EarthDay 2000: Interpreting Satellite Imagery Activity (p.3)

This is a false-color Landsat TM image taken in November 1997. The entire image was created on a single pass of the satellite. Do you know what area this image covers?

Clue: The Potomac River flows through this city.

105k JPEG

[Click on the thumbnail images to see the larger image!]

Become a satellite image sleuth

Try to find the following features from the satellite image in the four close up views below:

city
airport
forest
agriculture
bay bridge
lake
river

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

How did you do?
Check here for a guide to interpreting the images.

Test your skills further by playing the online Geography From Space Quiz.

Learn more about research on land cover change in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area by visiting this web page:
http://airandspace.si.edu/research/ceps/research/wash/washdc.html

Learn more about the basics of remote sensing from our teaching poster that includes an introduction to remote sensing.
Download a PDF version of the poster.

Back to the start of the activity