Remote Sensing
Remote sensing offers ways to observe the Earth’s climate by collecting data without direct contact, utilizing satellite or aircraft-based sensors. These tools such as Landsat, a series of Earth-observing satellites, allow USGS scientists to lead the way in monitoring long-term changes in climate that impact Earth’s surface, oceans, and atmosphere. The technology can be used to map and monitor specific changes such as deforestation, drought, temperature, land use, change in glacier ice, hazards, and much more. The scientific data collected with remote sensing is used to further understand climate change, its potential effects on the world and to improve projections of future change.