Opening the archive: How free data has enabled the science and monitoring promise of Landsat

Abstract Landsat occupies a unique position in the constellation of civilian earth observation satellites, with a long and rich scientific and applications heritage. With nearly 40 years of continuous observation – since launch of the first satellite in 1972 – the Landsat program has benefited from insightful technical specification, robust engineering, and the necessary infrastructure for data archive and dissemination. Chiefly, the spatial and spectral resolutions have proven of broad utility and have remained largely stable over the life of the program. The foresighted acquisition and maintenance of a global image archive has proven to be of unmatched value, providing a window into the past and fueling the monitoring and modeling of global land cover and ecological change. In this paper we discuss the evolution of the Landsat program as a global monitoring mission, highlighting in particular the recent change to an open (free) data policy. The new data policy is revolutionizing the use of Landsat data, spurring the creation of robust standard products and new science and applications approaches. Open data access also promotes increased international collaboration to meet the Earth observing needs of the 21st century.

[1]  M. Wulder,et al.  Mapping wildfire and clearcut harvest disturbances in boreal forests with Landsat time series data , 2011 .

[2]  Donghai Zheng,et al.  Evaluating nitrogen removal by vegetation uptake using satellite image time series in riparian catchments. , 2011, The Science of the total environment.

[3]  Michael A. Wulder,et al.  Cross-sensor change detection over a forested landscape: Options to enable continuity of medium spatial resolution measures , 2008 .

[4]  Patrick Hostert,et al.  Differences in Landsat-based trend analyses in drylands due to the choice of vegetation estimate , 2011 .

[5]  Sean P. Healey,et al.  Application of two regression-based methods to estimate the effects of partial harvest on forest structure using Landsat data , 2006 .

[6]  Piers J. Sellers,et al.  Remote sensing of the land biosphere and biogeochemistry in the EOS era: science priorities, methods and implementation—EOS land biosphere and biogeochemical cycles panels , 1993 .

[7]  Julia A. Barsi,et al.  The next Landsat satellite: The Landsat Data Continuity Mission , 2012 .

[8]  Yosio Edemir Shimabukuro,et al.  Comparing annual MODIS and PRODES forest cover change data for advancing monitoring of Brazilian forest cover , 2008 .

[9]  Håkan Olsson,et al.  A method for using Landsat time series for monitoring young plantations in boreal forests , 2009 .

[10]  Aram M. Mika,et al.  Three Decades of Landsat Instruments , 1997 .

[11]  Susan K Maxwell,et al.  Using Landsat satellite data to support pesticide exposure assessment in California , 2010, International journal of health geographics.

[12]  Darrel L. Williams,et al.  Landsat and Earth Systems Science : Development of terrestrial monitoring , 1997 .

[13]  T. Brandeis,et al.  Mapping tropical dry forest height, foliage height profiles and disturbance type and age with a time series of cloud-cleared Landsat and ALI image mosaics to characterize avian habitat , 2010 .

[14]  Sunil Kumar,et al.  Mapping Invasive Tamarisk (Tamarix): A Comparison of Single-Scene and Time-Series Analyses of Remotely Sensed Data , 2009, Remote. Sens..

[15]  W. Cohen,et al.  North American forest disturbance mapped from a decadal Landsat record , 2008 .

[16]  David Aragonés,et al.  Predictive models of turbidity and water depth in the Doñana marshes using Landsat TM and ETM+ images. , 2009, Journal of environmental management.

[17]  Warren B. Cohen,et al.  Patterns of forest regrowth following clearcutting in western Oregon as determined from a Landsat time-series , 2007 .

[18]  P. Dustan,et al.  Landsat Thematic Mapper: Detection of Shifts in Community Composition of Coral Reefs , 2001 .

[19]  W. Stoney.  GUIDE TO LAND IMAGING SATELLITES , 2006 .

[20]  W. Hargrove,et al.  Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing , 2022 .

[21]  S. Andréfouët,et al.  Quantification of two decades of shallow-water coral reef habitat decline in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary using Landsat data (1984-2002) , 2008 .

