New Report on Building a Sustainable National Land Imaging Program
Landsat and Beyond: Sustaining and Enhancing the Nation’s Land Imaging Program (2013)
Authors
Committee on Implementation of a Sustained Land Imaging Program; Space Studies Board; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; National Research Council
Description
In 1972 NASA launched the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ETRS), now known as Landsat 1, and on February 11, 2013 launched Landsat 8. Currently the United States has collected 40 continuous years of satellite records of land remote sensing data from satellites similar to these. Even though this data is valuable to improving many different aspects of the country such as agriculture, homeland security, and disaster mitigation; the availability of this data for planning our nation’s future is at risk.
Thus, the Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) requested that the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Committee on Implementation of a Sustained Land Imaging Program review the needs and opportunities necessary for the development of a national space-based operational land imaging capability. The committee was specifically tasked with several objectives including identifying stakeholders and their data needs and providing recommendations to facilitate the transition from NASA’s research-based series of satellites to a sustained USGS land imaging program.
Landsat and Beyond: Sustaining and Enhancing the Nation’s Land Imaging Program is the result of the committee’s investigation. This investigation included meetings with stakeholders such as the DOI, NASA, NOAA, and commercial data providers. The report includes the committee’s recommendations, information about different aspects of the program, and a section dedicated to future opportunities.
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NASA’s Landsat Data Continuity Mission Launch
by Dina Spector, Business Insider, Feb 11, 2013
The eighth satellite in NASA’s Earth-watching Landsat fleet will launch Monday, Feb. 11 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California…. The joint program between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey is the longest-running data record of Earth observations from space. …The Landsat program enables scientists to track major changes of Earth’s surface, including melting glaciers, urban explosion and the effects of natural disasters.
Read more from Business Insider NASA’s Landsat Data Continuity Mission Launch – Business Insider.
For the latest Landsat news go to it’s NASA mission page here.
Related articles
- Landsat Data Continuity Mission Awaits Liftoff (spacedaily.com)
Landsat Turns 40, What’s Next?
- Learn about the important role of #Landsat, mapping 40yrs of land cover change: http://tinyurl.com/c2r9bhj and http://on.doi.gov/O00Ent
- NASA–USGS‘s #Landsat Data Continuity Mission becomes an observatory: http://bit.ly/LXiY6V
- Bruce Quirk, USGUS Land Remote Sensing Program Coordinator, PPT on #LANDSAT Program status to National #Geospatial Advisory Committee (April 2012): http://tinyurl.com
- National #Geospatial Advisory Committee recommendations on #Landsat (April 2012): http://tinyurl.com/cg38u8k
See also:
- #Landsat Data Policy – Status & Future Plans (Bruce Quirk, 2010): http://tinyurl.com/cgh7cna
- The #Landsat Legacy: Remote Sensing Policy and Development of Commerical Remote Sensing (Ray Williamson, 1997): http://tinyurl.com/d78tcxs
Related articles
- USGS Keeps Landsat 5 Satellite Alive (geodatapolicy.wordpress.com)
- Landsat data continuity mission becomes an observatory (phys.org)
- NASA’s Landsat Data Continuity Mission becomes an observatory (sciencedaily.com)
- Vote on best images: Earth as Art (earthsky.org)
Briefing to Celebrate 40 Years of Continuous Earth Observations
Steve Cole
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918
stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov
MEDIA ADVISORY : M12-131
Briefing to Celebrate 40 Years of Continuous Earth Observations
WASHINGTON — NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. EDT, Monday, July 23, to highlight the accomplishments of the world’s longest-running Earth-observing satellite program — Landsat. The briefing will be held at the Newseum at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, and feature extensive imagery of our changing planet and local U.S. landscapes.
In cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and its science agency, USGS, NASA launched the first Landsat satellite July 23, 1972. The resulting 40-year archive of Earth observations from the Landsat fleet forms an impartial, comprehensive, and easily accessed register of human and natural changes on the land. This information supports the improvement of human and environmental health, biodiversity, energy and water management, urban planning, disaster recovery and crop monitoring.
During the briefing, NASA and USGS will announce the 10 most significant images from the Landsat record, the U.S. regions selected for the “My American Landscape” contest showing local environmental changes, and the top five Landsat “Earth As Art” images selected in an online poll.
The panelists for the briefing are:
— Anne Castle, assistant secretary for water and science, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington
— Waleed Abdalati, chief scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington
— Jeff Masek, NASA Landsat project scientist, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
— Tom Loveland, USGS senior scientist, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, S.D.
— Jim Irons, Landsat Data Continuity Mission project scientist, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
— Roger Auch, research geographer, EROS Center, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Media may ask questions of the panelists during the briefing. Media wanting to attend the briefing must send their name, affiliation and telephone number to Steve Cole at stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov no later than 4 p.m. EDT, July 20. Reporters unable to attend the briefing in person can ask questions during the event via Twitter using the hashtag #asknasa. NASA Television and the agency’s Web site will provide live briefing coverage.
