Earth observation ( EO ) is the gathering of information about the physical, chemical, and biological systems of the planet Earth . It can be performed via remote-sensing technologies ( Earth observation satellites ) or through direct-contact sensors in ground-based or airborne platforms (such as weather stations and weather balloons , for example) .
29-709: Landsat 8 is an American Earth observation satellite launched on 11 February 2013. It is the eighth satellite in the Landsat program; the seventh to reach orbit successfully. Originally called the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), it is a collaboration between NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland , provided development, mission systems engineering, and acquisition of
58-469: A day, an increase from the 250 scenes a day on Landsat 7 . The OLI and TIRS sensors will see improved signal to noise radiometric (SNR) performance, enabling 12-bit quantization of data allowing for more bits for better land-cover characterization. Planned parameters for Landsat 8 standard products : The Landsat 8 spacecraft was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation , under contract to NASA, and uses Orbital's standard LEOStar-3 satellite bus. Orbital
87-436: A line of sensors arranged perpendicular to the flight direction of the spacecraft is used. Different areas of the surface are imaged as the spacecraft flies forward. A push broom scanner can gather more light than a whisk broom scanner because it looks at a particular area for a longer time, like a long exposure on a camera. One drawback of push broom sensors is the varying sensitivity of the individual detectors. Another drawback
116-556: A pushbroom sensor design with a 185 km swath width. Data for two long wavelength infrared bands will be collected with TIRS. This provides data continuity with Landsat 7's single thermal infrared band and adds a second. With TIRS being a late addition to the Landsat 8 satellite, the design life requirement was relaxed in order to expedite development of the sensor. As such, TIRS only has a three-year design life. The Landsat 8 ground system performs two main functions: command and control of
145-404: A traditional photocopier (or a scanner or facsimile machine) is also a familiar, everyday example of a push broom scanner. Push broom scanners and the whisk broom scanners variant (also known as across-track scanners) are often contrasted with staring arrays (such as in a digital camera), which image objects without scanning, and are more familiar to most people. In orbital push broom sensors,
174-476: Is gradually starting to appear in the literature. Earth observations may include: Just as Earth observations consist of a wide variety of possible elements, they can be applied to a wide variety of uses. Some of the specific applications of Earth observations are: The quality and quantity of Earth observations continue to mount rapidly. In addition to the ongoing launch of new remote-sensing satellites, increasingly sophisticated in situ instruments located on
203-569: Is that the resolution is lower than a whisk broom scanner because the entire image is captured at once. Examples of spacecraft cameras using push broom imagers include Mars Express 's High Resolution Stereo Camera , Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera NAC, Mars Global Surveyor 's Mars Orbiter Camera WAC, and the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer on board the Terra satellite . This technology-related article
232-593: The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , conducts thermal imaging and supports emerging applications such as evapotranspiration rate measurements for water management. The TIRS focal plane uses gallium arsenide (GaAs) Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector arrays (known as QWIPs) for detecting the infrared radiation — a first for the Landsat program. The TIRS data will be registered to OLI data to create radiometrically, geometrically, and terrain-corrected 12-bit Landsat 8 data products. Like OLI, TIRS employs
261-761: The OSTP issued a memorandum directing NASA to implement the Landsat 8 in the form of a free-flyer spacecraft carrying an instrument referred to as the Operational Land Imager (OLI). In December 2009, a decision was made to add a thermal infrared sensor (TIRS) to the mission payload. On 7 October 2022 the satellite was imaged on orbit by WorldView-3 . The satellite was launched aboard an Atlas 401 launch vehicle with an Extended Payload Fairing. The launch took place at 18:02:00 UTC on 11 February 2013, from Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 3 (SLC-3E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base . Seventy eight minutes and thirty seconds later,
290-683: The Request for Proposals in September 2003. In August 2004, a memorandum from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directed Federal agencies to place Landsat-type sensors on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) platform. Following an evaluation of the technical complexity of this task, the strategy was adjusted and on 23 December 2005,
319-463: The US, the term remote sensing has been used since the 1960s to refer to satellite-based remote sensing. Remote sensing has also been used more broadly for observations utilizing any form of remote sensing technology, including airborne sensors and even ground-based sensors such as cameras. Perhaps the least ambiguous term to use for satellite-based sensors is satellite remote sensing (SRS), an acronym which
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#1733093378432348-529: The anomaly was caused by out-of-field reflections bouncing off a metal alloy retaining ring mounted just above the third lens of the four-lens refractive TIRS telescope and onto the TIRS focal plane. In January 2017, an algorithm was developed to estimate the amount of stray light and subtract it from the data, reducing the error down to about 1 K. Earth observation According to the Group on Earth Observations (GEO),
377-639: The concept encompasses both " space-based or remotely-sensed data, as well as ground-based or in situ data ". Earth observation is used to monitor and assess the status of and changes in natural and built environments . In Europe, Earth observation has often been used to refer to satellite-based remote sensing, but the term is also used to refer to any form of observations of the Earth system, including in situ and airborne observations, for example. The GEO, which has over 100 member countries and over 100 participating organizations, uses EO in this broader sense. In
406-630: The data is sent via the GNE to the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) in Sioux Falls, where it is ingested into the Data Processing and Archive System. The original Landsat 8 plans called for NASA to purchase data meeting Landsat 8 specifications from a commercially owned and operated satellite system; however, after an evaluation of proposals received from industry, NASA cancelled
