This activity of the Earth Exploration Toolbook walks users through a technique for documenting change in before-and-after sets of satellite images. The technique can be used for any set of time-series images that are spatially registered to show the exact same area at the same scale. In the chapter, users examine three Landsat images of the Pearl River delta in southeastern China. In the images, users observe changes in land use over time, then identify and outline areas of new land that were created by dredging sediments from the river bottom. The final product is an annotated image that highlights new land and indicates when it was created.
The long operational history of the Landsat satellite allows a detailed study of urban growth around the world, as illustrated by this animation of urbanization around Shenzen, China.
The long operational history of the Landsat satellite allows a detailed study of urban growth around the world, as illustrated by this animation of urbanization around Shenzen, China.
The long operational history of the Landsat satellite allows a detailed study of urban growth around the world, as illustrated by this animation of urbanization around Shenzen, China.
The region around the Pearl River Estuary in southern China experienced rapid urban growth in the 1980s and 1990s. This growth was spurred by the establishment of special government economic zones, particularly in Shenzhen, just to the east of the estuary. Urban areas increased by more than 300% between 1988 and 1996. This growth can be directly assessed by remote sensing measurements from space, particularly by comparing images from the Landsat sensors for the last thirty years. This animation shows nine such images in sequence, from the years 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2000, and 2001.
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