mc
short answer
essay
Prompt
[CHOICE] Applications of the Landsat satellite series, with examples.
Plain English answer (default view) — what you'd actually write on the test
**What Landsat is good for** — basically watching the Earth's surface change, decade after decade. - **Forests** — tracking deforestation in the Amazon, Borneo, Congo. Map every year, see what's gone. - **Cities** — urban growth, sprawl, paving over farmland. - **Agriculture** — crop type maps, yield forecasts (track how green fields get during the season). - **Water** — reservoir levels, glacier retreat, algal blooms in the Great Lakes. - **Disasters** — wildfire burn scars, flood extent, volcanic activity. - **Climate** — long-term surface-temperature trends, snow-cover decline. **Why it works:** Landsat has been running since 1972, the imagery has been **FREE since 2008**, and a single scene covers ~185 km × 170 km. Hard to find a serious land-change study that doesn't lean on Landsat somewhere.
🔬 Technical version / model bullets (revealed on click) — one bullet per line
Continuity since 1972 — decadal change detection unmatched by any other system. **Land-cover / land-use change** — Amazon deforestation, urban growth, wetland loss. **Agriculture** — crop-type mapping, yield forecasting via NDVI, irrigation monitoring. **Water** — reservoir extent, glacier retreat, algal blooms (thermal + VSWIR). **Disaster response** — wildfire burn scars, flood extent, volcanic activity. **Climate** — long-term surface-temperature records, snow-cover trends. **Free & open data policy (since 2008)** — the single biggest multiplier of Landsat's scientific impact.
💡 Mnemonic / memory aid (shown on hover)
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