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View Full Version : Going, going, gone. Landsat reveals our shrinking world



epo333
01-04-2013, 12:19 PM
For more than a quarter of a century, Landsat 5 has observed our changing planet. It has recorded the impact of natural hazards, climate variability and change, land use practices, development and urbanisation, ecosystem evolution, increasing demand for water and energy resources, and changing agricultural demands worldwide.

By any measure, the Landsat 5 mission has been an extraordinary success, providing unprecedented contributions to the global record of land change. The USGS has brought the aging satellite back from the brink of failure on several occasions, but the recent failure of a gyroscope has left no option but to end the mission.

Landsat 5 outlived planned 3-year operation by 26 years
Orbited Earth over 150,000 times, taking 2.5m photos
Satellite rescued from failure several times over decades

However, afetr 29 years orbiting the planet, taking 2.5 million images, the longest operating satellite mission in history is being retired by the US Geological Survey.


1: Below Landsat images: the Aral Sea, once the fourth largest lake in the world, continues to shrink and is now 10 percent of its original size. The UN recently called the drying up of the Aral Sea one of the planet's most shocking disasters. Picture: USGS

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2: Below Landsat images: three decades of change in the birdsfoot delta of the Mississippi River (top set of pics) and deforestation in Bolivia (bottom set). Picture: USGS

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Be sure to view more at:http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/landsat-reveals-our-shrinking-world/story-fn5fsgyc-1226547079095#ixzz2Gx4gvkIy