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Joplin, Missouri - One Year Later
Released: 05/16/2012
On May 22, 2011, the city of Joplin, Missouri, was devastated by a catastrophic EF5 multiple vortex tornado. These Landsat images show the area of Joplin, Missouri, on May 7, 2011, on June 8, 2011, after the tornado touched down, and again recently on May 9, 2012.
The Villages, Florida
Released: 05/14/2012
In the last decade, Florida has had dramatic population growth. Sumpter County in central Florida grew 75%, largely due to the expansion of The Villages retirement community. The Villages is a master planned retirement community, complete with nearly 40 golf courses.
Cedar Bluff Reservoir, Kansas
Released: 05/07/2012
In 1949, the Cedar Bluff Dam was constructed along the Smoky Hill River in Kansas to mainly provide irrigation to the area. In the late 1960's and into the 1970's, the flow of the river declined dramatically, and by the early 1980's, not enough water was available for irrigation.
Binhai New Area, China
Released: 04/27/2012
Located on the coast of the Bohai Sea Region, the Binhai New Area has quickly become a major industrial center in China.
Tucson, Arizona
Released: 04/23/2012
Located in the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona, Tucson is one of the oldest continually inhabited areas of North America. There is evidence of settlements 3,000 years ago
Uravan, Colorado
Released: 04/18/2012
Uravan is an abandoned uranium mining town in western Colorado. Established in 1936 to extract vanadium ore, the mining community provided uranium for the first atomic bomb during World War II.
Salmon River Reservoir
Released: 04/06/2012
The Salmon River Reservoir in central New York state was created in 1914. Landsat satellite data, acquired since 1985, illustrate the steady increase in the size of the reservoir.
Bear Glacier, Alaska
Released: 03/02/2012
Landsat satellite data are increasingly used to track natural and anthropogenic changes to the land surface features of the planet. Changes to Bear Glacier in south central Alaska are illustrated by comparing 1980, 1989, and 2011 Landsat coverage.
Denver International Airport
Released: 02/24/2012
In 1995, the Denver International Airport officially opened and replaced the Stapleton International Airport servicing the Denver region. Landsat satellite data illustrate the changes in the area from before the construction and after the new airport was completed.
Pine Island Glacier
Released: 02/10/2012
Pine Island is one of the largest and fastest-moving glaciers in Antarctica. Landsat satellite imagery shows first a series of splits along the western edge of the glacier and then a major break, which eventually will extend all the way across the glacier.
Mesquite Mine, California
Released: 02/06/2012
The Mesquite Mine was established in 1957 and expanded in 1986 as gold prices climbed and the mine is now one of the largest gold mines in the country.
Urban Growth of the Montgomery, Alabama, Area
Released: 01/20/2012
In the past 30 years the population has grown from just under 125,000 to over 200,000.
La Cordillera Regrowth
Released: 01/12/2012
In 2005, large fires caused extensive damage to forested regions in the Cordillera Central, the mountains in the Dominican Republic. The February 2011 image shows the regrowth of the forest lands. The fire scars are covered by darker green tones representing developing forest lands.
Rising Water Changes Caspian Shoreline
Released: 01/09/2012
While water levels of the Caspian Sea have historically fluctuated, the area has seen increasing water volume in the past two decades.
Arcadia Lake, Oklahoma
Released: 01/03/2012
Landsat images of Arcadia Lake show the area in 1986, before the earthen dam blocked the Deep Fork River, and in 2011, with the reservoir near capacity.
The Dead Sea
Released: 12/23/2011
These Landsat images show the change in the Dead Sea from 1984 to 2011. In recent decades, the sea has been shrinking due to diversion of water from the Jordan River, the sea's main tributary. Mineral evaporation ponds that have replaced open water in the southern part of the sea can be seen in the 2011 image.
Proctor Lake Affected by Texas Drought
Released: 12/08/2011
West Virginia surface mining
Released: 12/01/2011
1987 and 2011 Landsat satellite images illustrate the expansion of surface mining in west central West Virginia.
Lake Basaka, Ethiopia
Released: 11/18/2011
In the past 35 years Lake Basaka, located in the Middle Awash River Basin, Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia, has greatly expanded and the expansion has affected regional land use. While the exact cause of the expansion remains under study, a likely cause is the discharging of irrigation excesses directly into the lake.
Aguascalientes, Mexico-Booming Growth
Released: 11/10/2011
Landsat images illustrate how urban growth around Aguascalientes, Mexico, has increased over the past 20 years.
Expanding Oil Production in Mangystau Province, Kazakhstan
Released: 11/07/2011
Significant oil and gas deposits in the area just east of the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan, explored heavily only since the early 1990s, have allowed for the creation of production facilities that have changed the landscape of the Mangystau Province.
Urban Growth in Morocco 1985-2011
Released: 10/28/2011
The Moroccan cities of Agadir, Inezgane, and Tikiouine are situated close to the Atlantic coastline and stretch into the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. Agadir was nearly destroyed by an earthquake in 1960. Reconstruction efforts have focused on tourism, turning this area into a winter destination.
Aquaculture Changes Mexican Shoreline
Released: 10/20/2011
Samuel Dam, Rondonia, Brazil
Released: 10/13/2011
These Landsat images show the area in 1984, and in 2011. The reservoir flooded the upstream forest and displaced many people.
Fires Scorch Northern Australia
Released: 10/06/2011
Extreme dry conditions have led to major fires in north central Australia the past year. In February, fires along the coast caused extensive damage and loss of life.
