Introductionthe premise behind this poster

Historysome Landsat background

Landsat Data Usersa look at current Landsat applications

Anatomy of a Success Storythe Foreign Agriculture Service story

Published Commentarywhat have the experts written?

Expert Surveyopinions of scientists and managers

Conclusionswhat does this tell us?

Referencesand acknowledgments

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Introduction Science has long served humankind.Breakthroughs in medicine have increasedlongevity while advances in technologyhave made modern-day conveniences pos-sible. The social benefits that arise from theenvironmental sciences, while equallyimportant, are often less obvious. To bene-fit today’s rapidly growing world, thedivide between environmental researchand the implementation and appreciationof applied environmental science must bebridged. Here, we look at Landsat’s longhistory, dissect theanatomy of one ofLandsat’s social benefitsuccess stories, and wedraw on the advice ofLandsat experts to out-line some of the importantsteps needed to facilitate moreusable Landsat science.

Many lessons about the translation fromresearch to usable science can be learnedfrom the four decades of Landsat history.In 1965, William Pecora, then-director ofthe U.S. Geological Survey, proposed theidea of a remote sensing satellite programto gather facts about the natural resourcesof Earth. For the next seven years, anintense campaign showing the depth anddiversity of satellite imagery applicationswas waged. This led to the 1972 launch ofthe first civilian Earth-observing satellite,Landsat 1. By 1975, successful applicationresearch based on Landsat 1 imagery

prompted then-NASA Administrator Dr.James Fletcher to proclaim that if onespace age development would save theworld, it would be Landsat and its succes-sor satellites. Landsat gave the world thefirst unabridged perspective of human-induced large-scale environmentalchanges, from the swift expansion ofdesert-cities like Phoenix, Arizona and LasVegas, Nevada to the deforestation of theAmazon rain forest and the disappearanceof the Aral Sea.

Thirty-four years of continual Landsatimaging and related-research has lead to

the implementation of many sociallybeneficial applications, such as

improved water managementtechniques, crop insurance fraud

reduction, illicit crop invento-ries, natural disaster relief

planning, continent-scalecarbon estimates, andextensive cartographicadvances.

Yet the debate continuesabout the future of mid-reso-

lution remote sensing in the U.S., making itclear that the benefits of Landsat applica-tions are not readily known or appreciatedoutside of the remote sensing community.The social benefits of Landsat often seemto get lost in translation between the pub-lish-heavy research realm and the self-con-tained applications world.

History Since the early 1970s, the Landsat series ofsatellites has collected information aboutEarth from space in the form of specializeddigital photographs of the planet’s conti-nents and surrounding coastal regions.These images have enabled scientists tostudy the Earth’s land surface and to evalu-ate dynamic changes caused by both natu-ral processes and human practices.

The idea that remote sensing could benefitsociety largely fueled the conception ofthe Landsat program. Orbital photographyof Earth taken during the early manned-space missions convinced land manage-ment agencies that planetary naturalresources could be better monitored fromthe vantage point of space. Plus, the imageof our home planet floating in the vastblackness of space helped the nation real-ize human dependence and impact onEarth’s life-sustaining ecosystem.

Today, we look to Earth to provide food,water and shelter for over six billion peo-ple. Preserving the human species meansensuring the sustainability of naturalresources and protecting people from nat-ural and man-made disasters. Both requireaccurate geospatial information.

Landsat-1, -2, and –3 were launchedby NASA in the 1970sLandsat-1 was launched in 1972, heraldinga new age of remote sensing of land fromspace. Landsat-1, -2 and -3, were consid-ered experimental projects and were over-seen by NASA. After being declared opera-tional in 1979, responsibility shifted to theNational Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA), the agency operat-ing the weather satellites.

Landsat-4 and -5 were launched byNASA in the 1980sWhile NOAA was charged with Landsatsatellite operations, NASA was chargedwith the building and launching ofLandsat-4 and -5. Both carried an improvedsensor that could see a wider (and morescientifically tailored) portion of the elec-tromagnetic spectrum and see the groundin greater detail.

