Landsat satellite snaps one complete photo of the Earth’s surface every 16 days
The Landsat program has reach its 40th year. So much of how we understand our world and our planet has been informed from this satellite's imagery.
Google has been making it easier for people to experience and learn from the transformations that the satellite documents by turning the petabytes of photography into time-lapse videos.
Congratulations to the Landsat program on 40 years of continuous earth observation! Since July 1972, NASA's Landsat satellites have gathered images over the entire land surface of the Earth, creating the most complete record ever assembled. These images, archived at USGS, reveal dynamic changes over time due to human activity (deforestation, urbanization) and natural processes (volcanic eruptions, wildfire).
Explore a global timelapse of our planet, constructed from Landsat satellite imagery. The Amazon rainforest is shrinking at a rapid rate to provide land for farming and raising cattle. Each frame of the timelapse map is constructed from a year of Landsat satellite data, constituting an annual 1.7-terapixel snapshot of the Earth at 30-meter resolution.
Explore a global timelapse of our planet, constructed from Landsat satellite imagery. With water diverted to irrigation, the inland Aral Sea has shrunk dramatically. Many areas were completely dry by 2009. Each frame of this timelapse map is constructed from a year of Landsat satellite data, constituting an annual 1.7-terapixel snapshot of the earth at 30-meter resolution.