Satellite remote sensing has dramatically altered our perspective of
the earth and vastly expanded our understanding of the earth's land,
ocean, and atmosphere. Beginning in the 1970s with Landsat-1, the
Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS), and the Advanced Very High resolution
Radiometer-1 (AVHRR), space-based observations of earth ecosystems
and environments have proven enormously successful and useful,
to the point where, for all practical purposes, satellite data have become
a requirement for evaluating global change. The early proof-of-concept
missions have evolved into today's Landsat-8, Moderate-Resolution Imaging
Spectrometer (MODIS), and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer
Suite (VIIRS), among others. Each routinely provides operational products
that enable scientists and resource managers to study the earth system
across local, regional, and global scales.