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

“The continuous, consistentarchive that has been generat-

ed throughout the life of theLandsat project provides the

unique capability to assesschanges in the landscape of

our planet”–Shaida Johnston,

former Landsat-7 senior systems engineer

and space policy expert

The era of commercializationBased on Landsat’s early success, Congressdecided land satellites could be commer-cialized. But, the 1984 law gave the operat-ing company, EOSAT, limited commercialfreedom. Given these constraints, EOSATraised image prices from $650 to $4400and restricted redistribution, this practicepriced out many data users. (As a result,many data users migrated to the free low-resolution land data being captured bymeteorological satellites.) During theEOSAT commercialization era, Landsatstandards languished. Many observationsfrom 1984 to 1999 were missed becausethere was no immediate buyer. Eight yearslater, the Bush I Administration facilitatedthe Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of1992, which recognized that the commer-cialization of Landsat had not worked andinstructed Landsat Program Managementto build a government-owned Landsat-7.

Landsat-6 fails at launchIn 1993, EOSAT’s Landsat-6 failed at launchafter not reaching the velocity necessaryto obtain orbit. So, with Landsat-4 and -5both beyond their design lives, the loss ofLandsat-6, and a nascent Landsat-7 pro-gram, it seemed that a data gap was immi-nent. Somehow, Landsat-5 continued tooperate (and operates to this day).“Thefact that we haven’t had a [Landsat data]gap so far is more a function of the incredi-ble engineering of Landsat-5 and goodluck, than the result of good planning andstewardship,” the L7 project scientist says.

Landsat-7 launched in 1999; a shin-ing success until 2003 anomalyLandsat-7 launched in 1999 despite jug-gling of program management. Landsat-7’s consistent global archiving scheme andreduced pricing led to a large increase ofLandsat data users. The Landsat-7 missionwent flawlessly until May 2003 when ahardware component failure left wedge-shaped spaces of missing data on eitherside of Landsat-7’s images. Today, withLandsat-7 limping along past its design lifeand Landsat-5 well beyond its design life, aLandsat data gap again seems imminent.

“For the generations that fol-low us, and decision makerswho must consider issues of

population, food supply,fresh water and the overall

condition of Earth’s environ-ment, finding an effective

means to continue theLandsat observatory as a

means to monitor our homeplanet is vital”

–Goward and Masek (2001)

Bridging the Divide:Translating Landsat Research Into Usable Science

L. Rocchio and A. Davis, presented at the AGU Fall 2006 Meetingcontact: Laura.E.Rocchio.1@gsfc.nasa.gov

Data Users Analysis of Landsat users by applicationcan give us some insight into understand-ing how Landsat data is applied to realworld problems. Here we look at two suchanalyses.

Landsat data are distributed by the USGSEarth Resources and Observation Science(EROS) center in Sioux Falls, SD. Resultsfrom a recent USGS Landsat data usercharacterization (by units purchased) of193 unique customers are presented here(Krause, 2006). Defense/Security,Agriculture, and Environmental applica-tions dominate.

This summer the American Society forPhotogrammetric Engineering andRemote Sensing conduced a Landsat usersurvey for the Office of Science andTechnology Policy (OSTP) Future of LandImaging working group. Nearly 1300 datausers responded. Environmental, mapping,agriculture, and forestry applications domi-nated.

Anatomy of aSuccess Story

As shown in both the USGS and ASPRSuser studies, agriculture is one of the majorLandsat applications. Here we dissect oneof Landsat’s applied science success storiesto learn why.

The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) ofthe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)has the responsibility of providing marketintelligence in the form of timely, objec-tive, unclassified, global crop condition andproduction estimates, for all major com-modities, for all foreign countries. Toaccomplish this Herculean task, FAS syn-thesizes information from its global net-work of marketing experts, agriculturaleconomists, meteorologists and remotesensing scientists.

While FAS attachés collect crop productioninformation from foreign governmentreports and fields visits, it is the compre-hensive view afforded by space-basedEarth-observing satellites, such as Landsat,that provide the unbiased, global, farm-level observations necessary to objectivelyverify these reports. Unbiased report verifi-cation means food supply estimates canbe used with confidence.

