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Landsat

The Landsat programme provides a much longer continuous satellite record than modern high-resolution basemaps. It is especially useful when the question is change across decades rather than fine detail at one date.

Strong use cases​

  • forest and plantation change
  • large wetland and lake changes
  • urban expansion
  • burn scars
  • broad river/coastal sediment patterns
  • land-cover transitions
  • vegetation indices through time

Landsat's commonly used multispectral bands are generally tens of metres in resolution, so combine it with aerial photography when the research needs parcel- or site-scale interpretation.

Access​

USGS EarthExplorer remains a primary discovery/download route for Landsat products. Landsat is also widely available through cloud platforms and analysis environments.

Compare like with like​

For a time series, keep the season, cloud conditions, product level and band/indices consistent. A December image and a July image can look different because of phenology and illumination rather than land-use change.

Research strategy​

Use Landsat to identify the broad period in which change occurred, then move to historical aerial imagery for finer visual evidence where available.

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026

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