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Soaring high above our home planet,

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Landsat 9 will provide critical data on how Earth is changing.

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Circling the globe every 99 minutes, 14 orbits a day,

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continuing decades of observations.

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The impact of the Landsat record

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is the sheer amount of information we’ve collected

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all across the world since 1972.

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And it is high-quality science-caliber data,

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enabling us to accurately track changes over time.

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Now, fifty years of Las Vegas expanding

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may be fairly simple to notice, 

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but we can also observe short-term changes,

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like the growth of farm crops

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through a season in south central Kansas.

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With more than one Landsat satellite in orbit,

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plus the European Sentinel-2 satellites,

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we will get data several times each week,

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improving our ability to track crop health and more.

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The temperature measurements from Landsat 9

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will be used to calculate how much water was used by each farm field.

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The Central Platte Natural Resources District,

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like many throughout the western United States,

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relies on Landsat data to manage irrigation and increase water efficiency.

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Landsat 9 will also improve monitoring of coastal waters.

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The increased precision in data sent back from Landsat 9

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will allow finer distinctions in the levels

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of light reflected from water,

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making it easier to identify any pollutants that are present.

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Around the globe, growing population

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and expanding development result in higher amounts of runoff,

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damaging sensitive near-shore ecosystems.

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Landsat’s long history lets us look into the past

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to see the effects of land use changes.

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The consequences of climate change

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can also be seen in Landsat’s long data record.

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Scientists have used Landsat

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to track shrinking glaciers for decades,

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and Landsat 9 will continue that effort. 

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The glaciers in the Himalayas are a key water source

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for billions of people in south Asia.

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Due to global warming,

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the increased meltwater collects in large lakes at high altitudes

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and poses a flooding risk to downstream villages.

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Landsat data is essential to monitor the growth of these lakes.

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Because of their location,

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glaciers are not easy to study in person.

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But Landsat’s view from space allows us

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to study glaciers all around the globe.

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Landsat 9’s improvements will make it easier

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to see features on the glacier surface.

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With that, we can better track how fast the glacier is moving. 

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Knowing the velocity of the ice now,

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and how it has changed over the past decades,

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helps us forecast likely contributions to rising sea levels in a changing climate

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Landsat 9 joins Landsat 8 to continue the unbroken string of Landsat data.

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For five decades, we have relied on Landsat’s high-caliber,

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science-quality observations to understand and protect our home planet.

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And while Landsat 9 begins sending back data,

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we are already planning for the next evolution

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in the Landsat program.

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[on-screen text] Landsat is a joint program of NASA and USGS