Landsat Orbit Swath

Credits

• Animator

  • Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]

• Video editor

  • Matthew Radcliff (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)

• Scientist

  • James R. Irons (NASA/GSFC)

• Interviewee

  • James R. Irons (NASA/GSFC)

• Producer

  • Matthew Radcliff (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)

• Narrator

  • James R. Irons (NASA/GSFC)

• Project support

  • Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.)

Related Pages

• Related

  • 

    ID: 12754 Produced Video

    Landsat sensors: pushbroom vs whiskbroom

    Oct. 31st, 2017
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Landsat collects images in long narrow strips called “swaths.” Each swath is 185 kilometers (115 miles) wide and is 2,752 kilometers (1,710 miles) from the next adjacent swath taken that day. It takes 16 days for the swaths to overlap enough to image the whole Earth.Previous Landsat sensors swept back and forth across the swath like a whisk broom to collect data. The sensor looked at a calibration source at the end of every row, which means that measurements were consistent from orbit to orbit. But this sensor design requires fast-moving parts, which are more likely to break.—and which did on Landsat 7.In contrast, the instruments on Landsat 8 view across the entire swath at once, building strips of data like a pushbroom. This approach requires no moving parts and gives the sensor detectors greater dwell time. The pushbroom instrument is smaller and lighter than previous whisk broom instruments, but its calibration is much more complex given the large number of detectors.“It was a natural step to evolve to a pushbroom sensor. The technology was proven on other satellites, and we knew we could get better accuracy. The pushbroom has no moving parts. It is a newer and more reliable technology.” explains Terry Arvidson, senior project engineer.For more information on the future of Landsat instruments, read https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/landsat-9/instruments/. ||

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  • 

    ID: 11475 Produced Video

    Earth Mapper

    April 17th, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Since its launch in February 2013, the Landsat 8 satellite has collected detailed views of Earth’s surface. The satellite images a continuous strip of land 115 miles across, or about the width of Florida’s peninsula, as it circles the poles. As the planet rotates, the view beneath the satellite’s detector shifts, allowing it to glimpse a new parade of forests, farmland, cities, glaciers and more. The satellite gathers data on roughly half of Earth’s surface every eight days, and the entire planet every 16 days. Landsat 8 is a joint NASA and U.S. Geological Survey mission, and is the latest in the Landsat series of Earth-observing satellites that have continuously monitored land cover for more than four decades. Watch the video to learn more. ||

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  • 

    ID: 11490 Produced Video

    Landsat 8 Celebrates First Year in Orbit

    Feb. 26th, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    On Feb. 11, 2013, Landsat 8 launched into Earth orbit, riding on an Atlas V rocket. Weighing 6,133 pounds, Landsat 8 is the eigth satellite in the long-running Landsat program, jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. At 16 feet tall, with a 32 foot long solar array, Landsat 8 orbits Earth at an altitude of 438 miles, moving at a speed of 16,760 miles per hour. It takes 99 minutes to complete one orbit, with about 14.5 orbits each day. There have been 5,319 orbits in the first year of Landsat 8's mission. It takes 16 days to build a complete scan of the globe, and on the 17th day the orbit cycle begins again.Between the two instruments on board, Landsat 8 records data in 11 separate wavelength regions spanning visible, infrared, and thermal radiation. The data is transmitted several times a day to the USGS Earth Resources and Observation Science Center in Sioux Falls, SD, where it is added to the archive of Landsat data stretching back to 1972. In its first year, users have downloaded 1,322,969 scenes of Landsat 8 data from the USGS.Landsat 8 continues the decades-long Landsat record of Earth's land surface at a scale where the impacts of humans and nature can be detected and monitored over time. Every continent, every season, every year, at a resolution that can distinguish an area the size of a baseball field. With help from Landsat we can monitor the cultivation of our food crops, quantify our precious water resources as they ebb and flow, and track deforestation globally. Landsat data constitute a key ingredient in decision making for agriculture, climate research, disaster mitigation, ecosystems, forestry, human health, urban growth, and water management. ||

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  • 

    ID: 3939 Visualization

    Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Orbits

    April 16th, 2012
    (updated Nov. 14th, 2023)

    The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), also to be named Landsat 8 after its scheduled launch in February 2013, will be the eighth in the series of Landsat satellites. Since 1972, Landsat satellites have been observing and measuring Earth's continental and coastal landscapes at 15 to 30 meter resolution, where human impacts and natural changes can be monitored and characterized over time.This animation portrays how the LDCM satellite will orbit the Earth 13 times per day at an altitude of 705 km collecting landcover data. With a cross-track width of 185 km, the satellite will completely cover the globe in a 16 day period compiling a total of 233 orbits. A day number and the elapsed time are shown to clearly depict the passage of time which starts slowly in the beginning and increases to day-by-day steps at the end of the animation. The terrain is exaggerated by 6 times during the first day portrayed, but is increased to 12 times when the camera pulls out to a global view. An artificial orbit trail is shown following the spacecraft to indicate its position when the satellite itself is too small to be visible. ||

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