Thematic Mapper research in the earth sciences

Abstract

This paper's studies were initiated under the NASA program for the purpose of conducting the earth sciences research using the Landsat Thematic Mapper. The goals of the program include studies of the factors influencing the growth, health, condition, and distribution of vegetation on the earth; the processes controlling the evolution of the earth's crust; the earth's water budget and the hydrologic processes that operate at local, regional, and global scales; the physical and chemical interaction between different types of surficial materials; and the interaction between the earth's surface and its atmosphere. Twenty-seven domestic and five foreign investigations were initiated in 1985, with the results from most of them already published (one study was terminated due to the delay in the TDRSS). Twelve of the studies addressed hydrology, snow and ice, coastal processes, and near-shore oceanographic phenomena; seven addressed vegetation, soils, or animal habitat; and twelve addressed geologic subjects.