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📡🛰️ Joint USGS–NASA Landsat Program | Global Earth observation, open data, and a trusted long-term archive for science & innovation. Tap for data ↓

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The eruption lasted hours. Its effects on rivers and ecosystems are still showing up more than 40 years later. 🌋

When Mount St. Helens erupted, it sent a massive wave of mud, water, and debris downstream, overwhelming the Toutle, Cowlitz, and Columbia Rivers with sediment. Parts of the Columbia Riverbed rose by nearly 30 feet.

The rivers never fully reset. Today, some still carry sediment at rates tens of times higher than before the eruption, creating ongoing challenges for flood protection and fisheries.

The land tells a different story, and it's one that genuinely surprised scientists. Before 1980, experts assumed the blast zone would take generations to recover.

Instead, life came back much faster than predicted. Because the devastation wasn't uniform, pockets of surviving plants and animals became the seeds of entirely new habitats. Today, the diversity of life at Mount St. Helens exceeds what existed before the eruption.

That discovery changed how scientists study recovery after disasters, not just at volcanoes, but after wildfires, floods, and other events worldwide.

In 1982, Congress established the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, protecting 110,000 acres around the volcano as a living laboratory for studying long-term change.

Landsat has been part of that story from the start, capturing land change recovery one pixel at a time for more than 40 years.

📸1: Mount St. Helens, as viewed from the Castle Lake Overlook
📸2: Landsat 9 image, acquired August 26, 2024, showing Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape. Shades of red and pink highlight vegetation regrowth, while the volcano’s north-facing crater and lakes formed by the eruption remain visible.

Credit: USGS

#EarthScienceWeek #MountStHelens #Landsat Volcanic mountain with a large crater and mixed terrain of grass, shrubs, and trees under a cloudy blue sky. by @usgslandsat

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3 days ago

What’s new with Landsat this October? 🛰️

This month’s issue starts in north-central Oregon, where Landsat captured the progression and aftermath of summer wildfires.

Also in this issue:

🔹 Learn how Landsat data help support water management worldwide
🔹 Get the latest on reprocessed Landsat 2 and Landsat 3 MSS Level-1 products
🔹 Learn how Amazon SNS topics can keep you updated when new Landsat data and science products are added to the USGS EROS archive
🔹 Continue celebrating America’s 250th anniversary with Landsat views from across the country

🔗 Read the October edition by clicking the Latest in Landsat newsletter link in our bio.

📸: Landsat 8 image showing active fire fronts and large smoke plumes as the fires spread across the landscape. Credit: USGS

#LatestInLandsat #Landsat #EarthObservation Satellite image of a landscape showing shades of browns, greens, with a smoke plumes going through the right side of the image. Text on image: Latest in Landsat. When the smoke clears, Landsat keeps watching. October 2026. by @usgslandsat

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Why did Mount St. Helens erupt sideways instead of straight up? The answer was building underneath the surface for months. 🌋

Magma was pushing upward inside the volcano, but it had nowhere to go. The north side of the mountain bulged outward by more than 260 feet, proving to be the weakest point of the mountain.

When that bulge finally gave way on May 18, 1980, it didn't just trigger a landslide — it uncorked the volcano. With the lid gone, the pressure trapped inside blasted out sideways instead of straight up, flattening everything in its path before the eruption even turned vertical.

The result was one of the most dramatic landscape transformations ever captured from space.

Landsat satellites have been orbiting Earth since 1972, and the archive holds a before-and-after record of this eruption that's hard to look at without feeling the scale of it. Thick forest, replaced in an instant by ash and debris — visible not just on the ground, but from 438 miles up.

That transformation didn't stop at the mountain, either. Next, we're following the eruption downstream.

Want to see the full transformation for yourself? Click the link in our bio and select Earthshots.

📸1. Landsat 1 image, acquired September 15, 1973, showing the area around Mount St. Helens before its eruption on May 18, 1980. Forest appears bright red, with patches of logging visible throughout the area. Snow appears white at the summit.
📸2. Landsat 4 image, acquired May 22, 1983, showing the same area a decade later. Ash from the eruption appears gray across the summit and surrounding landscape, replacing much of the white snow cover seen in the earlier image.

Credit: USGS

#EarthScienceWeek #MountStHelens #Landsat Satellite image looking down on Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape. Forest appears bright red, with patches of logging showing as blue/grey throughout the area. Snow appears white at the summit. by @usgslandsat

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A sharper view of our changing planet is coming. 🛰️🌎

Meet LandIS, the Landsat Instrument Suite that will fly aboard Landsat 10, the next satellite in the Landsat series.

With 26 spectral bands spanning visible light to thermal infrared, LandIS will collect more than twice as many bands as Landsat 8 and Landsat 9. These additional bands will help users better distinguish features on Earth’s surface and monitor water quality, agriculture, vegetation health, snow and ice, soil conditions, and other environmental parameters.

LandIS will also capture finer spatial detail, with resolutions of 10 to 20 meters for visible, near-infrared, and shortwave-infrared observations. That means a clearer view of smaller features, including streams, streamside habitats, woodlots, and individual agricultural fields.