435-559: The forward end of the spacecraft. Landsat 8's Operational Land Imager (OLI) improves on past Landsat sensors and was built, under contract to NASA, by Ball Aerospace & Technologies . OLI uses a technological approach demonstrated by the Advanced Land Imager sensor flown on NASA's experimental Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite. The OLI instrument uses a pushbroom sensor instead of whiskbroom sensors that were utilized on earlier Landsat satellites. The pushbroom sensor aligns
464-427: The ground, on balloons and airplanes, and in rivers, lakes and oceans, are generating increasingly comprehensive, nearly real-time observations. In 2017 Earth observation have become increasingly technologically sophisticated. It has also become more important due to the dramatic impact that modern human civilization is having on the world and the need to minimize negative effects (e.g. geohazards ), along with
493-417: The imaging detector arrays along Landsat 8's focal plane allowing it to view across the entire swath, 185 km (115 mi) cross-track field of view, as opposed to sweeping across the field of view. With over 7000 detectors per spectral band, the pushbroom design results in increased sensitivity, fewer moving parts, and improved land surface information. OLI collects data from nine spectral bands. Seven of
522-418: The instrument pointed at nadir and TIRS data was acquired but not processed. On 3 March 2015, operators switched TIRS from the A side to B side electronics to deal with the issue with the A side encoder electronics. TIRS resumed normal operations on 4 March 2015, and nominal blackbody and deep space calibration data collection resumed on 7 March 2015. On 3 November 2015, the ability of TIRS to accurately measure
551-532: The launch vehicle while the USGS provided for development of the ground systems and will conduct on-going mission operations. It comprises the camera of the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), which can be used to study Earth surface temperature and is used to study global warming. The satellite was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation , who served as prime contractor for
580-470: The location of the Scene Select Mirror (SSM) was compromised and the encoder was powered off. In April 2016, an algorithm was developed to compensate for the powered off encoder and data reporting resumed. In addition to these problems, TIRS launched with a stray light anomaly that increases the reported temperature by up to 4 Kelvin in band 10 and up to 8 K in band 11. Eventually, it was determined that
609-474: The mission. The spacecraft's instruments were constructed by Ball Aerospace & Technologies and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), and its launch was contracted to United Launch Alliance (ULA). During the first 108 days in orbit, LDCM underwent checkout and verification by NASA and on 30 May 2013 operations were transferred from NASA to the USGS when LDCM was officially renamed to Landsat 8. With Landsat 5 retiring in early 2013, leaving Landsat 7 as
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#1733093378432638-567: The nine bands are consistent with the Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensors found on earlier Landsat satellites, providing for compatibility with the historical Landsat data, while also improving measurement capabilities. Two new spectral bands, a deep blue coastal/aerosol band and a shortwave-infrared cirrus band, will be collected, allowing scientists to measure water quality and improve detection of high, thin clouds . The Thermal InfraRed Sensor (TIRS), built by
667-474: The only on-orbit Landsat program satellite, Landsat 8 ensures the continued acquisition and availability of Landsat data utilizing a two-sensor payload, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal InfraRed Sensor (TIRS). Respectively, these two instruments collect image data for nine shortwave bands and two longwave thermal bands. The satellite was developed with a 5 years mission design life but
696-481: The opportunities such observation provides to improve social and economic well-being. Push broom scanner A push broom scanner , also known as an along-track scanner , is a device for obtaining images with spectroscopic sensors. The scanners are regularly used for passive remote sensing from space, and in spectral analysis on production lines, for example with near-infrared spectroscopy used to identify contaminated food and feed. The moving scanner line in
725-434: The primary structure. A single deployable solar array generates power for the spacecraft components and charges the spacecraft's 125 ampere hour nickel-hydrogen (Ni-H 2 ) battery . A 3.14-terabit solid state data recorder provides data storage aboard the spacecraft and an X-band antenna transmits OLI and TIRS data either in real time or played back from the data recorder. The OLI and TIRS are mounted on an optical bench at
754-644: The satellite and management of mission data sent from the satellite. Satellite command and control is provided by the Mission Operations Center at Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA). Commands are sent from the Mission Operations Center to the satellite via a Ground Network Element (GNE). Mission data from the satellite is downlinked to receiving stations in Sioux Falls, South Dakota , Gilmore Creek, Arkansas , and Svalbard , Norway. From there,
783-481: The spacecraft separated from the Atlas V upper stage, successfully completing the launch. First images from the spacecraft were collected on 18 March 2013. Landsat 8 joins Landsat 7 on-orbit, providing increased coverage of the Earth's surface. On 19 December 2014, ground controllers detected anomalous current levels associated with the Scene Select Mirror (SSM) encoder electronics. The SSM electronics were turned off with
812-420: Was launched with enough fuel on board to provide for upwards of ten years of operations. Landsat 8 consists of three key mission and science objectives: Providing moderate-resolution imagery, from 15 metres to 100 metres, of Earth's land surface and polar regions, Landsat 8 operates in the visible , near-infrared , short wave infrared , and thermal infrared spectrums. Landsat 8 captures more than 700 scenes
841-402: Was responsible for the design and manufacture of the Landsat 8 spacecraft bus, the integration of the customer-furnished payload instruments, and full observatory testing, including environmental and EMI/EMC. The spacecraft supplies power, orbit and attitude control, communications, and data storage for OLI and TIRS. All components, except for the propulsion module, are mounted on the exterior of
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