Landsat Missions
November 24, 2008 – Access to Landsat 1-5 Archive
October 1, 2008 – Landsat 7 ETM+ Data Now Available at No Charge
September 15-19, 2008 – LGSOWG-37 Meeting with International Cooperators
The Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group (LGSOWG-37) meeting was organized by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and hosted by the Center for Earth Observation and Digital Earth (CEODE), Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, China, September 15 – 19, 2008.
Participants from 11 countries, including representatives of 17 international ground stations, members of the USGS Landsat and Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Projects, and NASA staff, discussed details regarding Landsats 5 and 7 mission status, no-cost Landsat product distribution, the Landsat Global Archive Consolidation initiative, programmatic issues and future plans.
LDCM sensor and spacecraft development was the primary topic of discussion, supported by presentations on project and ground system status; downlink agreement concepts; ground system and downlink overview; data archive, production and distribution; and Landsat Science Team activities.
International Cooperators reported on the status of their systems, and provided information regarding the business model and organizational structure of their stations. They also addressed future satellite mission and ground system plans of their agencies:
Japan: Presented data distribution status for the Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS), as well as a report from JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency, on current and future earth observation missions.
Germany: Detailed several recent and future programs, including TerraSAR-X (launched June 2007), TanDEM-X (to be launched end of 2009), EnMap (to be launched in 2011), and RapidEye (launched August 29, 2008).
Brazil: Presented the status of the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) 2B, launched September 19, 2007.
Argentina: Reported the status of the Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas-D (SAC-D) spacecraft, scheduled for launch in May 2010.
Europe: The European Space Agency (ESA) briefed the group on the many ESA programs in progress, including the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programs.
Given the Global Earth Observation (GEO) activities in which most countries participate, sharing information about ongoing and future earth imaging programs is of increasing importance.
Figure 1. LGSOWG-37 participants in Shanghai. Photo credit: CEODE
September 17, 2008 – NASA Selects Contractor For LDCM Mission Operations Element (MOE)
July 15-17, 2008 – Landsat Science Team Meeting
July 31, 2008 – RFI: Landsat Raw Data Products
June 6, 2008 – Newly acquired Landsat 7 scenes over Eurasia now available at no charge.
May 7, 2008 – Landsat Satellite Imagery Used to Assess the Impact of Myanmar's Cyclone Nargis
May 2, 2008 – Request For Information: Satellite Ground Station Services for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM)
April 24, 2008 – Landsat Data Continuity Mission USGS Acquisition Strategy for Ground System Segments, LDCC and TSSC Contracts Awarded
April 22, 2008 – NASA Selects Contractor for Landsat Data Continuity Mission Spacecraft
April 22, 2008 – The U.S. House of Representatives honors Landsat on Earth Day.
April 21, 2008 – Imagery for Everyone
March 31, 2008 – Newly acquired Landsat 7 scenes over Africa are now available at no charge.
As Landsat 7 acquires clear scenes over Africa (less than or equal to 20 percent cloud cover), the Landsat Project is automatically processing those scenes to an L1T, applying precision ground control and the SRTM DEM for geometric correction. These scenes are accurate to within 30m. There are four areas of the continent that are still under investigation due to poor geometric adjustments (Nile region, two areas in southern Africa, Madagascar). These will be reprocessed and come online in late May.
Scenes can be found:
GloVis: glovis.usgs.gov, Collection->Landsat Science->Standard L1T
EE: earthexplorer.usgs.gov, under 1. Select your dataset, choose Landsat Science->SLC-off L1T Std L1T
March 26, 2008 – The 17th Landsat Technical Working Group (LTWG) meeting
The 17th Landsat Technical Working Group (LTWG) meeting, organized and hosted by the USGS, was held in Chantilly, Virginia, March 3–7, 2008. International Cooperator (IC) representatives from nine countries and members of the USGS Landsat Project, USGS Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Project, NASA LDCM Project, and NASA Landsat Science Office discussed topics of technical interest. This transitional meeting focused on shifting away from the on-orbit Landsat 5 and 7 missions and toward the LDCM currently under development. A full range of presentations on the LDCM were included in the agenda, and several of the LDCM management and development team members attended to meet the IC representatives. Another transition was in the leadership of the LTWG and Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group (LGSOWG) meetings—from the Landsat Project to the LDCM Project. In addition to the LDCM presentations, other topics covered were the Landsat 5 battery anomaly, the Landsat Pilot Project enabling no-charge data access, the Global Land Survey 2005, data validation and exchange, and the new Landsat 5 calibration parameter files. Also, a USGS Headquarters representative reported on the National Land Imaging Program.
Station reports were focused on addressing a variety of technical issues currently being worked by the Projects. Status reports were given on the China Brazil Earth Resources Satellite 2B (CBERS-2B) program by the Brazil representative, on the Thailand Earth Observation System (THEOS) program by the Thailand delegation, on TerraSAR-X by the German representative, and on the Sentinel program by the representative from the European Space Agency (ESA).
