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Eyes on Earth Episode 8 – Assessing America’s Cropland

By Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

Eyes on Earth

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Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, Dave Johnson with NASS discusses how Landsat can identify different crops, providing a valuable economic tool for agriculture.

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
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USDA's Dave Johnson with USGS EROS "Eyes on Earth" graphic
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Dave Johnson

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Summary: Every year, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) uses data from satellites like Landsat to estimate crop types and crop yields in the United States. The result is the Cropland Data Layer (CDL), which offers an annual look at more than 100 crop categories across the country. 

Guest: Dave Johnson, USDA Senior Geographer with NASS

Host: Steve Young

Producer: Brian Hauge

Release date: Nov. 6, 2019

More on satellite-based cropland data: