The surface of the Earth is changing rapidly,
at local, regional, national, even global scales, with significant
repercussions for people, the economy, and the environment.
Remote sensing satellites and aircraft monitor the Earth providing information
that is broad, precise, impartial, and easily available. In
addition to operating two remote sensing satellites Landsat 5 and Landsat 7,
USGS provides the Nation's portal to the largest
archive of remotely sensed land data in the world, supplying
continuous access to current and historical land images worldwide.
These images serve many purposes from assessing the impact of
natural disasters to monitoring global agricultural production,
from monitoring the impact of climate and other global changes
to supporting national defense.
The LRS Program is defined by three major components:
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