Landsat-7 satellite imagery

Landsat-7 was launched on April 15, 1999 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The satellite is a project of three largest American governmental bodies: NASA, NOAA and USGS. The satellite was placed at 705 km height in sun-synchronous orbit. Landsat-7 is fitted with Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) surveying in 6 bands with resolution of 30 m, in one IR band with resolution of 60 m and simultaneous panchromatic surveying with resolution of 15 m and swath width for all bands about 185 km. Mission life – 7 years.

Landsat-7 satellite imagery applications

• Creation and refreshing of topographical maps and special plans up to 1:200000 scale.
• Topographical background refreshing for the generation of metropolitan and constituent entities of the Federation region planning layouts.
• Survey and feasibility for potential prospecting works sites of oil and gas, forecasting and determining of oil and gas traps, estimation of petroleum potential.
• Survey and feasibility for potential prospecting works sites of non-metallic and ore minerals.
• Small-scale forest inventory. Woodland management control and its health evaluation.
• Regional crop mapping, its condition assessment, yields forecasting.
• Workflow mapping of vegetation, landscapes and land use.
• Monitoring and forecasting of such impacts as: bogginess and desertification, salinification, karsts, erosion, forest and grass fires, flooding etc.