[22]  Robert E. Wolfe,et al.  A Landsat surface reflectance dataset for North America, 1990-2000 , 2006, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[23]  Chengquan Huang,et al.  Modeling the height of young forests regenerating from recent disturbances in Mississippi using Landsat and ICESat data , 2011 .

[24]  Andrew Barry,et al.  Viewing the Earth: The Social Construction of the Landsat Satellite System by Pamela E. Mack (review) , 1992, Technology and Culture.

[25]  C. Woodcock,et al.  Continuous monitoring of forest disturbance using all available Landsat imagery , 2012 .

[26]  Michael Berger,et al.  Sentinel-2 optical high resolution mission for GMES operational services , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[27]  Karen C. Seto,et al.  Change detection, accuracy, and bias in a sequential analysis of Landsat imagery in the Pearl River Delta, China: econometric techniques , 2001 .

[28]  Michael A. Wulder,et al.  Landsat continuity: Issues and opportunities for land cover monitoring , 2008 .

[29]  Fernando Pérez-Cabello,et al.  Pinus halepensis regeneration after a wildfire in a semiarid environment: assessment using multitemporal Landsat images , 2011 .

[30]  S. Goward,et al.  An automated approach for reconstructing recent forest disturbance history using dense Landsat time series stacks , 2010 .

[31]  W. Cohen,et al.  Landsat's Role in Ecological Applications of Remote Sensing , 2004 .

[32]  Zhiqiang Yang,et al.  Detecting trends in forest disturbance and recovery using yearly Landsat time series: 1. LandTrendr — Temporal segmentation algorithms , 2010 .

[33]  W. Cohen,et al.  Characterizing 23 Years (1972–95) of Stand Replacement Disturbance in Western Oregon Forests with Landsat Imagery , 2002, Ecosystems.

[34]  Michael A. Lefsky,et al.  Biomass accumulation rates of Amazonian secondary forest and biomass of old-growth forests from Landsat time series and the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System , 2009 .

[35]  R. Lunetta,et al.  Remote Sensing Change Detection: Environmental Monitoring Methods and Applications , 1999 .

[36]  Martha C. Anderson,et al.  Free Access to Landsat Imagery , 2008, Science.

[37]  Thomas Udelhoven,et al.  Dryland observation at local and regional scale - comparison of Landsat TM/ETM+ and NOAA AVHRR time series. , 2010 .

[38]  Paul E. Gessler,et al.  Technical Note: Development of a Landsat Time Series for Application in Forest Status Assessment in the Inland Northwest United States , 2008 .

[39]  David P. Roy,et al.  Continuity of Landsat observations: Short term considerations , 2011 .

[40]  Joanne C. White,et al.  Monitoring Canada’s forests. Part 1: Completion of the EOSD land cover project , 2008 .

[41]  Martin J. Wooster,et al.  Landsat infrared analysis of fumarole activity at Unzen volcano : time-series comparison with gas and magma fluxes , 1999 .

[42]  W. Cohen,et al.  Land cover mapping in an agricultural setting using multiseasonal Thematic Mapper data , 2001 .

[43]  R. Colwell.  Remote sensing of the environment , 1980, Nature.

[44]  W. Cohen,et al.  Using Landsat-derived disturbance history (1972-2010) to predict current forest structure , 2012 .

[45]  B. Markham,et al.  Forty-year calibrated record of earth-reflected radiance from Landsat: A review , 2012 .

[46]  Darrel L. Williams,et al.  The Landsat 7 mission: terrestrial research and applications for the 21st century , 2001 .

[47]  Andreas Buerkert,et al.  Quantification of aboveground rangeland productivity and anthropogenic degradation on the Arabian Peninsula using Landsat imagery and field inventory data , 2011 .

[48]  Nicholas C. Coops,et al.  Assessing changes in forest fragmentation following infestation using time series Landsat imagery , 2010 .

[49]  N. Coops,et al.  Estimation of insect infestation dynamics using a temporal sequence of Landsat data , 2008 .

[50]  J. Mustard,et al.  Green leaf phenology at Landsat resolution: Scaling from the field to the satellite , 2006 .

[51]  Kenneth B. Pierce,et al.  Quantification of live aboveground forest biomass dynamics with Landsat time-series and field inventory data: A comparison of empirical modeling approaches , 2010 .

