2002 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| LANDSAT PAINTS A PORTRAIT OF OUR CHANGING PLANET | G02-059 | 7/22/02 | 00:45:17 |
Thanks to Landsat satellites, we now have a 30-year record of the Earth's surface. These satellites, along with documentation of our planet, provide valuable information that will help us understand and protect our home planet. Continuity of data with previous Landsat missions is a fundamental goal of the Landsat program. No other current or planned remote-sensing system, public or private, fills the role of Landsat in global change research or in civil and commercial applications. The thirty-years of data acquired by the Landsat satellites constitutes the longest continuous record of the Earth's continental surfaces.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| THE ART EXHIBIT (G02-059): Landsat imagery is beautiful whether you're looking at it from an artistic standpoint or trying to extract useful information. In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the first Landsat launch, NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey created an exhibit called "Earth as Art." The exhibit will be open July 17th at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. A selection of the "Earth as Art" images will be on display in the Russell Office Building Rotunda in the District of Columbia July 20-26, and through the month of August at the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix and Roanoke Virginia Center in the Square. Another exhibit is on display in Rapid City, S.D. at Children's Science Center. The "Landsat: Earth as Art" exhibit highlights images that were selected on the basis of aesthetic appeal. These images use the visceral avenue of art to convey the thrilling perspective of the Earth that Landsat provides to the viewer. The images, created by the USGS EROS Data Center, introduce the world to the Landsat Program administered jointly by USGS and NASA.
ITEM (1) The Art Exhibit (G02-059):
a) Morph Sequence - This sequence includes 6 six images from the "Earth Is Art" Exhibit. The following Landsat images were used to create the sequence: Aleutian Clouds; "The Optimist," Kalahari Desert - Namibia; Terkezi Oasis - Chad; Iraqi Emplacement; Dasht-e Kevir, Iran (Great Salt Desert); Whirlpool in the Air off of Greenland.
b)Bright Blur Sequence - This sequence includes 6 six images from the "Earth Is Art" Exhibit. The following Landsat images were used to create the sequence: Richat Structure - Mauritania; Lena Delta - Russia; Ganges River Delta; Volga River Delta; Malaspina Glacier - Alaska; Florida Everglades.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
Note: The following images have been manipulated to comply with television standards. Uncut full-resolution images are available from:
http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/earthasart/
ITEM (2) The Images:
1) Akpatok Island, Canada (1/22/2001)
2) Aleutian Clouds (6/16/2000)
3) Araca River, Brazil (3/15/2000)
4) Atlas Mountains, Morocco (6/22/2001
5) Bolivian Deforestation (8/1/2000)
6) Chilean Volcanoes (5/15/1999)
7) Coahuila, Mexico (11/28/1999)
8) Dasht-e Kevir, Iran (Great Salt Desert) (10/24/2000)
9) Demini River, Brazil (3/15/2000)
10) "Dragon Lake" Siberia (12/19/1999)
11) Edrengiyn Nuruu (8/13/1999)
12) Florida Everglades (2/5/2000)
13) Ganges River Delta (2/28/2000)
14) Garden City, Kansas (9/25/2000)
15) Ghadamis River, Libya (11/6/2000)
16) Great Sandy Desert - Western Australia (2/24/2001)
17) Great Sandy Scars - Western Australia (8/22/2000)
18) Greenland Coast (9/3/2000)
19) Guinea-Bissau (12/1/2000)
20) Icefall, Lambert Glacier, Antarctica (12/2/2000)
21) Iraqi Emplacement (1/24/2001)
22) Karman Vortices near Broutona (6/5/2000)
23) Karman Vortices near Selkirk Island (9/15/1999)
24) Kilimanjaro, Kenya (2/21/2000)
25) Konari, Iran (2/2/2000)
26) Lake Carnegie - Western Australia (5/19/1999)
27) Lena Delta - Russia (7/27/2000)
28) MacDonnell Ranges - Australia (8/1/2000)
29) Malaspina Glacier - Alaska (8/31/2000)
30) Mayn River - Siberia (10/25/2000)
31) Namaqualand - South Africa (8/23/2000)
32) Namib Desert - Nambia (8/12/2000)
33) The Optimist, Kalahari Desert, Namibia (8/14/2000)
34) Parana River Delta, Argentina (5/26/2000)
35) Richat Structure - Mauritania (1/11/2001)
36) Sulaiman Mountains, Pakistan (4/28/2001)
37) Terkezi Oasis - Chad (10/22/2000)
38) Volga River Delta (8/29/1999)
39) West Fjords - Iceland (6/6/2000)
40) Whirlpool in the Air off of Greenland. (5/14/2001)
41) Yellowknife Wetlands - Northern Canada (7/3/2001)
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