For information on receiving NASA TV, go to:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/digital.html
For NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and downlink information, visit:
The Landsat program is jointly managed by NASA and DOI/USGS. NASA is preparing to launch the next Landsat satellite in February 2013. For more information about the Landsat program, visit:
and
USGS Keeps Landsat 5 Satellite Alive
Geoplace.com, July 9, 2012
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) injected a bit of life into its aging Landsat 5 satellite, which has orbited Earth more than 150,000 times since its launch in 1984 and has been experiencing problems with its thematic mapper (TM) instrument. Engineers have been able to power-on a long-dormant data-collection instrument aboard the satellite—the multispectral scanner (MSS), which has been offline for more than a decade. USGS now is acquiring MSS data over the United States only. The news is significant, because USGS continues to work toward launch of an eighth Landsat satellite, meaning that data from current Landsat craft still are key to Earth-observing operations. Landsat 7, activated in 1999, continues to collect images worldwide. But, in 2003, Landsat 7 experienced a hardware failure that caused a 22-percent loss of data in every image. Meanwhile, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM or Landsat 8), is scheduled for launch in January 2013.
For full text of the article, visit USGS Keeps Landsat 5 Satellite Alive | Articles – Publishing Titles | GeoPlace.
FY 2012 Appropriation for U.S. Geological Survey
Total USGS appropriations:
The FY 2011 appropriation was $1,083.7 million
The FY 2012 Administration request was $1,117.9 million
The FY 2012 appropriation is $1,069.7 million, a decline of $14.0 million or 1.3 percent.For a breakdown of the appropriations by USGS programs under Surveys, Investigations and Research, visit the AIP FYI blog: FY 2012 Appropriation for U.S. Geological Survey.
Of note, the appropriations report states:
Land Use Change and Land Imaging
“Within Land Use Change, an increase of $11,500,000 is provided to complete funding for Landsat 8 ground operations development. The conferees have not agreed with the proposal to create a separate ‘Land Imaging’ account and have instead maintained funding for all satellite operations within this subactivity. Estimated administrative savings assumed in the proposed new account have been assumed within the Land Use Change account instead.
“The conferees have not agreed to transfer budgetary authority for the launch of Landsat satellites 9 and 10 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to the Survey. Of the requested $48,000,000 increase for its implementation, the conferees have provided $2,000,000 for program development only. The conferees note that future requests for the project are estimated by the Administration to escalate to over $400,000,000 by fiscal year 2014. There is little doubt that resources will not be available within the Interior Appropriations bill to support these very large increases without decimating all other Survey programs. The conferees note that the launch of Landsat 9 is not scheduled until 2018. This allows time in the year ahead for all interested parties to re-examine how to proceed with future Landsat missions. In the conferees’ view this would be a prudent step, inasmuch as the current budget proposal is based on a report from the Office of Science and Technology Policy issued in 2008, and both technological advances and a vastly different economic environment may point to other, less costly, options for obtaining Landsat data.”
National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program and National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Federal and State Partnerships
“Increases to the request include $998,000 for the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program to continue funding at the current year enacted level, and $1,500,000 for National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Federal and State Partnerships to partially restore the proposed reduction to that program. Decreases from the request include $500,000 from WaterSMART.”
Natural Hazards and Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning
“The conferees have not agreed to proposed reductions in the request and have restored funds to the following programs: $2,000,000 for Earthquake Grants; $1,800,000 for the 2012 Multi-Hazards Initiative; and $1,500,000 for the National Volcano Early Warning System. Decreases from the request include $800,000 from the 2011 Multi-Hazards Initiative, and $3,000,000 from Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning.”
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- Analysis of R & D Investments in FY 2012 Appropriations Bill (geodatapolicy.wordpress.com)
The Marshall Institute – Making National Space Policy
Image via Wikipedia
National Space Policies provide insights into U.S. thinking about the uses of space for security, exploration, and commercial purposes, as well as details about specific areas of emphasis. With the Obama Administration preparing its own space policy, these documents remain particularly relevant to those interested in past and future of U.S. space activities. In the Marshall Institute’s Presidential Decisions book, we compiled all declassified space memos, directives, and policies prepared by the National Security Council from Eisenhower to the then-present. In the process, we successfully declassified additional materials. Our intent is two-fold – (1) to provide scholars and practitioners with a handy reference of these hard-to-find documents to assist them in reviewing the new space policy or providing input to it; and (2) to illustrate the areas of continuity and incongruity in space policy over time. It contains, as one reviewer put it, “in one convenient book, all of the most significant unclassified papers on US executive branch space policy.”
These documents are presented in their original form to enable the reader to see precisely what remains redacted. Each is presented as a pdf. Those interested in a complimentary copy of the 2006 edition of Presidential Decisions are encouraged to contact the Institute at info@marshall.org.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
- John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
- Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
- Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974)
- Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977)
- James E. Carter (1977-1981)
- Ronald W. Reagan (1981-1989)
- George H. W. Bush (1989-1993)
- William J. Clinton (1993-2001)
- George W. Bush (2001-2009)
- Barack H. Obama (2009 – )
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- Rules of the Road in Space: Does a Code of Conduct Improve U.S. Security? (nationalspacestudiescenter.wordpress.com)
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USGS Requests Public Input on Six Science Strategies
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The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is requesting public input on its six science strategies: Ecosystems; Energy and Minerals; Environmental Health; Global Change; Natural Hazards; and Water. These strategies will used in setting priorities and implementation planning for future research activities at the agency, which was reorganized in 2010.