Figure 1. Group picture at Lincoln Memorial |
Figure 2. Group picture at Capitol |
March 10, 2008 – 2008 Pecora Award Nominations
Call for Nominations for 2008 William T. Pecora Award
Deadline: April 30, 2008
The William T. Pecora Award is presented annually to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing. The Department of the Interior (DOI) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) jointly sponsor the award. The award was established in 1974 to honor the memory of Dr. William T. Pecora, former Director of the U.S. Geological Survey and Under Secretary, Department of the Interior. Dr. Pecora was a motivating force behind the establishment of a program for civil remote sensing of the Earth from space. His early vision and support helped establish what we know today as the Landsat satellite program.
The Award Committee must receive nominations for the 2008 award by April 30, 2008. Instructions for preparing a nomination and other information about the award can be found on the Pecora Award web site: http://remotesensing.usgs.gov/pecora.html
Any individual or group working in the field of remote sensing of the Earth is eligible to receive the William T. Pecora Award. An individual award recognizes achievements in the scientific and technical remote sensing community, as well as contributions leading to successful practical applications of remote sensing. Consideration will be given to sustained career achievements or singular contributions of major importance to the field of remote sensing. A group award recognizes a team or part of an organization that has made major breakthroughs in remote sensing science or technology, or developed an innovative application that has a significant impact on the user community or national and international policies. Individual and group achievements should be documented in the open literature.
March 3, 2008 – Request for Proposal: Mission Operations Element
The LDCM Mission Operations Element Request For Proposal was released on March 1, 2008. Please direct any questions regarding this procurement to the Contracting Officer, Michelle McIntyre at Michelle.D.McIntyre@nasa.gov.
February 29, 2008 – Landsat 5 Satellite Back in Action
Orbiter's Designed Three-Year Mission, Begins its 24th Year in Operation March 1
The earth imaging satellite Landsat 5 is once again collecting and downlinking land-image data. The satellite was temporarily taken out of service in October 2007 following a cell failure within one of the satellite's two operating on-board batteries.
USGS Flight Operations Team engineers were forced to discover ways to balance the energy demand of Landsat 5's operational and imaging instrumentation with the satellite's slightly diminished energy storage capacity. The Team's solution was to reconfigure and align Landsat 5's image acquisition schedule and to rely more on direct power from its solar array. Additionally, schedule changes were made to limit imaging during the winter months and to resume all routine imaging over the continental U.S. from March through September. Some concessions will also be made to limit imaging over international sites.
Restoration of Landsat 5's image data collection and data transfer capability is considered essential by many federal, state and local government and civilian land and resource agency managers in managing response to wildfires, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes and other disasters. Since its launch on March 1, 1984, Landsat 5 has provided more than 600,000 individual images, recording clear-cutting and recovery conditions of rain forests, near- and long-term effects of the Chernobyl explosion, before-and-after records of Hurricane Katrina's impact, as well as more subtle natural and human-induced changes to the global land surface. In addition to these emergency and management applications of Landsat imagery, millions of people each day use web based mapping products supported by this and other imagery data to get where they want to go.
While the design life of Landsat 5 was only 3 years, this remarkable satellite is likely to produce imagery for a few more years. Landsat 7, launched in 1999, continues to provide the global science community with worldwide seasonal images, however, it too is operating in a slightly diminished capacity.
In an effort to ensure the continuation and improvement of global and National land imaging products and services to its users beyond the life of Landsat 5 and Landsat 7, the President recently announced a new budget initiative to create the National Land Imaging Program (NLIP) in the Department of the Interior.
NLIP planning is underway and will be designed to ensure the continuing operational and research needs for moderate resolution and multispectral land imaging products and services are met and provided to federal and civilian users.
NLIP will be responsible for the deployment and operation of future U.S.-owned, civil operational land imaging satellites and ground system assets and will be directed to facilitate the development and promotion of future land imaging technologies, applications and services to support the growing number of users.
Real-time and recent U.S. images collected by Landsats 5 and 7 are available for viewing on the USGS EarthNow! website, and archive images from both satellites can be previewed and ordered at EarthExplorer or at the USGS Global Visualization Viewer.
USGS press release: http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1881
January 25, 2008 – Landsat 5 Update
The USGS is pleased to announce that Landsat 5 tested imaging with the Thematic Mapper on January 10, 2008 during a pass over Brazil and Argentina.
Landsat 5 imaging was suspended on October 6, 2007 due to a loss of a cell within one of two batteries. The Landsat Flight Operations Team has determined the status of the power system and potential solutions for maximum imaging operations. We are still in a testing phase, as the new battery configuration is being characterized. Experts in Thematic Mapper data have determined that the sensor is operating normally. We expect to return to a new operational state in upcoming weeks.
January 22, 2008 – High Volume Distribution for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is requesting information from individuals and organizations with an interest in accessing and regularly acquiring large volumes of data from the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) earth science data archive. The attached request for information (RFI) is being issued in support of ongoing requirements definition activities for the LDCM ground system. User feedback from this survey will be used in defining and prioritizing potential high volume data distribution requirements and associated future system implementation efforts for the LDCM ground system.
The USGS LDCM Project welcomes your written response to the questions included in the RFI by March 1, 2008. Please send your response to the point of contact given below. Electronic responses via email are preferred.
Mr. John Dwyer January 17, 2008 – Landsat Data Policy Released
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://landsat.usgs.gov
Page Contact Information: landsat@usgs.gov
Page Last Modified: November 23, 2009
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