Together, more spectral bands and finer spatial resolution will help users detect, distinguish, and track environmental change with greater detail and precision.

Expected to begin operations in the early 2030s, LandIS will also continue Landsat’s coverage of sunlit land and near-shore waters, along with select nighttime observations. It will also uphold the program’s high standards for data accuracy, extending a record of Earth observations that spans more than 54 years.

🔗Interested in learning more about Landsat 10? Click the link in our bio and select Learn more about the Landsat program.

📷: A visual comparison of spatial resolution showing the 30-meter pixels of Landsat 8 and 9 (left) alongside the finer, more detailed 10-meter pixels planned for Landsat 10 (right). Credit: NASA Comparison of satellite image resolution showing Landsat 8/9 with 30m pixels versus Landsat 10 with finer 10m pixels over agricultural fields. by @usgslandsat

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Let’s take the scenic route across Massachusetts! 🛰️

Massachusetts ratified the U.S. Constitution on Feb. 6, 1788, becoming the sixth state. As America marks 250 years, the Bay State comes into view in our America from Space journey.

Though the seventh-smallest state by land area, Massachusetts is home to about 7 million people, more than 1,500 miles of coastline, and forests covering roughly 60 percent of the state. That mix gives Landsat three very different stories to tell.

First stop: Cape Cod. The state’s coastline has long supported fishing, maritime trade, and tourism. Wind, waves, and storms continually reshape the Cape’s beaches and barrier islands. Long-term Landsat imagery helps researchers track shoreline movement, breaches, and other coastal changes—information that can support coastal management.

Next: Boston and Cambridge. Boston has more than 18,000 people per square mile, and urban heat hotspots can increase health risks. Buildings and pavements can have higher land surface temperatures than trees, parks, and water. Landsat’s thermal observations can map those differences and help identify hotspots. Cambridge used Landsat data to help develop an urban heat island model that informed its 2021 Resilient Cambridge Plan.

Farther west, October Mountain State Forest brings Massachusetts’ forests into view. Forests play an important role in storing carbon. As Massachusetts developed its decarbonization plan, Landsat land-cover data helped researchers’ model how forest growth, development, and tree harvesting could affect future carbon storage.

📸1: A Landsat 9 image of Cape Cod and surrounding coastal waters. Acquired September 12, 2026.
📸2: A Landsat 9 image of Boston, Cambridge, Boston Harbor, and surrounding communities. Acquired August 31, 2025.
📸3: A Landsat 9 image of October Mountain State Forest in western Massachusetts. Sun glint is visible on several ponds across the forested landscape. Acquired June 13, 2026.
Credit: USGS

#AmericaFromSpace #America250 #TheBayState Aerial view of Cape Cod peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean with clear coastal outlines and inland vegetation. by @usgslandsat

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Harnessing satellite tools to monitor landscapes more efficiently 🛰️🌱

USGS scientists tested a new way of using satellite data to map crops in California, improving our ability to efficiently monitor changes in these landscapes.

The team evaluated how well a 10-meter Satellite Embedding layer classified crop types in central California for the year 2020.

🛰️How it works:

A satellite embedding layer is essentially a compressed summary of lots of satellite information. Because it summarizes many data sources into a single layer, mapping tasks like crop classification are made faster and easier.

🌱 More accurate results, in less time:

The team found that the satellite embedding layer resulted in more accurate crop maps and used three times less computer power.

From rice to citrus, this approach can help us understand what’s growing where, supporting water planning, agricultural decisions, and land stewardship.

📷: Landsat 8 image of central California cropland and dairies, southeast of Fresno, on July 5, 2024. Aerial view of patchwork of crops and fields. Text reads: harnessing satellite tools to monitor landscapes more efficiently by @usgslandsat

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For Landsat 8 and Landsat 9, every week is space week. 🛰️🌎

This World Space Week, take a spin with Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 as the satellites follow their paths around our planet.

Both satellites travel about 438 miles above Earth in sun-synchronous, near-polar orbits. Each completes one orbit around Earth in about 99 minutes. As Earth rotates beneath them, the satellites observe a different strip of Earth’s surface with each pass.

Each satellite returns to the same “start” or ground path every 16 days. Landsat 8 and Landsat 9 provide complete coverage of Earth’s land surfaces every eight days because their orbital cycles are offset by that many days.

Along the way, each satellite collects about 750 scenes per day, building a detailed record of how Earth’s land surfaces change over time. That’s one busy pair of Earth observers.

🎥: A sped-up animation showing Landsat 8, represented in blue, and Landsat 9, represented in green, orbiting Earth. Credit: USGS

#WorldSpaceWeek #Landsat #EarthFromSpace by @usgslandsat

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14 days ago

When the smoke clears, the story of a wildfire isn’t over. 🔥🛰️

It began with lightning. In July 2026, storms ignited multiple wildfires near Fossil, Oregon, that became the Rowe Creek Complex. What started as several areas of active fire grew across a landscape of grasslands, brush, and timber, ultimately burning nearly 374,000 acres.

