Landsat 8!

Landsat Data Continuity Mission Goes Operational on May 30, Becomes Landsat 8

AmericaView Partners Attending Historic Event

On May 30, 2013 the US Geological Survey will be assuming operation of the LDCM mission from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Operation includes collecting, archiving, processing, and distributing data products from Landsat 8, continuing the 40 year legacy of the Landsat Project. The ceremony will be held at the USGS EROS Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Dignitaries from NASA, USGS, and national and local elected officials will be attending.

Representing AmericaView at the celebration will be Rebecca Dodge (TexasView), Mary O’Neill (South DakotaView), and Brent Yantis (LouisianaView). Sam Batzli (WisconsinView) has been selected as a member of the 30-member Social Media group that will be assisting USGS-NASA spread the word about the event via social media. Check out Sam’s website to view his Tweets from the event. Ramesh Sivanpillai (WyomingView) will be updating his WyomingView Facebook and Google+ pages as more information about the ceremonies become available.

Landsat 8 Products and Availability

After the ceremonies, data from the Landsat 8 satellite will be available to all users. Each day, 400 or more scenes acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) will be archived at the USGS EROS Center, and will be processed to be consistent with current standard Landsat data products. Data will be ready to download within 24 hours of reception.

The standard Level 1 data and LandsatLook (full-resolution jpg) products will be available for download at no charge from GloVis, EarthExplorer or the LandsatLook Viewer.

The Landsat 8 acquisition schedule and calendar is available here.