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| A LEGACY OF CHANGE: Data collected from various Landsat spacecraft show dramatic changes to the environment from natural events and human influence. By collecting images of the same areas over long stretches of time, complex trend analyses are possible to a degree unattainable without remote sensing technologies. Observing urban areas over time with Landsat imagery can show just where growth is occurring and provide valuable information for urban planners. Farmers and land managers are using Landsat data to help increase crop yields and cut costs while reducing environmental pollution. Scientists also use Landsat data to study land surfaces and coastal regions and to determine how distinct environments are affected by global and regional climate change.
ITEM (3) Rodeo and Chediski Fires in Arizona (G02-059) - On June 21, 2002, the Rodeo and Chediski Fires in east-central Arizona were still two separate fires. This true-color scene from the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus aboard the Landsat 7 satellite shows the massive quantities of smoke streaming northward from the fires, which are burning about 100 miles east-northeast of Phoenix. The smaller Chediski Fire is on the left, and the Rodeo Fire is on the right. Over the weekend of June 22, the two fires merged into a single 300,000+ acre blaze.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (4) Change at Breidamerkurjökull Iceland, 1973-2000 (G01-085) - Images taken by Landsat 1 on September 22, 1973 and Landsat 7 on September 23, 2000 show the almost two kilometer (1.2 mile) recession of the Breidamerkurjökull over the 27 year period. You can see the creation of icebergs in the lake in front of the glacier. In these scenes, bare glacier ice surfaces appear bluish-white, while those covered in snow are bright white. Water surfaces are dark blue and land surfaces appear reddish.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (5) More Change: Breidamerkurjökull 1997-2000 (G01-085) - A closer view of the Breidamerkurjökull shows the changes over a three year time period, between 1997 and 2000 (Landsat 5 on August 13, 1997, to September 23, 2000 from Landsat 7). The endpoint, or terminus, of the glacier shows the most obvious change.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (6) The Desert Blooming: Urban Growth in Las Vegas (G01-A027) - Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. Over a period of 27 years, a series of Landsat satellites has taken pictures of Las Vegas from space. Seen in sequence, the series vividly displays powerful forces of urban growth there. Spreading out from the center of town, we see how construction and its effects has changed the nature of the surrounding area, replacing natural features in many parts, and simply altering characteristics in others.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (7) Disappearing Water: The Aral Sea Over Time (G01-A027) - The Aral Sea is actually not a sea at all. It is an immense lake, and in the last thirty years, more than sixty percent of it has disappeared. Poor management of regional water resources, from irrigation to urban and industrial development has dramatically affected the Aral. In the following sequence of images, we see a series of Landsat scenes taken several years apart. As the years pass, we see the profound reduction in overall area, and a commensurate increase in land area as the floor of the sea now lies exposed.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (8) Fifteen Years of a Shrinking Lake (G01-085) - When it thrived, Lake Chad was one of those ironic points of planetary formation in that it seemed to defy the vast ocean of sand directly to its north. Persistent drought has caused the lake to drop from its former sixth place position in the list of world’s largest lakes; it is now one tenth it’s former size. The most dramatic decrease in the size of the lake is shown in the fifteen years between January 1973 and January 1987. Beginning in 1983 the amount of water used for irrigation began to increase. Ultimately, between 1983 and 1994, the amount of water diverted for purposes of irrigation quadrupled from the amount used in the previous 25 years. The red color denotes vegetation on the lakebed and the ripples on the western edge of the lake denote sand dunes formed by the wind.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (9) Lake Chad Today (G01-085) - In this composite of Landsat-7 images from November 2000 to February 2001 we see Lake Chad as it appears today. The small patch of visible blue that is now the lake stands in stark contrast to the wide swath of the old lakebed (shown in green, indicating vegetation.)
