http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (Phys.org) —Google released more than a quarter-century of images of Earth taken from space Thursday compiled into an interactive time-lapse experience. Working with data from the Landsat Program managed by the U.S. Geological Survey, the images display an historical perspective on changes to Earth's surface over time. http://phys.org/news287642886.html Space & Earth Mon, 13 May 2013 05:48:16 EST news287642886 A new satellite hovering nearly 450 miles (725 kilometers) above the Earth appears to working flawlessly as it embarks on a 10-year mission to document the planet's surface, scientists and engineers at the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation and Science Center said Monday. http://phys.org/news287121237.html Space & Earth Tue, 07 May 2013 04:54:04 EST news287121237 As the Landsat Data Continuity Mission satellite flew over Indonesia's Flores Sea April 29, it captured an image of Paluweh volcano spewing ash into the air. The satellite's Operational Land Imager detected the white cloud of smoke and ash drifting northwest, over the green forests of the island and the blue waters of the tropical sea. The Thermal Infrared Sensor on LDCM picked up even more. http://phys.org/news287077716.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 May 2013 16:48:45 EST news287077716 (Phys.org) —An image from an instrument aboard NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission or LDCM satellite may look like a typical black-and-white image of a dramatic landscape, but it tells a story of temperature. The dark waters of the Salton Sea pop in the middle of the Southern California desert. Crops create a checkerboard pattern stretching south to the Mexican border. http://phys.org/news285869767.html Space & Earth Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:16:15 EST news285869767 You don't just strap a satellite to a rocket, launch it, and voilà, it takes measurements. Beyond maneuvering into the right orbit, there are a series of check-out procedures to make sure the satellite performs in space as it did in ground tests. You have to make sure the communication signals are strong and clear. You have to exercise moving parts like shutters and doors. You have make sure the solar panels are oriented to the Sun and batteries and thrusters are working properly. http://phys.org/news285406671.html Space & Earth Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:37:57 EST news285406671 Building and launching the Landsat Data Continuity Mission required teams of people across the United States. It is appropriate, then, that the satellite's early images include these views of the places that most contributed to its success: Greenbelt, Md.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.; and Sioux Falls, S.D. The images are considered engineering data—data that is helping scientists and engineers ensure that the satellite and its instruments are operating as designed. http://phys.org/news284966743.html Space & Earth Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:00:01 EST news284966743 Turning on new satellite instruments is like opening new eyes. This week, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) released its first images of Earth, collected at 1:40 p.m. EDT on March 18. The first image shows the meeting of the Great Plains with the Front Ranges of the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming and Colorado. The natural-color image shows the green coniferous forest of the mountains coming down to the dormant brown plains. The cities of Cheyenne, Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, Boulder and Denver string out from north to south. Popcorn clouds dot the plains while more complete cloud cover obscures the mountains. http://phys.org/news283106724.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:45:32 EST news283106724 (AP)—A satellite launched into space Monday will keep closer tabs on Earth's glaciers, crops, forests and shorelines, continuing a tradition that began four decades ago. http://phys.org/news279817730.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:09:05 EST news279817730 The United States launched its latest Earth observation satellite Monday atop an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA said. http://phys.org/news279811691.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:28:19 EST news279811691 A new Earth-observing satellite is set to provide another watchful eye over our planet's glaciers, forests, water resources and urban sprawl. http://phys.org/news279552581.html Space & Earth Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:30:13 EST news279552581 (Phys.org)—A new way of studying and visualizing Earth science data from a NASA and U.S. Geological Survey satellite program is resulting in, for the first time, the ability to tease out the small events that can cause big changes in an ecosystem. http://phys.org/news277453524.html Space & Earth Tue, 15 Jan 2013 06:26:55 EST news277453524 NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is scheduled to launch Feb. 11 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A joint NASA and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mission, LDCM will add to the longest continuous data record of Earth's surface as viewed from space. http://phys.org/news277055402.html Space & Earth Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:50:09 EST news277055402 The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has named Justin Huntington, Desert Research Institute assistant research professor, to the National Science Team supporting the new Landsat Data Continuity Mission Satellite, scheduled to launch in February from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. http://phys.org/news276515548.html Space & Earth Fri, 04 Jan 2013 09:52:34 EST news276515548 An oversized semi-trailer truck carrying NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) has arrived at its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for launch. This NASA and U.S. Geological Survey mission will continue a 40-year