A Shift in What’s Shaping U.S. Landscapes

May 28, 2026

A map of the United States with a color-coded overlay showing the most recent type of land disturbance detected between 1998 and 2022, broken down into several types of wild disturbances and human-directed changes.

Wild disturbances are on the rise, while land disturbed by human activity has been decreasing. A new study used nearly 40 years of Landsat data to investigate the drivers of land change in the U.S.

A New Era of Disturbance

June 10, 2026

Jim Irons, Former Landsat Project Scientist, Wins Pecora Award

Irons, now an emeritus scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, played an integral role in shaping the Landsat program into what it is today. He discusses winning the prestigious Earth Science award, Landsat's future, and his legacy at NASA.

June 24, 2026

Calibrating Satellite Image Data

Source: Small Steps, Giant Leaps Podcast

Before scientists can use satellite images for research, the data must be carefully calibrated to ensure the measurements are accurate and consistent over time. How does this process work? Dr. Julia Barsi speaks to Small Steps, Giant Leaps host Andres Almeida about calibration.

Before and after satellite images show increased coverage of mangrove forests.

June 4, 2026

Landsat Satellites Show Mangrove Forest Rebound

Source: James Riordon, NASA Senior Science Writer

Four decades of Landsat images show that mangrove forests, which protect shorelines, support coastal ecosystems, and store large amounts of carbon, are more resilient than scientists believed.

“Data continuity is the backbone of the Landsat program. We are looking for change over time... We wouldn't be able to understand, characterize, and monitor those changes without a continuous data record.”

—Jim Irons, Former Landsat Project Scientist

PUBLICATION SPOTLIGHT

The Urban Pulse: Diagnosing the urbanization process as spiky, cyclical, and asynchronous

| Zhu et al., 2026

Urbanization is sometimes imagined simply as a city expanding out into suburban or rural areas. Zhu et al., 2026 reframes it as a “pulse” analogous to the one running through human bodies. The research team, led by former Landsat Science team member Zhe Zhu, used Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 data to assess how COVID-19 pandemic affected Seattle, Shenzhen, Lagos, Mumbai, Dubai, and Mexico City. They revealed that a process that is spiky, cyclical, and asynchronous. That is, urbanization is episodic rather than continuous; cities cycle through expansion, stabilization, and decline; and different parts of the city change independently from one another. Their “Urban Pulse” analysis showed that some cities have still not returned to pre-pandemic patterns, while others have shifted significantly since then. Capturing these complex urban dynamics can help researchers and urban planners identify urban stress sooner and intervene more effectively at the neighborhood level.

Figure showing Urban Pulse by neighborhoods in Dubai. Dubai exhibits spiky, cyclical, and asynchronous urbanization.

Urban Pulse by neighborhoods in Dubai, exhibiting spiky, cyclical, and asynchronous urbanization. Image credit: Zhu et al., 2026

Find more selected Landsat publications on our website.

NASA's Earth Observatory

Selected Landsat Images

June 17, 2026

Low Water at San Carlos Reservoir

Drought and water releases drained the Arizona reservoir to levels that have led to widespread fish deaths.

The reservoir is nearly empty by May 2026. The Gila River's natural channel is now visible and flanked with green vegetation in what had been the bottom of the reservoir.

June 15, 2026

Pumice Rafts Encroach on Admiralty Islands

Buoyant volcanic rock fragments from an underwater eruption drifted across the Bismarck Sea and choked island coasts.

A bright-white volcanic plume and an area of greenish water extend to the northwest from an underwater eruption.

June 12, 2026

World Cup Fever in Guadalajara

The city's metro area has pushed westward since it last hosted World Cup matches in 1986, expanding across a landscape shaped by ancient volcanoes.

Images of Guadalajara in 1986 (left) and 2026 (right) shows the city expanding westward into an area that had been mostly farmland. Guadalajara Stadium appears as a small circular feature on the left side of the 2026 image.

June 2, 2026

Fire’s Footprint on Santa Rosa Island

A wildland fire charred grassland, coastal sage scrub, and chaparral across one-third of the island, the second largest of the Channel Islands.

A false-color image of Santa Rosa Island from May 24, 2026, shows a reddish-brown burned area spanning the eastern third of the island.

AGU26: Submit Abstracts to the Following Sessions

A natural-color HLS image of San Francisco, California. In the image, the bay is green with sediment which contrasts with the brown bare earth to the east and the dark blue of the Pacific Ocean to the west.

Accelerating Impact: User‑Driven Earth Observation Solutions from the Satellite Needs Working Group

The Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG), a U.S. Government inter-agency organization, identifies Earth observation needs across U.S. federal agencies. In response, NASA develops a wide range of solutions that benefit those agencies and the Earth science community. This session invites presentations from across the community on their applications of SNWG solutions.

+ Submit an abstract

Evolving Science and Applications of Landsat

This session examines how Landsat data support operational decision-making and policy-relevant outcomes. We invite contributions demonstrating innovative multi-sensor fusion, advances in uncertainty characterization, and the application of cloud computing and machine learning to scale Landsat-based analyses for the benefit of society.