“Less confidence in the food supply trans-lates into more volatile markets wherefood shortages and over-stocks are morelikely to occur,” says Brad Doorn, aTechnical Remote Sensing Coordinatorwith FAS.

After three decades of dedicated Landsatdata analysis, FAS has been forced to nowuse data from international satellites to fillthe gap left by the crippled Landsat-7satellite.

A look at Landsat history gives us some clues as towhy Landsat was able to become such an integralpart of the FAS workflow.

“The societal applications thisprogram generated are so

compelling that internationalsystems have proliferated to

carry on the tasks initiatedwith Landsat data.”

–Lauer et al. (1997)

An interdisciplinary approachIn 1965, Prof. Ralph Shay, the Head ofPurdue’s School of Electrical Engineeringschool told young electrical engineers thatby collaborating with agriculturalists theycould create better agriculture manage-ment information with remotely senseddata and create knowledge necessary tosolve a societal problem (Landgrebe,2005).

Embracing changeShortly thereafter at Purdue University,interdisciplinary research into the monitor-ing of crops began. In late 1970, a deadlycorn blight, known as Southern Corn LeafBlight, was discovered that threatened U.S.corn crops nationwide. Airborne spectralsensors from Purdue were used to monitorand track the spread of the blight over the1971 growing season. Because the datacould discriminate between severaldegrees of blight infestation before visiblesigns presented, skeptical USDA officialsdeemed the experiment a success(Landgrebe, 2005).

Large-scale application-focusedexperimentsA series of large-scale experiments tookplace during the 1970s and 1980s. Amongthese were the Large Area Crop InventoryExperiment (LACIE) and the Agricultureand Resources Inventory Surveys ThroughAerospace Remote Sensing (AgRISTARS).LACIE (begun in 1974) tested and demon-strated a real-time capability for inventory-ing crop production. AgRISTARS (begun in1980) extended crop commodity forecast-ing abilities.

Data fusionNo sensor is an island. FAS synthesizesinformation from its global network ofmarketing experts, agricultural economists,meteorologist and remote sensing scien-tists. This is key; Landsat data should beconsidered an important data set within asuite of discipline-specific ancillary data(demographics, property boundaries,weather conditions, etc.)

“No other data set allows usto assess the human condi-

tion so effectively,”–Kass Green (2006)

19%

17%

16%7%

6%

5%

Landsat Data Usage by Application (USGS FY99–FY05)

Landsat Data Usage by Application (ASPRS Survey)

Environmental Category Breakdown (ASPRS Survey)

20%

17%

11%11%

7%

7%

6%

PublishedCommentary

Here we look at published advice onincreasing the applied use of Landsat data.These articles were all published in peer-reviewed literature over the past decade.The nature of the problem and the pro-posed solutions are outlined below.

from: Multispectral Land Sensing: WhereFrom, Where to? David Landgrebe, 2005

PROBLEMS• Delays in getting data to user• Expensive data • Limited data coverage“Indeed it would not seem prudent for anyagency to establish the infrastructure to relyon Landsat or any other such single satelliteto meet a continuing need for informationsince any one satellite can fail at any time,and historically, there has been a very longdelay in the replacing a failed one.”

SOLUTIONS• More satellites (20!)• More spectral bands• Minimal data cost• Better data analysis algorithms

Required: “an analysis procedure that any ofa large and diverse user community withonly layman signal processing skills coulduse effectively. The analogy I have used withmy students is that one should not have tounderstand the theory of internal combus-tion engines to drive a car.”

from: The Availability of Landsat Data: Past,Present, and FutureDraeger et al., 1997

PROBLEM and SOLUTION• Data distribution

“It has long been recognized that the successof the Landsat program would depend on aneffective distribution of its data to a wide vari-ety of users, worldwide in a timely manner.”

from: Landsat in Context: The Land RemoteSensing Business ModelKass Green, 2006

PROBLEMS• Data too coarse• Early technology adoption barriers:

computing power• No institutional support• Shallow, narrow and fragmented base

of users• Data too expensive• Data policy too restrictive

“Landsat’s base of support has been shallow,narrow, and fragmented. The user base wasinitially made up of scientist and the difficul-ty of working with the data slowed its adop-tion for many years. Then, seven years of ill-conceived “commercialization” resulted inLandsat prices and licensing terms whichstagnated the adoption of the imagery.Without a strong user base, the institutionalframework supporting Landsat has beenweak from the beginning.”

