Global warming: NASA has launched a new satellite to monitor the Earth’s surface

On Monday, September 27, NASA launched Landsat 9, a new satellite designed to monitor Earth’s landscapes. As a reminder, NASA developed an Earth observation space program called “Landsat” in the mid-1960s at the request of the American Institute of Geological Studies and the Department of Agriculture.

So far, 9 satellites have been launched and the Landsat 9 is the last to take off successfully from Space Launch Complex 3E at Vandenberg aboard an Atlas V rocket from the United Launch Alliance (ULA). After takeoff, the satellite headed for its final orbit, which is 705 km above the ground.

Landsat satellites play a role in the fight against global warming

These nine satellites have a fifteen-degree field of view and operate in a sun-synchronous orbit. Several observation instruments are on board these satellites. They will be used to capture several million images in visible, panchromatic and infrared light. They will also be used to study climate change and land use.

According to Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for Science at NASA, “ Landsat 9 will be our new eyes to observe our changing planet. By working in tandem with the other Landsat satellites, as well as with our European Space Agency partners who operate the Sentinel-2 satellites, we get a more complete view of Earth than ever before. We will have sightings from anywhere on our planet every other day “.

These Landsat 9 observations will guide scientific decision making on current environmental issues related to global warming and resource management.