Landsat 1-5 Satellite Imagery Archive for Alaska

Raw Landsat digital data covering most of Alaska, acquired from 1972 onward and ongoing. The dataset contains 585 records, growing at a rate of 5-10 records per year, and is provided by the USGS Alaska Field Office. Data is organized into 7.5' or 15' quads and stored on sequential magnetic tapes.

Use Cases

• Generate false color composites from the raw Landsat MSS bands for visual analysis.
• Conduct land cover and land use analysis using the 57 x 59 meter grid cell resolution imagery.
• Perform geological and hydrogeological analysis based on spectral signatures captured in the scenes.
• Use imagery as a basis for updating topographic maps or producing new image maps.
• Analyze temporal changes in the Alaskan landscape using scenes dating back to 1972.

Strengths

• 585 records with a documented growth rate of 5-10 new scenes per year.
• Temporal coverage spans from 1972 to present, providing a multi-decade archive.
• Spatial resolution is specified as 57 x 59 meter grid cells for MSS data.

Limitations

• Limited documentation is available for the dataset.
• Data is stored on outdated physical media formats like 9-track tape.
• The 585-record count is relatively small for a satellite imagery archive.

Provenance

Source

USGS Alaska Field Office, with original data obtained from the EROS Data Center.

Collection Method

Satellite data acquired by Landsat 1-5 missions.

Time Range

1972 to present, with most data from 1980 onward.

Freshness

Data acquisition is ongoing, with new records added annually.

Geography

Covers most of Alaska.