WHAT HAS HELPED?• Higher resolution data• Incorporation of geographic informa-

tion systems (GIS) into image classifi-cation allowing for the integration of context and location

• Development of exponentially faster computers with larger hard drives and more memory

• Computer algorithms that increased the accuracy of terrain correction andimagery registration

• Development of more robust image classification software

“Be it food security, disaster preparedness,urban planning, endangered species protec-tion, water quality, or battle field situationalanalysis, the users of Landsat data, and par-ticularly Landsat in combination with highresolution data, have exploded and the userbase is becoming politically motivated.”

Expert Survey The assertionDespite thirty-four years of continualLandsat imaging, Landsat related-research,and the implementation of many sociallybeneficial Landsat applications (such asimproved water management techniques,foreign crop inventories, natural disasterrelief planning, continent-scale carbon esti-mates, extensive cartographic advances,etc.), the use of Landsat data has remainedlargely in the research realm and, even inthis geospatially-savvy era, the utility ofLandsat largely escapes policy makers.

The survey questionsDo you agree with the assertion?

If you agree:(1) Why do you believe this is the case?

(2) What steps do you feel could be taken to facilitate more application-based uses of Landsat data?

(3) What steps do you feel could be taken to facilitate the use of Landsat in real-world problem solving?

If you disagree, can you explain the reasonsyou feel the above statement is incorrect?

“One of the most challengingproblems for the future in sup-plying remote sensing data to

the user is the need to keep thematerial simple, to deliver it in

an uncomplicated form, thenmake it easy to use… a real

need exists for new and moretimely sources of environmen-tal and resource information.”

–William T. Pecora (1972)

The “problem”The use of Landsat data has remained large-ly in the research realm and, even in thisgeospatially-savvy era, the utility of Landsatlargely escapes policy makers.

The answersThese survey questions were sent out to36 Landsat scientists and managers, ofthose, 15 experts responded. None of theresponders disagreed with the assertion,however, a few people agreed only partial-ly and a couple others were uncertain.Responders attributed the problem toeight major causes (89% of responses).Among these categories, prohibitive datacost, data use difficulty, and Landsat’s non-operational status accounted for over halfof the responses. While the specifics of theresponder suggestions for more problem-solving and application-based uses ofLandsat varied significantly, all of theiradvice fell neatly into six major categories.

Wil

lia

mT

.P

ec

or

a

Expert Affiliation

Agreement Nature of the Problem Proposed Solutions

“I believe that we are justcoming into the era wherebywe are making effective use

of Landsat data for opera-tional mapping and monitor-

ing. It has certainly taken along time to get to this point,

but it is important to recog-nize that there have been

substantial hurdles to usingLandsat data for operationalland cover work during much

of the thirty-four years ofcontinual Landsat imaging.”

–James Vogelmann

Conclusions From the moment of conception on, thedesire for socially beneficial informationhas been ingrained in the Landsat pro-gram concept. Unfortunately, 34 years afterthe launch of Landsat 1, the use of Landsatdata has remained largely in the researchrealm and, even in this geospatially-savvyera, the utility of Landsat largely escapespolicy makers. Based on analysis ofLandsat’s long history, published commen-tary, and this expert survey, we can drawthe following conclusions:

Get data into the hands of users

The applied use of Landsat data hinges onthe ability of people who work in diversefields to access and use the data. Minimaldata cost, easy data access, and user-friendly tools are important ingredients.Additionally, data must be offered in aneasy to use format. Ideally, the data shouldbe terrain corrected and already convertedinto a product such as reflectance, vegeta-tion index values, or land cover classifica-tions: give the user the information theywant, not digital numbers that must beprocessed to be understood. And, datashould be offered in a digital format, suchas GeoTIFF, that is easily parsed by manycommon software packages.