record of measuring change on the planet from space. http://phys.org/news275238427.html Space & Earth Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:07:29 EST news275238427 The U.S. Postal Service released on Oct. 1 a series of 15 Earthscapes Forever stamps that depict America's diverse landscapes viewed from aerial and satellite perspectives. Taken from heights of several hundred feet above Earth to several hundred miles up in space, the images on the stamps provide a new perspective on the world we live in. http://phys.org/news268386864.html Space & Earth Tue, 02 Oct 2012 08:54:55 EST news268386864 Farmers are using maps created with free data from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey's Landsat satellites that show locations that are good and not good for growing crops. http://phys.org/news267984944.html Space & Earth Thu, 27 Sep 2012 17:15:52 EST news267984944 A fleet of picture-snapping NASA satellites that for 40 years has documented forest fires, tsunamis and everyday changes in the Earth's geography will soon get a new member. http://phys.org/news267501640.html Space & Earth Sat, 22 Sep 2012 03:01:11 EST news267501640 Glaciers are one of the largest reservoirs of freshwater on our planet, and their melting or growing is one of the best indicators of climate change. However, knowledge of glacier change has been hampered by lack of data, especially for understanding regional behaviour.   Measurements from satellites have recently provided the first overview mapping of thickness changes of Himalayan glaciers. In a study published in Nature today, scientists assembled new datasets from Earth-observing satellites and found that glaciers in the Hindu Kush–Karakoram–Himalaya region (HKKH) lost 12 gigatonnes per year over the period 2003–08, much faster than previously reported. http://phys.org/news265020157.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 Aug 2012 10:00:02 EST news265020157 (Phys.org) -- NASA and the Interior Department Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the Landsat program, the world's longest-running Earth-observing satellite program. The first Landsat satellite was launched July 23, 1972, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. http://phys.org/news262339705.html Space & Earth Tue, 24 Jul 2012 09:20:01 EST news262339705 The American sage Yogi Berra once said: "You can see a lot by just looking." http://phys.org/news261994925.html Space & Earth Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:22:20 EST news261994925 NASA's Earth-observing fleet of satellites provides a worldwide and unbiased view with standardized scientific data -- information crucial for tracking the health of the world's forests. http://phys.org/news259257008.html Space & Earth Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:50:17 EST news259257008 (Phys.org) -- Mt. St. Helens exploded 32 years ago on May 18. It began with a small series of earthquakes and culminated with the volcano erupting, a cataclysmic collapse of the flank of the mountain and the largest landslide in recorded history. http://phys.org/news256548886.html Space & Earth Fri, 18 May 2012 08:35:18 EST news256548886 (Phys.org) -- A water-rich polka dot pattern takes over the traditional rectangular patchwork of fields in this time series animation of 40 years of Landsat images. In the dry Texas panhandle near the town of Dalhart, this transformation is due to center-pivot irrigation, a farming method that improves water distribution to fields. It was invented by farmer Frank Zybach in 1949. http://phys.org/news254725060.html Space & Earth Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:58:13 EST news254725060 (Phys.org) -- The expansion of massive salt evaporation projects on the Dead Sea are clearly visible in this time series of images taken by Landsat satellites operated by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. http://phys.org/news253179106.html Space & Earth Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:33:54 EST news253179106 (PhysOrg.com) -- Saudi Arabia is drilling for a resource possibly more precious than oil. http://phys.org/news252311934.html Space & Earth Fri, 30 Mar 2012 07:39:46 EST news252311934 A new study examining nearly 40 years of satellite imagery has revealed that the floating ice shelves of a critical portion of West Antarctica are steadily losing their grip on adjacent bay walls, potentially amplifying an already accelerating loss of ice to the sea. http://phys.org/news252074030.html Space & Earth Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:34:35 EST news252074030 A new NASA satellite instrument that makes a quantum leap forward in detector technology has arrived at Orbital Sciences Corp. in Gilbert, Ariz. There it will be integrated into the next Landsat satellite, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). http://phys.org/news248460773.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:53:02 EST news248460773 (PhysOrg.com) -- Yellowstone National Park sits on top of a vast, ancient, and still active volcano. Heat pours off its underground magma chamber, and is the fuel for Yellowstone's famous features -- more than 10,000 hot springs, mud pots, terraces and geysers, including Old Faithful. http://phys.org/news242540137.html Space & Earth Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:15:55 EST news242540137 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using satellite images, Mutlu Ozdogan, an assistant professor of forest and wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is automatically generating maps showing where trees have been harvested in the form of clear-cut areas over five-year intervals. http://phys.org/news240136217.html Space & Earth Thu, 10 Nov 2011 09:00:04 EST news240136217 The Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) that will fly on the next Landsat satellite came out of its first round of thermal vacuum testing Tuesday, Oct. 4 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. http://phys.org/news239388001.html Space & Earth Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:40:09 EST news239388001