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (10) Mozambique Flooding (G01-A027) - Following weeks of heavy rains in late Winter 2000, massive flooding inundated wide tracts of eastern and southern Africa, displacing more than 200,000 people. This side by side Landsat sequence shows the comparative size of rivers in Mozambique before and during the floods. Notice how the high waters have all but covered the lowlands, far exceeding the boundaries of the normal river system.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (11) Mt. St. Helens Over Time (G01-A027) - The explosion of Mt. St. Helens volcano in Washington State on May 18, 1980 sets the scene for one of Landsat's most important capabilities. As a means for archiving surface features, researchers can study how the Earth changes over time. In this sequence, pictures of the mountain taken in 1973, 1983, and 2000 show how the eruption changed the surrounding area. Notice how the north face of the mountain dramatically changed following the blast. The crater's mouth elongated, and significant ash deposits altered the down slope terrain.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (12) The Big Break -- Antarctic Glacier Cracks (G01-A027) - This Landsat 7 image shows a thin, 25 kilometer (15 mile) crack in what’s called the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica. What surprised scientists was the fact that images taken just ten months before showed no sign of such a fissure. A major break was forming in the Antarctic ice, and here it was caught in the act. Although the speed of the crack seems to have slowed as it picks its way across the ice, experts say it’s likely a huge new iceberg will be falling into the south seas within the next year and a half or so, assuming the crack continues to grow.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (13) Shenzhen, China 1988-1996: Explosive Urban Growth Changes a Continent (G01-A027):
True Color Sequence- The People’s Republic of China is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Additionally, much of the Chinese political and cultural landscape is in a state of transition, and economic development is remarkably strong, particularly in southern industrial cities. As seen by Landsat, Shenzen, China practically transforms from a regional urban center to a metropolitan powerhouse in the space of roughly ten years. Notice along the southern peninsula as the actual outline of the land changes, with huge structures emerging in the waters off-shore. Landsat 5 collected the data. You can see how roads, bridges, and massive construction projects transform the landscape. New structures appear off the southern coast, and highways grow less distinct against the background as significant building spreads along the sides of the roads. Also notice how the massive growth alters lakes and mountains in the area, adding sediment and changing borders.
Changes in Vegetation--False Color Sequence> - As construction goes up, something has to come down. In these images, the same scenes are presented in a way that highlights vegetation concentration. Red indicates density of plant life, and as becomes immediately apparent, vegetation all but disappears across the region over the last ten years. By using data like this, researchers can better understand the causes of environmental changes they find in cities like Shenzhen, and better monitor a region’s overall health.
Before and After Images - These images are simply the first and last frames of the preceding animations, played sequentially to emphasize the scope of change to the Shenzhen region in a period of the last ten years.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (14) Losing Forests in Bolivia (G01-A027) - This scene starts in space, high above South America. As we zoom in closer, we see the national outlines of Bolivia come into view on the map. By focusing on one particular region, we’re able to see effects of deforestation in the equatorial forest. The sequence that follows shows two images of the Santa Cruz region of Bolivia. The first was taken in 1984. Landsat 7 took the second in 2000. In just a few short years, we see how intense agricultural development has transformed the forest.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
ITEM (15) Atlanta Heat Island (G99-019) - Researchers use Landsat to understand how land use patterns can effect thermal surface temperatures. This image of Atlanta show the correlation between human built structures and temperature. First image shows land use patterns. Second image shows thermal signature of the Atlanta area. Researchers say temperatures in the city may be 10 degrees (f) warmer than in the surrounding environment.
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
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| Tour of Great SPACES Visualizations generated from Landsat 7 data depict U.S. national parks and other locations in spectacular detail.
