A B

2014 seasonal

evapotranspiration,

in millimeters

2014 seasonal

evapotranspiration,

in millimeters

EXPLANATION EXPLANATION

1,000

500

0

1,000

500

0 NN

0 5 10 15 MILES 0 5 10 15 MILES

0 5 10 15 20 KILOMETERS 0 5 10 15 20 KILOMETERS

1990 seasonal

evapotranspiration,

in millimeters

1990 seasonal

evapotranspiration,

in millimeters

EXPLANATION EXPLANATION

1,000

500

0

1,000

500

0 NN

0 5 10 15 MILES 0 5 10 15 MILES

0 5 10 15 20 KILOMETERS 0 5 10 15 20 KILOMETERS

Fact Sheet 2020–3034

August 2020 Printed on recycled paper U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological Survey

Focusing on User Needs

User needs determine the type of 

land-imaging data the NLI Program generates and acquires. The NLI Program 

manages a process to collect and analyze 

users’ land-imaging needs, focused on 

specific measurement parameters rather 

than on any particular observing system. 

It helps inform land-imaging system 

development, determine appropriate data 

purchases, and prioritize partnerships for 

access to data from non-USGS landimaging satellite missions. These activities ensure NLI Program priorities are 

closely coupled with evolving user needs 

for a wide range of land-imaging data.

Figure 1. A pair of images from 

Landsat 8 showing agricultural land near 

Indianapolis, Indiana. A, before planting; 

B, during the growing season.

Introduction

Changes taking place across the Earth’s land surface have a daily effect on people, 

economies, and the environment. Our Nation’s economic security and environmental 

vitality rely on continuous monitoring of the Earth’s continents, islands, and coastal 

regions to record, study, and understand land change at local, regional, and global 

scales.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Land Imaging (NLI) Program helps 

meet this need by ensuring the continuous availability of moderate-resolution satellite 

imagery and other remotely sensed and geospatial data. A key responsibility of the NLI 

Program is providing worldwide access to data acquired since 1972 by the USGS flagship Landsat satellite series (figs. 1 and 2).

Furthermore, the NLI Program contributes nationally and internationally to the 

advancement of land remote sensing technologies and applications. To complete these 

goals, the NLI Program relies on partnerships with the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) and other Federal agencies and continually grows cooperative 

relationships with industry, foreign space programs, and international consortia. 

The NLI Program focuses on the following activities to maximize the public 

benefit of land imaging: (1) documenting and addressing user needs for land imagery data; (2) sustaining and enhancing acquisition of those data for government and 

public use; (3) preserving the Earth data record and ensuring continued data access; 

(4) developing new technologies, applications, and Landsat-derived science data

products; and (5) supporting development of national and international policy on Earth

observations and land imaging.

National Land Imaging Program

Figure 2. This pair of seasonal evapotranspiration maps (May–September) shows crop 

water use in the San Joaquin Valley, California, in 1990 and 2014. The colors correspond to 

millimeters of water returned to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration—the transfer 

of water from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from soil and other surfaces— and 

transpiration from plants. Fields that are green and blue show the highest evapotranspiration 

values. More water was used on those irrigated fields. Orange hues are areas that have very 

little evapotranspiration, such as sparsely vegetated desert.

National Land Imaging Program
Sustaining and Enhancing Land 

Imagery Data Acquisition

Continuous land imaging from space 

is vital to accurately assess the impacts 

and implications of global land change, 

now and in the future. Landsat imagery 

has been used for almost 50 years for 

looking at crop health and production, 

tracking water use, documenting urban 

growth, mapping wildfires, monitoring 

the well-being of forests, assessing the 

impact of industrialization, and informing 

efforts to reduce hunger globally. 

Since 2000, the USGS and NASA 

have shared responsibility for managing 

the Landsat program. NASA oversees 

the construction and launching of the 

satellites. The USGS NLI Program, via 

the USGS Earth Resources Observation 

and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux 

Falls, South Dakota, directs Landsat 

flight operations; oversees the building and testing of the satellite flight and 

ground systems; coordinates the operational ground receiving station network; 

and manages the acquisition, production, 

calibration, validation, and distribution 

of Landsat data and derived products for 

users worldwide.

Following the successful launch of 

Landsat 8 in 2013, and the recognition 

that Landsat is the most widely used land 

remote sensing data source within Federal civil agencies, the U.S. Government 

formally acknowledged the importance 

of continuing the Landsat program and 

its invaluable, uninterrupted data stream. 

It proposed and funded the design and 

implementation of a spaceborne system 

to acquire continuous, global Landsatquality imagery of the Earth’s land areas 

for the next 25 years.

The USGS NLI Program shares 

responsibility with NASA to develop and 

execute a strategy for sustainable land 

imaging (SLI) to ensure continuity of 

Federal civil land-imaging capabilities 

beyond the currently deployed Landsat 

systems (fig. 3). As part of the SLI effort, 

NASA and the USGS are collaborating 

to develop the space and ground systems for Landsat 9, scheduled to launch 

in 2021. They also are developing a 

follow-on mission, known as “Landsat 

Next,” which will provide new, advanced 

observing capabilities to meet an even 

broader range of user needs for Earth 

system monitoring, assessment, and prediction. Landsat Next will capitalize on 

new technologies and likely will include 

new commercial and international 

partnerships.

The joint USGS/NASA SLI initiative, though foundational to the NLI 

Program, is not expected to meet all 

U.S. Federal civil community user needs 

by itself. The NLI Program therefore 

conducts additional activities to meet 

user needs. These activities include the 

following:

• Supporting the interagency Civil 

Applications Committee and overseeing the USGS National Civil Applications Center, enabling Federal civil 

agency access to U.S. National Systems data, and distributing unclassified 

information products from classified 

sources;

• Serving as the Federal Geographic 

Data Committee Imagery Theme 

Colead, ensuring Federal, State, and 

local access to high-resolution airborne 

data and evaluating new imaging 

technologies;

• Facilitating access to non-USGS satellite data from a variety of international 

and commercial partners; 

• Providing unmanned aircraft system 

(UAS) funding to the USGS National 

UAS Project Office, which works 

with Federal agencies and external 

stakeholders to support the use of 

rapidly advancing UAS technology for 

scientific research and environmental 

monitoring.

Figure 3. Since 1972, Landsat satellites have continuously acquired space-based images 

of the Earth’s land surface, providing uninterrupted data that help land managers and 

policymakers make informed decisions about our natural resources and the environment.
A B C

Preserving the Earth Data Record 

and Ensuring Continued Data 

Access

Through the passage of the Land 

Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–555; recodified in 2010 as 

Public Law 111–314), Congress endorsed 

the need for continuous monitoring of 

the Earth’s land surface and creation of 

a dynamic repository of relevant data 

and information about the status of the 

Nation’s land resources and environment. 

To implement the Act, the NLI Program 

maintains and populates vast collections 

of digital satellite imagery and millions 

of aerial photographs and specialized 

collections, including radar and light 

detection and ranging (lidar) data (fig. 4). 

These datasets are located at and managed by the EROS Center and constitute 

the world’s largest public domain archive 

of land-imaging data.

The NLI Program ensures unrestricted access to these unique, remotely 

sensed data collections by web-enabling 

them in user-consumable formats that are 

available for download via the internet at 

no or low cost. Landsat data, for example, have been available free of charge 

to users worldwide since 2008. Millions 

of automatically preprocessed Landsat 

images are downloaded from EROS 

servers each month, and even more 

are redistributed via commercial cloud 

service data providers. These and other 

land-imaging data provide critical input 

for understanding changes in land cover 

and land use, accurately monitoring water 

resources and ecosystem health, improving agricultural productivity, assessing 

the availability of energy and mineral 

resources, supporting requirements for 

disaster risk reduction and response, 

shedding light on the role of the environment and wildlife in human health issues, 

and understanding the effects of climate 

variability.

Developing New Technologies, 

Applications, and Data Products

In addition to acquiring, archiving, 

and making the vast amounts of remotely 

sensed data of the Earth’s land surface 

easily accessible, the NLI Program works 

to advance the use of numerous types of 

remotely sensed data and technologies 

throughout the U.S. Department of the 

Interior and other Federal agencies and 

among various user communities across 

the United States and around the world.

The NLI Program supports research 

in remotely sensed land data collection, 

access, distribution, and applications 

from current and future data sources. It 

sponsors scientists and engineers who 

investigate new types of satellite systems and sensors, studying promising 

new government and commercial data 

sources, developing new data acquisition 

mechanisms, and assessing the potential for new data applications. The NLI 

Program also seeks ways to make use 

of the Landsat data archive to aid land 

change monitoring and decision making. 

The USGS Land Change Monitoring, 

Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) 

Figure 4. Landsat 8 helped map destruction caused by the Cougar Creek fire near Mount 

Adams, 75 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon. The postfire image from September 11, 2015, 

shows where the previously green vegetation south and east of the mountain is now charred 

and appears in shades of red. In the burn severity map, dark green is unburned, light blue is 

low burn severity, yellow is moderate burn severity, and red is high burn severity. A, image 

from August 7, 2014; B, image from September 11, 2015; C, burn severity map. 

is a key science initiative being implemented to characterize historical and 

current land change at any location across 

the Landsat record for the United States. 

LCMAP provides information on when, 

where, and why the planet is changing 

and provides projections to help support evaluations and decisions relevant 

to environment management and policy. 

LCMAP is expected to support other key 

USGS activities like the National Water 

Model and USGS integrated science and 

predictive modeling activities.

