Why Satellites Rock
Do you like rock climbing or river rafting? From volcanoes to meandering rivers, Landsat shows us how our planet’s landscapes are reshaped.
What Landsat Sees
On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted. It began with the collapse of the mountain's northern flank and the largest landslide in recorded history. Then hot rocks, ash, gas, and steam exploded upward and outward to the north, spreading volcanic debris over 230 square miles (600 square kilometers) and covering Spirit Lake with a raft of felled trees. Early Landsat satellites captured the cataclysmic change caused by the eruption. In these false-color images, vegetation is shown in red and volcanic debris appears gray. Over the past 40 years, generations of Landsat satellites have watched vegetation around Mount St. Helens recover.
Mount St. Helens 1979 pre-eruption (left), and 1980 post-eruption (right).
Fossils in the Field
Did you know that Landsat data has been used to help find dinosaur fossils? In 1999, paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History used data from the Landsat 5 and 7 satellites to locate sparsely-vegetated areas of sedimentary rocks in Mongolia's Gobi Desert and discovered dinosaur and early mammal fossils . After the launch of Landsat 8 in 2013, Dr. Robert Anemone from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, developed a computer model that took information that Landsat collected about known dinosaur fossil dig sites in southwest Wyoming and then looked for other areas where Landsat showed similar characteristics. The model predicted that 31 locations might have fossils—and 25 of those sites did!
Landsat-derived map showing predicted fossil locations. Image credit: UNC-TV
Rivers on the Go
Have you ever gone tubing down a lazy river, or rafting on a rambunctious one? Have you wondered what makes a river meander, twisting and turning its way to the sea? Decades of Landsat data have been used to watch the migration patterns of writhing rivers and have led to a new theory of river migration.
Image credit: Zoltan Sylvester/ The University of Texas at Austin bureau of Economic Geology.
Fault Finding
A geologic fault is a large crack or fracture between two blocks of rock. Soon after the first Landsat started sending back images of Earth in 1972, geologists discovered many fault lines that had never been charted before. Mining and energy companies were quick to start using Landsat to help them find minerals, oil, and natural gas deposits that are often found near fault lines. With new fault lines mapped by Landsat, scientists were able to update earthquake hazard assessments, correct geologic maps, and — together with Landsat’s broader views of mountain folds — provide ample support for the then-young theory of plate tectonics.
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Postcards from Camp Landsat
Whatever you do for summer fun, wherever you go to relax, Landsat is there. Landsat data helps people manage, protect, and preserve some of your favorite places on Earth.
Collect all nine postcards from Camp Landsat starting with Week 1: Rocks and Rivers !
The adventure continues at Camp Landsat with lots of fun and fascinating Landsat facts and activities.
