodies of water absorb light and do not reflect much back to the
sensor so they look almost black. Murkier deep water reflects more than clear water and
will look bluer/grey. River deltas with sediments flowing out into open water will look
like this image of the Mississippi River delta:
Shallow clear water will appear crystal blue, like this image off the coast of Florida: