The Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) data archive of 652,000 images of Earth was nominated to be part of the register in 2010. In 2011, it was officially accepted along with six other submissionsincluding Byzantine manuscripts from Georgia and early reports from the 1922 first flight across the South Atlantic.
As stated in the Landsat nomination: “There is simply no other image record of the Earth’s land regions at this scale or over the same period of time (1972-1992).”
The image above, showing southern California, is one of thousands in the twenty-year archive. Landsat MSS acquired the image on May 18, 1978. Plant-covered land is red, with forests on the mountain ranges a darker shade than vegetation at lower elevations. Bare ground and cities are pale blue, and water is dark blue and black. The image provides a baseline from which scientists can measure changes in land use, urban growth, or the impacts of natural disasters.
All U.S.-held Landsat data are managed by the U.S. Geological Survey, which maintains original digital files in its primary archives, plus back-up copies in off-site locations. Each Landsat “scene” - with 79-meter spatial resolution and 185-by-185 kilometer area - fills an important scientific niche because the sensor provided global, seasonal coverage. Its images are also detailed enough to characterize human activities, such as urban expansion, agricultural irrigation, and deforestation.
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