Images

The Landsat 7 satellite was launched on April 15, 1999.  The mission was decommissioned on June 4, 2025.  The data collected by the satellite's sensor from 1999 to 2024 is a key part of Landsat’s 50-plus year record of imaging our planet’s surface and are preserved in the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center archive.  

In late May 2025, Landsat satellites captured imagery of active fires in north-central Saskatchewan, Canada. The fires have caused evacuation orders and closed highways. While the natural color image shows the massive smoke covering the land, false color images allow us to see through the smoke and see the areas of active burning more clearly.

By layering over 10 years of cloud-free Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 images, we can see the bright trails of ship traffic in major U.S. ports and harbors. Check out these striking patterns from popular shipping waterways, captured using Landsat’s panchromatic band. Just another example of how Landsat helps us understand the world from above.

This picture is the site of the Big Multi-Agency Campaign (BigMAC), a comprehensive field exercise aimed at assessing current technologies that might be used for validation of surface products derived from satellite imagery, The exercise was held in Brookings, South Dakota in August 2021. 

In April 2025, significant flooding occurred in an area of the Lake Eyre Basin in Southern Australia and Queensland states in Australia. 

The Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 satellites both passed over the area and captured the dramatic imagery used in this mosaic of the area. 

How does your state use Landsat satellite data?  Visit the Landsat’s View of the USA webpage to find how Landsat benefits each of United States. You can download a satellite image, put together an online puzzle, or read a USGS Fact Sheet for your selected state!

In April 2025, the Cullyamurra Waterhole, along the Cooper River in South Australia, reached a water level of 13.39 meters. This surpassed the 1974 record of 11.85 meters. 

The EarthNow! Landsat Image Viewer displays imagery in near real-time as Landsat satellites orbit the Earth. Along with the near real-time video stream, EarthNow! also replays acquisition recordings from previous Landsat overpasses. When Landsat satellites are out of viewing range of a ground station, the most recent overpass is displayed.

This graphic displays the cumulative volume of all operational Landsat products downloaded from the USGS EROS Landsat archive since December 2008 (FY2009). 

This graphic is comprised of the volume of data downloaded from the following Landsat products:

Powerful storms containing heavy rains caused major flooding to areas in the east central portion of the United States in early April 2025. Some communities in Kentucky saw more than 15 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service.

This Landsat 8 image shows an area of the east central portion of the United States on March 22, 2025. The muted hues of tan pocked with some green areas indicate vegetation awakening from winter dormancy, and the reservoirs and waterways are well within their banks. 

In a September 21, 1966 press release, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall announced that the DOI was launching "Project EROS (Earth Resources Observation Satellites)." Udall's vision was to observe the Earth for the benefit of all. 

This Landsat 8 image displays the massif of the three active volcanoes that dominate Tongariro National Park, on New Zealand’s North Island.

This animation for the years 1985 to 2023, from the Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) shows the change in urban development over time in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. Production of Annual NLCD is based at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.

Collage of an Annual National Land Cover Database (NLCD) map and land cover types produced at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.

Spatial distribution of percent cover of key RCMAP components. RCMAP fractional component time-series data spanning 1985–2023 and trends analysis products are available for download at https://www.mrlc.gov/ and on the rangelands viewer application.

Fort Peck Lake, a sprawling reservoir formed by the Fort Peck Dam on the Missouri River, lies in the eastern prairie region of Montana near the city of Glasgow. According to the U.S.

Mount Etna is Europe’s largest and most active volcano. Located on the eastern coast of Sicily, Italy, in the province of Catania, the active stratovolcano is known for its frequent and persistent eruptions. Activity can range from explosive eruptions to lava flows and ash emissions.

Mount Etna is Europe’s largest and most active volcano. Located on the eastern coast of Sicily, Italy, in the province of Catania, the active stratovolcano is known for its frequent and persistent eruptions. Activity can range from explosive eruptions to lava flows and ash emissions.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. Located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the East Coast, it runs north-south from the mouth of the Susquehanna River near Havre de Grace, Maryland, to the Atlantic Ocean near Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The Chesapeake Bay watershed has experienced substantial population growth over the last several decades. Since 1950, the population has more than doubled, and between 1980 and 2023, the number increased from 12.7 million to 18.6 million.