ITEM (16) TOUR OF GREAT SPACES (G99-071): Chesapeake Bay Region
Death Valley
Florida Everglades
Grand Canyon
CREDIT: USGS/NASA
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| CREATING THE IMAGES:
ITEM (17) Landsat Animations (G99-019) - Landsat 7 is the latest in a series of Earth observing satellites that have provided remotely sensed observations of the Earth's land surface and coastal regions for over 26 years. Landsat 7 marks a new direction in the program to reduce the costs of data and increase global coverage for use in global change research.
CREDIT: NASA
ITEM (18) Collecting The Data (G99-019) - The instrument on Landsat 7 is the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+). ETM+ is a passive sensor that measures reflected or emitted light from the Earth's surface. The images produced by Landsat provide information on subjects such as crop planning, timber issues, population changes, water quality, while meeting the needs of business, science, education, government, and national security.
CREDIT: NASA
ITEM (19) Making The Images - The Layers Of San Francisco (G99-019) - By combining different spectral bands from the ETM+ camera, researchers can produce images highlighting different features of the land.
"Wide Spectral Range" - highlights cleared land (red), forests in dark green.
"False Color Infrared" (vegetation shows as red, artificial structures
show as gray)
"Natural Color" (shallow water and sedimentation patterns)
"Forest Bands" (Highlights differences in forest composition)
"NDVI" (sensitive to chlorophyll, phytoplankton)
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CREDIT: NASA
ITEM (20) Electromagnetic Spectrum (G99-019) - This is an illustration of the different colors of light within the electromagnetic spectrum. Landsat 7 not only has detectors positioned to look at wavelength regions of light that we can see with our eyes - blue, green, and red, but it also looks into areas we cannot see in the near- and short-wave infrared. The natural color wavelength regions can be redisplayed similar to a photograph, while those regions that we cannot see
are assigned colors to make them visible.
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CREDIT: NASA
ITEM (21) Landsat 7 Is Readied At Valley Forge, PA (G99-019) - Landsat 7 is readied and inspected in the clean room at Valley Forge, PA in preparation for launch.
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CREDIT: NASA
ITEM (22) Scientists at EROS (G99-019) - Landsat 7 will collect and archive an unprecedented quantity of high-quality multispectral data each day. The primary receiving station for LANDSAT 7 data will be at the U. S. Geological Surveys (USGS) EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Scientists are seen working with the data.
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CREDIT: USGS
ITEM (23) Students at The University of Maryland (G99-019) - Students at the University of Maryland work with Landsat data.
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CREDIT: NASA
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| THE HISTORY:
ITEM (24) Landsat 7 Launch (G99-071) - The satellite lifted off on April 15, 1999 aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Vandenberg AFB.
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CREDIT: NASA
ITEM (25) The Landsat Series - Historical Footage (G99-019) - NASA launched the first satellite in the Landsat series on July 23, 1972. Landsat 5 was launched in March 1984 and is still returning images.
CREDIT: NASA
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| FUTURE OF REMOTE SENSING: The planned follow-on to the Landsat program, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), is a cooperative effort between Government and private industry to provide continuity of land surface measurements beyond Landsat 7 without any data gaps. Based on the Science Data Specification and Data Policy, jointly specified by NASA and the United States Geological Survey, LDCM data and data products will be provided by a commercially owned and operated system.
ITEM (26) Faster, Better Cheaper - (G00-A093) - In the future, exploration of the Earth will demand research tools that can not only make some of their own decisions, but deliver results faster, better and cheaper than their forebears. NASA’s launch of the experimental EO-1 satellite is a significant milestone in that journey. Part of the space agency’s New Millennium Program, engineers designed EO-1 to test advanced technologies for instruments pointed at our own planet. The satellite will not only demonstrate significant improvements in data collection capabilities, but will also test methods for dramatically reducing costs and complexity to achieve state of the art goals.
CREDIT: NASA
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| ITEM (27): Interview Excerpts With Darrel Williams, Landsat Project Scientist
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CREDIT: NASA
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Earth Science Gallery