Review of 40-year earth observation with Landsat series and prospects of LDCM

Abstract

As one of the most splendid achievements in civilian earth observation history, the Landsat program has launched six successful satellites that have accomplished a 40-year mission of continuous earth observation. Owing to the program's excellent technical characteristics, scientific data archiving and distribution strategy, Landsat data have been widely applied in ecological and environmental monitoring, natural resource surveys, college education and government management. The eighth generation of Landsat series, Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) satellite, is scheduled to launch in February 2013 with two sensor payloads, an Operational Land Imager (OLI), and a Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS). Compared with the previous ETM+, OLI and TIRS have advanced band specifications, radiometric performance and scanning systems. OLI collects image data for nine spectral bands with a new blue band for coastal environment monitoring and a shortwave infrared band for cirrus cloud detection. TIRS is designed with two thermal infrared bands. After a successful launch, LDCM (renamed as Landsat 8) will extend the Landsat data record and carry on the mission of earth observation.