LANDSAT DATA CONTINUITY STRATEGY (OSTP)
The U.S. Government will have to modify its strategy in to preserve the
collection of Landsat data, according to a recent memorandum from the
director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
"After careful consideration in interagency discussions, all parties
agreed that adjustments to the current near-term strategy and
development of a new long-term strategy are required in order to
ensure the continuity of Landsat-type data," wrote Dr. John H.
Marburger III.
See his December 23 memo on Landsat Data Continuity Strategy Adjustment
here:
http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2005/12/ostp122305.pdf
Unbelievable.
They should have done this two or three years...I don't see how we will have a continuous Landsat dataset having to start development of a new platform now.
ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE BROUGHT BACK FROM THE BRINK
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Two months shy of its 22nd birthday, the Landsat 5 Earth observatory has a
new lease on life after controllers dodged a potentially fatal bullet
involving a crucial mechanism in charge of pivoting the craft's solar
array.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0601/27landsat5/
NASA GSFC Solicitation: LANDSAT Data Continuity Mission
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=19712
This image of Kebira Crater on the NASA Earth Observatory Web site
is from Landsat 7, taken on March 15, 2001:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17208
To quote:
But why had no one noticed the giant Kebira crater before? El-Baz speculates that the crater’s massive size hid it in plain view. “The search for craters typically concentrates on small features, especially those that can be identified on the ground. The advantage of a view from space is that it allows us to see regional patterns and the big picture,” he said in a Boston University press release. Also, the double-ringed crater sits in sandstone that is 100 million years old, which means that the impact probably occurred around 100 million years ago. In the intervening time, wind and water have worn features of the crater away, making it hard to identify. For example, the beds of two ancient rivers run from east to west across the crater, leaving two gaps in the inner ring on the upper right side.
70,000 American football fields could fit in this crater.
NASA Altering Its Contract Approach For Procuring Landsat Replacement
http://www.space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_060925.html
NASA and USGS Announce Media Briefing: How Will We Sustain a More Populated Planet?
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=35225
Expanding demand from a growing world population -- now numbered at over 7 billion -- exerts unprecedented pressure on global resources, especially forests, water, and agriculture. Observing our world by remote sensing satellites enables scientists around the world to detect the most critical trends in natural resource conditions at local to global scales. Since 1972, the Landsat Earth observation satellites have monitored changes at the Earth's land surface, including changes in forests, water bodies and agricultural and urban areas.
Using the nearly 40 year global Landsat record in combination with other Earth observation systems and the latest scientific techniques in Earth imaging, experts in mapping and monitoring our planet will describe present conditions and outline the future of many of Earth's natural resources.
- Alan Belward, European Commission Joint Research Centre
- Matthew Hansen, University of Maryland, College Park
- James Irons, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Curtis Woodcock, Boston University
- Thomas Loveland, U.S. Geological Survey, moderator
Local reporters can attend the press event at the Pecora Remote Sensing Symposium, Hilton Washington Dulles Hotel, Herndon, Va., in the Potomac Ballroom, on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 12 p.m. EST. Reporters wishing to participate via telecom should call 1-888-469-0941. Outside of the U.S. call 415-228-3913, passcode "Landsat" for both lines. Reporters can follow this event at: www.nasa.gov/landsat.
Video of the press briefing will be streamed live at:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-gsfc
The ustream was hard to listen to but significant stuff here. We now have more than 40 years of 30 meters of Earth monitoring... being made available for free.
Landsat may end after Landsat 8, and that, given the challenges facing us in the 21st century, would be a tragedy.
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