Painting the Desert

Landsat Program records: Multispectral Scanner (MSS) sensors.

The Landsat Program records are recognized by scientists worldwide as the only accurate image record, spanning nearly four decades, of the Earth’s land surfaces, coastlines, and reefs at a scale revealing both natural and human-induced change in existence to users in over 180 countries. These records are obtained and continuously updated by sensors onboard a series of land-imaging satellites that began with the launch of Landsat 1 in 1972. In recent years, Landsat data have emerged as critical to the discovery, monitoring, and understanding of changes to the Earth’s surface caused by climate, human impact, or natural disasters.