The international partnership initiative aims to empower government partners to manage land, surface water, and resource use sustainably. The initiative will leverage Landsat’s data records and provide a new capability to comprehend and manage the impacts of climate change on landscapes at state, regional, and international levels.
The United States boasts only one satellite system designed to gather information on the planet's geology, natural habitats, cities, lakes, and surface features while enabling monitoring. This system is the Landsat partnership between the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
"Earth observations are vital in the face of a changing climate. By combining Landsat’s long-term dataset and legacy of excellence with global partnership, the 2030 Initiative will provide actionable science that can help other science agencies, stakeholders, industry and academics tackle complex questions about how change is affecting landscapes, waterways and wildlife around the globe," said Michael Brain, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science.
According to NASA's website on the Landsat 2030 program, the latest Landsat mission is slated for launch in 2030. It includes 26 spectral bands with a spatial resolution of 10-20 meters and will have a sun-synchronous orbit. The new Landsat constellation is expected to facilitate new applications supporting water quality assessments, crop production and soil conservation, forest management among others. It also aims to boost climate and snow dynamics research by including a water vapor band for atmospheric correction. The program will comprise three identical observatories spaced 120 degrees apart at an altitude of 406 miles. Each observatory will be equipped with a Landsat Next Instrument Suite as well as a spacecraft.
"As the impacts of the climate crisis intensify in the United States and across the globe, Landsat satellites are crucial to providing data and imagery to help make science-based decisions on key issues including water use, wildfire impacts, coral reef degradation, glacier and ice-shelf retreat, and tropical deforestation. The U.S. Geological Survey is proud to support the continued science and understanding of environmental and climate changes that are occurring—not only on the public lands managed by the Department of the Interior—but throughout the United States and across the world," said David Applegate, USGS Director.
