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Geological Survey (USGS) are developing the successor mission to Landsat 7 that is currently known as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), NASA is responsible for buHding and launching the LDCM satellite observatory, USGS is building the ground system and wi!1 assume responsibility for sate!Hte operations and for collecting. archiving, and distributing data following launch. The observatory wi!! consist of a spacecraft in low-Earth orbit with a two-sensor payload. One sensor, the Operational land Imager (OU), wi!! collect image data for nine shortwave spectra! bands over a ! 85 km swath with a 30 m spatia] resolution for all bands except a 15 m panchromatic band. The other instrument, the Thermal !nfrared Sensor (TIRS), wi!! collect image data for two thermal bands with a 100 m resolution over a 185 km swath. Both sensors offer technical advancements over earlier Landsat instruments. OU and TIRS will coincidently collect data and the observatory will transmit the data to the ground system where it will be archived, processed to Level I data products containing well calibrated and co-registered OU and TIRS data, and made available for free distribution to the general public. The LDCM development is on schedule for a December 2012 launch, The USGS intends to rename the satellite "Umdsat 8" following launch, By either name a successful mission will fulfill a mandate for Landsat data continuity, The mission wi!! extend the almost 40-year landsat data archive with images sufficiently consistent with data from the earlier missions to allow long-term studies of regional and global land cover change,

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Current broadband sensors are not capable of separating the initial stages of forest damage. The current investigation evaluates the potential of hyperspectral data for detecting the initial stages of forest damage at the canopy level in the Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) forests of Czech Republic. Hyperspectral canopy reflectance imagery and foliar samples were acquired contemporaneously for 23 study sites in August 1998. The sites were selected along an air pollution gradient to represent the full range of damage conditions in even-aged spruce forests. The changes in canopy and foliar reflectance, chemistry and pigments associated with forest damage were established. The potential of a large number of spectral indices to identify initial forest damage was determined. Canopy hyperspectral data were able to separate healthy from initially damaged canopies, and therefore provided an improved capability for assessment of forest physiology as compared to broadband systems. The 673-724 nm region exhibited maximum sensitivity to initial damage. The nine spectral indices having the highest potential as indicators of the initial damage included: three simple band ratios, two derivative indices, two modelled red-edge parameters and two normalized bands. The sensitivity of these indices to damage was explained primarily by their relationship to foliar structural chemical compounds, which differed significantly by damage class.

Landsat 8, originally known as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) partnership that continues the legacy of continuous moderate resolution observations started in 1972. The conception of LDCM to the reality of Landsat 8 followed an arduous path extending over nearly 13 years, but the successful launch on February 11, 2013 ensures the continuity of the unparalleled Landsat record. The USGS took over mission operations on May 30, 2013 and renamed LCDM to Landsat 8. Access to Landsat 8 data was opened to users worldwide. Three years following launch we evaluate the science and applications impact of Landsat 8. With a mission objective to enable the detection and characterization of global land changes at a scale where differentiation between natural and human-induced causes of change is possible, LDCM promised incremental technical improvements in capabilities needed for Landsat scientific and applications investigations. Results show that with Landsat 8, we are acquiring more data than ever before, the radiometric and geometric quality of data are generally technically superior to data acquired by past Landsat missions, and the new measurements, e.g., the coastal aerosol and cirrus bands, are opening new opportunities. Collectively, these improvements are sparking the growth of science and applications opportunities. Equally important, with Landsat 7 still operational, we have returned to global imaging on an 8-day cycle, a capability that ended when Landsat 5 ceased operational Earth imaging in November 2011. As a result, the Landsat program is 3 on secure footings and planning is underway to extend the record for another 20 or more years.

The effort and cost required to convert satellite Earth Observation (EO) data into meaningful geophysical variables has prevented the systematic analysis of all available observations. To overcome these problems, we utilise an integrated High Performance Computing and Data environment to rapidly process, restructure and analyse the Australian Landsat data archive. In this approach, the EO data are assigned to a common grid framework that spans the full geospatial and temporal extent of the observations -the EO Data Cube. This approach is pixel-based and incorporates geometric and spectral calibration and quality assurance of each Earth surface reflectance measurement. We demonstrate the utility of the approach with rapid time-series mapping of surface water across the entire Australian continent using 27 years of continuous, 25 m resolution observations. Our preliminary analysis of the Landsat archive shows how the EO Data Cube can effectively liberate high-resolution EO data from their complex sensor-specific data structures and revolutionise our ability to measure environmental change.ARTICLE HISTORY

The Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) on Landsat 8 is the latest thermal sensor in that series of missions. Unlike the previous single-channel sensors, TIRS uses two channels to cover the 10–12.5 micron band. It is also a pushbroom imager; a departure from the previous whiskbroom approach. Nevertheless, the instrument requirements are defined such that data continuity is maintained. This paper describes the design of the TIRS instrument, the results of pre-launch calibration measurements and shows an example of initial on-orbit science performance compared to Landsat 7.