Elephant Butte Reservoir
Released: 09/29/2011
Prolonged drought in the southwestern United States has affected many water bodies, such as Elephant Butte Reservoir along the Rio Grande River, north of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
Missouri River flooding near Hamburg, Iowa
Released: 09/21/2011
In spring of 2011, the communities along the Missouri River were threatened by high flows and record releases from dams in Montana and the Dakotas. One community especially hard hit was Hamburg, Iowa (pop. 1,300).
Bastrop County Complex Fire
Released: 09/15/2011
Severe drought conditions throughout much of the summer of 2011 have sparked many wildfires throughout Texas. 2011 has been reported to be the most severe single-year drought since the 1950s and received the lowest single-year rainfall since the late 1800s.
Lee Soaks Gulf Coast area
Released: 09/13/2011
Tropical Depression Lee formed in late August 2011 and made landfall in the Gulf Coast area during Labor Day weekend. The center of the storm stretched across the central Gulf Coast, dumping torrential rains in the low lying bayou communities of Louisiana.
Rural New York Flooding from Hurricane Irene
Released: 09/09/2011
The flooding from Hurricane Irene, shown here in a Landsat 5 TM image from August 31, 2011 (right), may bring an early end this year for much of the vegetable harvest in this region.
Juniper Road Fire
Released: 08/29/2011
Lightning sparked a fire on June 19, 2011, within the Holly Shelter Game Land in North Carolina. Hot, dry conditions fueled the fast ignition of over 30,000 acres of thick evergreen shrubs and deep highly flammable coal-like soil.
Goksu River Dam Project
Released: 08/19/2011
The construction of the Ermenek dam project on the Goksu River Basin created a large reservoir that inundated previous fragile wildlife habitat.
Changing conditions in Kuwait
Released: 08/10/2011
In February, 1991, hundreds of oil wells in Kuwait were set ablaze during the early stages of the Desert Storm conflict.
Lake Oroumeih (Urmia), Iran
Released: 07/28/2011
Lake Oroumeih is a major water body in northwest Iran. However, dams on feeder streams, expanded use of ground water in the region, and a decades long major drought have caused the lake to diminish.
Honey Prairie Fires
Released: 07/26/2011
On April 30, 2011, lightning caused wildfires near the Okefenokee National Wildlife refuge in the Honey Prairie region of Georgia.
Las Conchas, New Mexico, Fires
Released: 07/19/2011
Landsat satellite imagery illustrate the extensive damage caused by the Las Conchas fires in New Mexico.
Puyehue Volcano
Released: 07/13/2011
The Puyehue volcano in Chile erupted on June 4, 2011, after being dormant for over 50 years.
Landsat Imagery Tracks Record Flooding in Minot, N.D.
Released: 06/29/2011
The city of Minot, divided by the river, has been especially hard hit by the flooding which is due to unusually heavy rainfall in southern Canada and North Dakota. The river has inundated over 4,000 homes and forced over 11,000 residents to evacuate.
Wildfires in Alberta, Canada
Released: 06/22/2011
The Richardson backcounty fires started in mid-May, 2011. Within days they combined to create the largest wildfire in Alberta since 1919, a fire still not under control.
Wallow Fire in Arizona
Released: 06/13/2011
The second largest fire in Arizona history, the Wallow Fire is graphically depicted by this Landsat image, taken June 7, which shows burning in the mountains of eastern Arizona near the border with New Mexico.
Portage Diversion, Lake Manitoba
Released: 06/08/2011
The Portage Diversion system (also known as the Assiniboine River Floodway) was constructed in 1970 to divert the flow of water in the Assiniboine River to an 18-mile diversion channel that empties into Lake Manitoba.
Regrowth in Australia after Massive Bushfires
Released: 05/27/2011
Landsat 5 images acquired during the fires in 2009, and again in 2011, show the drastic burn scars and re-growth of the areas.
Flood Diversion Measures Along the Lower Mississippi River
Released: 05/19/2011
The lower Mississippi River is rising to nearly the record height of 1927. To relieve pressure on downstream levees protecting Baton Rouge and New Orleans, gates at the Morganza Spillway were opened.
Memphis Flooding Change Pair
Released: 05/17/2011
Landsat satellite data recorded major flooding in the Memphis, Tennessee, area on May 10, 2011.
Southeast US Tornado Paths
Released: 05/16/2011
Landsat satellite data illustrate the tremendous damage done by recent tornadoes which touched the ground in the southeastern United States recently.
Seasonal flooding in the lower Mississippi River Basin
Released: 04/26/2011
Seasonal flooding is fairly common in the lower Mississippi River Basin in south central United States. Landsat satellite data are used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state officials to monitor the extent and the timing of periodic flooding.
Western Texas Fire
Released: 04/25/2011
Extreme drought and high winds have fueled many wildfires in west Texas recently.
Great Salt Lake 1985-2010
Released: 04/11/2011
Landsat satellite imagery shows the dramatic changes in the area of the Great Salt Lake over the last 25 years.
Ishinomaki - Before and After
Released: 03/30/2011
A massive earthquake, and subsequent tsunami, struck the northeast coast of Japan on Friday, March 11, 2011.
Wax Lake Delta, Louisiana
Released: 03/29/2011
Landsat satellite data have proven useful for monitoring the development of sediment-established land in the Wax Lake Delta region in Louisiana.
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U.S. Geological Survey