[52]  W. T. Pecora.  Surveying the earth's resources from space , 1967 .

[53]  O. Frihy,et al.  Automated techniques for quantification of beach change rates using Landsat series along the North-eastern Nile Delta, Egypt , 2010 .

[54]  Mathew R. Schwaller,et al.  On the blending of the Landsat and MODIS surface reflectance: predicting daily Landsat surface reflectance , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[55]  Gertrud Schaab,et al.  Assessing fragmentation and disturbance of west Kenyan rainforests by means of remotely sensed time series data and landscape metrics , 2006 .

[56]  Achim Röder,et al.  Using long time series of Landsat data to monitor fire events and post-fire dynamics and identify driving factors. A case study in the Ayora region (eastern Spain) , 2008 .

[57]  Scott L. Powell,et al.  Quantification of impervious surface in the Snohomish Water Resources Inventory Area of Western Washington from 1972–2006 , 2007 .

[58]  R. DeFries,et al.  Mapping canopy damage from understory fires in Amazon forests using annual time series of Landsat and MODIS data , 2011 .

[59]  Zhen Li,et al.  Measurements of Glacier Variation in the Tibetan Plateau Using Landsat Data , 1998 .

[60]  Limin Yang,et al.  COMPLETION OF THE 1990S NATIONAL LAND COVER DATA SET FOR THE CONTERMINOUS UNITED STATES FROM LANDSAT THEMATIC MAPPER DATA AND ANCILLARY DATA SOURCES , 2001 .

[61]  D. Roy,et al.  A method for integrating MODIS and Landsat data for systematic monitoring of forest cover and change in the Congo Basin , 2008 .

[62]  H. Dolman,et al.  Terrestrial essential climate variables for climate change assessment, mitigation and adaptation (GTOS 52) , 2008 .

[63]  R. B. Erb,et al.  The Use of LANDSAT Data in a Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE) , 1975 .

[64]  John L. Dwyer,et al.  Landsat: building a strong future , 2012 .

[65]  J. Vogelmann,et al.  Monitoring forest changes in the southwestern United States using multitemporal Landsat data , 2009 .

[66]  J. Beaubien,et al.  Visual interpretation of vegetation through digitally enhanced LANDSAT‐MSS images , 1986 .

[67]  B. Quayle,et al.  A Project for Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity , 2007 .

[68]  Suming Jin,et al.  Comparison of time series tasseled cap wetness and the normalized difference moisture index in detecting forest disturbances , 2005 .

[69]  Joanne C. White,et al.  Generation of dense time series synthetic Landsat data through data blending with MODIS using a spatial and temporal adaptive reflectance fusion model. , 2009 .

[70]  R. Almeida-Filho,et al.  Digital processing of a Landsat-TM time series for mapping and monitoring degraded areas caused by independent gold miners, Roraima State, Brazilian Amazon , 2002 .

[71]  C. Tucker,et al.  Tropical Deforestation and Habitat Fragmentation in the Amazon: Satellite Data from 1978 to 1988 , 1993, Science.

[72]  J. Irons,et al.  Requirements for a Landsat Data Continuity Mission , 2006 .

[73]  Thomas R. Loveland,et al.  A review of large area monitoring of land cover change using Landsat data , 2012 .

[74]  K. Seto,et al.  Quantifying Spatiotemporal Patterns of Urban Land-use Change in Four Cities of China with Time Series Landscape Metrics , 2005, Landscape Ecology.

[75]  D. Roy,et al.  Web-enabled Landsat Data (WELD): Landsat ETM+ composited mosaics of the conterminous United States , 2010 .

[76]  Darrel L. Williams,et al.  Landsat-7 Long-Term Acquisition Plan: Development and Validation , 2006 .

[77]  C. Justice,et al.  Towards monitoring land-cover and land-use changes at a global scale: the global land survey 2005 , 2008 .

[78]  M. Wulder,et al.  Landsat-7 ETM+ orthoimage coverage of Canada , 2002 .

[79]  Yeqiao Wang,et al.  Remote sensing change detection tools for natural resource managers: Understanding concepts and tradeoffs in the design of landscape monitoring projects , 2009 .