Landsat 8 watched that story unfold from space. On July 17, several fires and their smoke plumes were visible across the landscape. Eight days later, large plumes stretched across the region as the fires continued to spread. By August 10, an extensive dark burn scar marked the landscape where the fires had burned.

That’s where another part of the story begins. The burn scar provides a record of the fire’s footprint that is mapped and studied. Landsat data help show where a fire burned most severely, how vegetation responds and recovers, and where the fire’s effects persist. Continued observations allow land managers and researchers to track changes across the landscape in the months and years that follow.

📸1: Landsat 8 image acquired July 17, 2026, showing several active fires and smoke plumes shortly after ignition.
📸2: Landsat 8 image acquired July 25, 2026, showing active fire fronts and large smoke plumes as the fires spread across the landscape.
📸3: Landsat 8 image acquired August 10, 2026, showing extensive dark burn scars across the landscape, with smoke still visible over parts of the affected area.

Credit: USGS

#Landsat #Wildfire #Oregon by @usgslandsat

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21 days ago

From liftoff in California to first light over the Himalayas. 🚀🏔️

On Sept. 27, 2021, Landsat 9 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, beginning a new chapter in the Landsat mission of recording Earth’s changing land surfaces.

Landsat 9’s sensors brought advanced technology to detect more subtle differences, especially over water and dense forests, and more accurate surface temperature measurements. Together, Landsat 9 and Landsat 8 provide complete global land coverage every eight days.

That repeat coverage is what turns a single image into a story of change. On Oct. 31, 2021, its first day of data collection, Landsat 9 captured this sweeping view of the Himalayas.

Five years and over 26,000 orbits later, the USGS-NASA mission continues to add about 750 new observations per day to a Landsat record more than half a century in the making. Over 1.3 million Landsat 9 products are available to download from the USGS data access portals.

Happy fifth launch anniversary, Landsat 9! 🎉

Interested in learning more about the Landsat Program? Visit the link in our bio.

📸1: Landsat 9 image showing Kathmandu, Nepal, (lower left) and the snow-covered Himalayas, glaciers, and glacial lakes across Nepal and China. Acquired Oct. 31, 2021. Credit: USGS

📸2: Landsat 9 launches aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Sept. 27, 2021. Credit: NASA

#Landsat9 #EarthObservation #LandsatLegacy by @usgslandsat

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24 days ago

City heat. Coastal change. Forest health. Connecticut gives Landsat plenty to see. 🛰️

On January 9, 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. As America marks 250 years, the Constitution State comes into view in our America from Space journey.

Connecticut is the third smallest state by land area and the fourth most densely populated, yet about 60 percent of its land is forested. Dense cities, tidal wetlands, coastal waters, and broad forests all fit within its borders.

The Connecticut River, New England’s longest, flows past Hartford to Long Island Sound. Landsat helps scientists track flooding, storm damage, and changes in wetlands and shorelines. Researchers have also used Landsat to study how runoff may contribute to low oxygen levels in western Long Island Sound.

Farther upstream, Hartford faces another challenge. Roads, parking lots, buildings, and other hard surfaces absorb and hold heat. Landsat thermal measurements show differences in land surface temperature, helping city leaders understand where health risks from heat may be greater.

In southeastern Connecticut, Pachaug State Forest covers more than 26,000 acres, making it Connecticut’s largest state forest. Spongy moth outbreaks, drought, and other stresses can affect tree canopies across broad areas. Repeated Landsat observations help researchers map leaf loss and compare forest conditions over time.

Each image captures one moment, but Landsat’s strength is its long view. With observations dating to 1972, scientists can compare Connecticut’s waterways, cities, and forests over decades and spot changes that may be hard to see from the ground.

📸1: The Connecticut River from Hartford to Long Island Sound. Landsat 9 acquired August 22, 2025.
📸2: Hartford and the Connecticut River. Landsat 9 acquired August 22, 2025.
📸3: Pachaug State Forest in southeastern Connecticut. Landsat 9 acquired August 22, 2025.

Credit: USGS

#AmericaFromSpace #America250 #TheConstitutionState by @usgslandsat

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25 days ago

From mission plans to products in users’ hands, this month’s Latest in Landsat follows the systems that keep data moving. 🛰️

The September issue is here!

Go behind the scenes of mission control, the global ground network, and the systems at USGS EROS that process, archive, and distribute Landsat data. Together, these connected parts turn satellite observations into reliable products used around the world.

Also in this issue:
🔹 See how decades of satellite imagery reveal the effects of coastal structures on Southern California beaches
🔹 Explore remote sensing work across all nine DOI agencies in the 2025 DOI Remote Sensing Activities Report
🔹 Read Landsat-focused stories on uranium mine features in Texas, thermal monitoring at Yellowstone, and long-term evapotranspiration mapping across the conterminous United States
🔹 Discover engaging ways to learn about remote sensing and land change over time
🔹 Create your own colorful nameplate using Landsat imagery!

🔗 Explore the September issue by clicking the Latest in Landsat newsletter link in our bio.

📸: 2025 Landsat image of the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, area, including the USGS EROS Center. Credit: USGS

#LatestInLandsat #EarthObservation #RemoteSensingEducation by @usgslandsat

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