Operational assurances

Assurance of an operational mid-resolution sen-sor will enable many groups to incorporateLandsat-like data into their everyday operationswithout fear that they are becoming reliant on afinite resource.A 2005 Office of Science andTechnology Policy memorandum stated: “itremains the goal of the U.S.Government to tran-sition the Landsat program from a series of inde-pendently planned missions to a sustained oper-ational program funded and managed by a U.S.Government operational agency or agencies,international consortium,and/or commercialpartnership.”An interagency Future of LandImaging (FLI) working group has been assem-bled to discuss the feasibility of an operationalland imaging program.

Technical improvements

The upcoming Landsat Data ContinuityMission (LDCM) will include two new spec-tral bands. Technical improvementsbeyond LDCM will be discussed by the FLIworking group.

Data fusion & interdisciplinary approach

Landsat satellite information is best used in syn-thesis with other associated geospatial data.With increasingly available and accessible geo-graphic information systems (GIS)—like GoogleEarth—the ability to bring together geospatialdata from many sources is growing.

Research & outreach focused onapplied data use

The role of application-aimed researchcannot be understated. Just as the LACIEresearch lead to the Landsat success storyfeatured in this poster, more researchgeared towards producing Landsat appli-cations is needed. This may take changingthe way the Landsat science teams areselected and it may mean that the criteriafor Landsat-related research grants need tobe adjusted. As said by one of the surveyresponders,“Part of the issue lies in theresearch done by faculty at universitiesand by staff at government agencies andcorporations. That research is always push-ing the edges, using new systems, tryingnew approaches to improve on past work.Unfortunately, there is not a lot of crossingt's and dotting i's that is needed to createan application.” –Kurt Thome

“There needs to be a continued effort to edu-cate the general public as well as students inthe role of Landsat in solving problems thatimpact them directly.”–Eric Brown de Colstoun

References ASPRS, Report to the Future Land Imaging Working Group on The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Survey on the Future of Land Imaging. Nov. 6, 2006.

Draeger, W., T. Holm, D. Lauer, R. J.Thompson,“The Availability of Landsat Data: Past, Present, and Future.” Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, vol.63, no. 7, pp. 869-875, July 1997.

Goward, S and J. Masek,“Landsat––30 yearsand counting.” Remote Sensing of Environment, vol. 78, no. 1-2, pp. 1-2,Oct. 2001.

Green, K.,“Landsat in Context: The Land Remote Sensing Business Model.”Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, vol. 72, no. 10, pp.1147-1153, October 2006.

Krause, A.,“Landsat Data Characterization by Application.” USGS EROS Internal Publication, 2006.

Landgrebe, D.,“Multispectral Land Sensing:Where From, Where to?” IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Vol. 43, No. 3, March 2005.

Landgrebe, D.,“The Evolution of Landsat Data Analysis.” Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, vol. 63,no. 7, pp. 859-867, July 1997.

Marburger, J., Landsat Data Continuity Policy, Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy, 13 August 2004.

Pecora, W., Remote Sensing of Earth Resources: Users, Prospects and Plans,NASA’s Long-Range Earth Resources Survey Program, Thirteenth Meeting,Panel on Science and Technology Committee on Science and Astronautics,U.S.House of Representatives,25 January.U.S. Government Printing Office,Washington,D.C.,8p.,1972.

“Advances in computersand software coupled with

the price reductions andthe elimination of licens-ing restrictions following

the launch of Landsat-7have allowed organiza-

tions to incorporateLandsat data into their

day-to-day operations.”–Kass Green (2006)

Williams, D. and S. Goward,“Landsat:Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.”Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, vol. 72, no. 10, pp.1171-1178, October 2006.

AcknowledgmentsMany thanks to

Ron Beck,Robert Bindschadler,

Ray Byrnes,Robert Cahalan,

Jon Christopherson,Eric Brown de Colstoun,

John Faundeen,Stan Freden,Brij Gambhir,James Irons,

Shaida Johnston,David Landgrebe,

Locke Stuart,Kurtis Thome,

Jim Tucker,James Vogelmann.

1

2

3

5

4