The NLI Program strives on many 

fronts to respond to the needs of users 

for land imagery data and applications. 

Appropriate data sources and tangible 

data products are required to create objective, scientifically valid land observations 

that support land resource management 

decisions.

Supporting Development of 

National and International Policy

The NLI Program is actively 

engaged with other agencies in the development of national and international policies to advance civil Earth observation 

and land-imaging applications. It supports development and implementation of 

National Space Policy and the National 

Plan for Civil Earth Observations. The 

NLI Program’s role as cochair of the U.S. 

Group on Earth Observations ensures 

continued interagency Earth observation 

coordination with NASA, the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Example applications for the Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) 

annual product suite.

EXPLANATION

Landsat 7, International

 Ground Station

Landsat 8, International

 Ground Station

Landsat 7, Landsat

 Ground Network

Landsat 8, Landsat

 Ground Network

LGS

SGS

ASA ASN

CUB

COA

JSA

SGI

RPI DKI

KIS

MTI

NSG NSN

PAC

SRT

SNC

ULK

KHC BJC

NPA

GLC

** RESTRICTED DISTRIBUTION

Available Satellite Imagery

Data Collections

• Moderate Resolution (EO) 

• Landsat (OLI/TIRS, ETM+, TM, 

 MSS, Film Only)

• EO-1 (ALI, Hyperion)

• Terra ASTER

• Sentinel 2

• ISRO

• SPOT NADB**

• SPOT Historical**

• High Resolution (EO) 

• Declassified-1/2/3

• Commercial Imagery (IKONOS-2)

• Commercial Imagery (OrbView-3)

• Commercial Data Purchases (CDP)**

• Low Resolution (EO) 

• Terra MODIS

• AVHRR

• HCMM

• Radar

• SIR-C

• IFSAR ORI Alaska

• Derived Products 

• Landsat WELD

• ASTER Derivatives

• MODIS Derivatives

• NASA SRTM

• Other

• Heat Capacity Mapping Mission (HCMM)

• Image Collections

• CalVal Reference Sites

• GEOGLAM

• Global Fiducials

• Global Forest Observation Initiative (GFOI)

• Global Land Survey (GLS)

• JECAM Sites

• Landsat Legacy

• Landsat MRLC

• LIMA Image Mosaic of Antarctica

• NALC

• NLDC

• TerraLook

• VIIRS

Available Aerial Imagery

Available Elevation Products

Data Collections

• Photography (Airborne) 

• NAIP

• NAPP

• NHAP

• DOQ

• High-Resolution Orthophotography

• Single Frame Records

• Aerial Photo Mosaics (Photo Index)

• South Dakota NRCS Photography

• Antarctica Single Frame Records

• Photography (Space) 

• Space-Acquired Photography

Data Collections

• United States 

• NED

• LIDAR

• IFSAR Alaska

• Global

• ASTER GDEM

• GMTED2010

• SRTM

• GTOPO30

• HYDRO1K

• UAS

• Variety of Sensors

• Multispectral/Hyperspectral Images 

• Aircraft Scanners

• ASAS

• Radar and Radar-Derived 

• SLAR

• AirMOSS

• Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR)

• LIDAR (see “Elevation”)

• Photo Index Maps

• Antarctica Flight Line Maps

 (Flight/Photo Index)

and other agencies. The NLI 

Program is actively engaged with 

the international Group on Earth 

Observations and the international 

Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, leveraging international capabilities and related 

partnerships to better address U.S. 

land-imaging needs. It supports 

management of the international 

Landsat ground station network, 

collaborating with foreign partners 

on Landsat data receipt and repatriation of historical Landsat data 

to the USGS (fig. 5). It supports 

USGS participation in the International Charter for Space and Major 

Disasters, enabling rapid access 

to foreign and commercial satellite data for disaster response and 

recovery efforts worldwide.

For more information about 

how the USGS National Land 

Imaging Program is fostering the 

use of land remote sensing technology to meet local, national, and 

global challenges, please visit:

• https://www.usgs.gov/landresources/national-land-imaging-program

• https://usgs.gov/

• https://www.usgs.gov/centers/

eros

• https://www.usgs.gov/landresources/nli/landsat

• https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/

• https://www.usgs.gov/lcmap/

Figure 5. Locations of all ground stations operated by the United States and international 

cooperators for the direct downlink and distribution of Landsat data. The circles show the 

approximate area over which each station has the capability for direct reception of Landsat data, 

and three-letter network station designations.

Earth observation datasets available at USGS EROS.

ISSN 2327-6916 (print)

ISSN 2327-6932 (online)

https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20203034

Contact us:

Tim Newman, National Land 

Imaging Program Coordinator

U.S. Geological Survey

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive

Reston, VA 20192

Phone: 703–648–4567

Fax: 703–648–5939

Email: tnewman@usgs.gov