landsat 7

i don’t have many books devoted to photography but my favourite would have to be a collection of landsat images that was given to me as a birthday present many years ago. the most recent landsat satellite landsat 7 was launched nine years ago today!

here’s an artist’s rendering of landsat 7 orbiting the earth.

the landsat program was first launched in 1972. since that time, nasa has sent a series of earth-observing satellite missions jointly managed with the u.s. geological survey to collect information about earth from space. this science, is now commonly referred to as remote sensing. through these images, scientists have been able to study the planet from several perspectives, not the least of which has been the evaluation of the changes caused by both natural processes and human practices.

my own interest in the landsat images has been twofold - firstly for the sheer thrill of seeing this planet from a very different perspective, and secondly to view the planet as a dynamic work of art. many of the landsat images would not look out of place as beautiful works of art in their own right regardless of what they depict.

when you see these images it’s only fair to point out that these are not true colour images but are as seen through a range of spectrums, sometimes nasa creates composite images drawing together images from several points across the light spectrum. the results though are absolutely stunning! here are a few that i have selected . . .





nasa’s earth as art gallery contains a selection of the most popular images but for a more complete selection as well as technical and other sorts of information you should visit the landsat homepage.

"landsat imagery courtesy of nasa goddard space flight center and u.s. geological survey"