Please weigh in on the draft and questions here.
Some of the USGS programs that support these science strategies include:
Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)
The Federal Geographic Data Committee is an interagency committee that promotes the coordinated development, use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data on a national basis. This nationwide data publishing effort is known as the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The NSDI is a physical, organizational, and virtual network designed to enable the development and sharing of this nation’s digital geographic information resources. FGDC activities are administered through the FGDC Secretariat, hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey.Land Remote Sensing (LRS)
The Land Remote Sensing Program operates the Landsat satellites and provides the Nation’s portal to the largest archive of remotely sensed land data in the world, supplying access to current and historical images. These images serve many purposes from assessing the impact of natural disasters to monitoring global agricultural production.National Geospatial Program
The National Geospatial Program (NGP) organizes, maintains, and publishes the geospatial baseline of the Nation’s topography, natural landscape, and built environment. The baseline is The National Map, a set of databases of map data and information from which customers can download data and derived map products and use web-based map services. Through the Geospatial Liaison Network, the NGP works with cooperators to share the costs of acquiring and maintaining these geospatial data. The National Atlas of the United States of America®, the small-scale component of The National Map, fosters an understanding of broad geographic patterns, trends, and conditions useful for national assessments. The Federal Geographic Data Committee promotes consistent data and metadata standards, system interoperability, and cross-government best business practices for geospatial resources, policies, standards, and technology as part of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure.
United States launches new global initiative to track changes in land cover and use
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Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes, co-leading the U.S. delegation to the 2010 Group on Earth Observations (GEO) summit, announced that the United States is launching a new global initiative aimed at developing the first-ever comprehensive and up-to-date database of 30-meter satellite imagery that will show changes in land cover and land uses worldwide.
The Global Land-Cover Data Initiative aims to provide land-managers, decision-makers and communities around the globe with critical information about changes to land use and land cover, Hayes told the delegates from 85 countries and the European Commission at the intergovernmental GEO VII Ministerial Summit meeting in Beijing. This type of sharing of data and technology can help us make wise decision about how best to build a sustainable future, protect our environment, and tackle challenges like pollution and climate change, he said. More than 80 percent of the imagery for the Global Land-Cover Data Initiative can be obtained with Landsat, a satellite program operated by Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with NASA. Hayes asked international partners
at the GEO summit to assist with developing the remaining information that would be needed for a comprehensive global land-cover database. The announcement of the Global Land-Cover Data Initiative follows the announcement on Wednesday of SilvaCarbon, a separate U.S. initiative designed to strengthen global capacity to understand, monitor, and manage forest and terrestrial carbon. (See U.S. Unveils Initiative to Monitor and Manage Forest
Carbon Dynamics, http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/11/03/us-unveils-initiative-monitor-and-manage-forest-carbon-dynamics http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp-silvacarbon-release.pdf [SilvaCarbon will bring together a community of U.S. scientists and technical experts from government, academia, non-governmental organizations, and industry into a network that will support efforts to improve access to Earth observation data about forests. It is a key element in the Administration’s comprehensive strategy for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries.]
“These investments in the science will promote a better understanding not only of the changes in land cover, but also of the effectiveness of various efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from land use change, Abbott noted. They can thus help promote transparency in national and international mitigation actions in this critical sector, and strengthen multilateral efforts to combat climate change as they inform countries on the best ways to design and improve such policies going forward.
Although moderate- resolution global land cover initiatives have been underway for some time and have provided important synoptic global land-cover data, the proposed initiative is based on the fact that higher-resolution (30m) global land cover datasets would permit detection of land change at the scale of most human activity–where change most commonly occurs–and would increase flexibility in environmental modeling. The higher resolution thus is particularly important for studies of ecosystem fragmentation and degradation and ultimately will improve the comparability of assessments conducted across the globe. The 30-meter resolution will produce several land-cover data products for the international community. The first set of products will describe the Earth’s land cover conditions as of 2010, and will include:
1.A 2010 global land-cover characteristics baseline providing quantitative measures of six major land-cover characteristics– percent tree, shrub, herbaceous, surface water and wetness, snow/ice, or barren land-cover. This should be completed by December 2012.
2.A 2010 global map of land-cover and land-use types?such as such as urban and built-up areas, agriculture, forests, grasslands, shrublands, water bodies, wetlands, snow and ice, and barren areas– using the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization classification system. This global layer should be completed by December 2013. Once the baselines are established, it is envisioned that the land-cover characteristics product will be updated annually and the land-cover-type map every five years.
http://www.doi.gov/news/doinews/US-Launches-Initiatives-to-Share-Climate-Science-Data.cfm
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