Almost fifty years of earth observation

Later, between 1982-1989, having joined NSLSI (Nova Scotia Land Survey Institute), later known as COGS (College of Geographic Sciences), my job was to train students in Remote Sensing. Landsat was an important platform for monitoring the earth. Some of the student co-op projects were memorable for me for their cutting-edge research and implications; such as measuring farmlands in Saskatchewan for tax evaluation, mapping forest clear cutting, and monitoring the impact of human activity on water availability and conditions.

I’m now retired but still follow developments in this field. Much has changed and much has been learned. We now have a range of extremely high resolution and spectrally sensitive sensors. Platforms range from satellites to drones. We mash data to extract new insights, and more developments lie on the horizon — artificial geo-intelligence, for example.

While I fondly look back on my first teaching class (a class, by the way, that inspired an award-winning humorous speech), I am in awe of the legacy NASA’s Landsat series has given to us on earth and the continuing opportunities we have to be responsible stewards of our planet, our home.

FURTHER READING/VIEWING

https://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/landsat-9/interactive/