Toward an operational land remote sensing system of systems

Presented by

Ray Byrnes

USGS Land Remote Sensing Program

to

NSLRSDA Advisory Committee

Washington, D.C. April 12, 2005

Outline

• Brief program overview • Impact of the FY06 budget• What does operational mean?• Science needs• Policy drivers• A vision for the future• Next steps

Land Remote Sensing Program Goals

From USGS Geography Science Plan:– 7: Observe the Earth at all scales using remote sensing

to understand the human and environmental dynamics of land change.

LRS program as an asset to the Bureau and Department:– Identify and serve Bureau and Department

requirements– Provide data, information, service and science– Remove barriers to the use of remote sensing

technology

LRS Program Components

• Satellite Mission Operations– Landsat 5 / Landsat 7 end-to-end operations– EO-1 ground data processing system operations

• Long-term Data Preservation and Access– NSLRSDA– Landsat Mission Archive

• Remote Sensing Research and Data Utilization– Education and Outreach– Investigations, Research, and Applications

Remote Sensing Research and Data Utilization

• National Civil Applications Program (NCAP)– Civil access to National Technical Means data

• Hazard / Emergency Response• Homeland Security Support• Technology Investigations

• Commercial Imagery– Commercial Remote Sensing Space Policy Implementation– Calibration/Validation

• Future Missions– Landsat Data Continuity– InSAR– LIDAR

• AmericaView– Global Visualization– MODIS Direct Broadcast Operations– Education Support

Remote Sensing Research and Data Utilization

• Understand and characterize new sensors– Characterized commercial satellite data (JACIE Team)– Investigating new ground-based radiometers

• Develop new uses/understanding of remotely sensed data– Extracting Impervious Surface Info from Multi & Hyperspectral Data– Defining Landscape Characteristics from Remote Sensing Data in

Support of Human Health Investigations– Developing RADAR data applications– Developing multi-sensor applications for Landscape and Regional

Quantification of Climate Change Impacts and Carbon Dynamics– Mapping Invasive Species with Hyperspectral Data

Remote Sensing Research and Data Utilization

• Help DOI agencies use remotely sensed information– Hydrologic Derivatives from SRTM, IFSAR, and LIDAR

– Subsidence Studies of Coastal Regions Using InSAR

– InSAR Monitoring of Earthquake, Volcano, & Landslide Processes

– Analysis of High Resolution LIDAR for Extracting Land Surface Information

– Predicting Soil Suitability for Application of Coal bed Methane Produced Water using Hyperspectral Data

FY06 budget

• Requests $7.45 M for Landsat Data Continuity Mission– Start building a ground processing system for data that

will begin to arrive in mid FY10

• Requests $12 M for Landsat operations– Solves Landsat data sales “shortfall” with $6M added

to “base” + $6M to repay FY05 “loan”

LDCM Ground System Cost

$0.00

$5.00

$10.00

$15.00

$20.00

$25.00

$ Millions

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

What led to the FY06 budget?

32 years of continuous Landsat observations– Near-universal recognition of Landsat data value

– USGS in leadership role since 2000

– 18 months of debate by White House sponsored interagency working group

– Input from user community to OSTP

– OSTP memo (Aug. 13, 2004) on Landsat Data Continuity Strategy

Landsat Data Continuity Strategy

• Memorandum from OSTP (Aug. 13, 2004) states that:– Landsat is a national asset– Sets as goal of the USG an operational Landsat program

– Incorporate Landsat sensors on NPOESS platforms

“Any disruption in the continuous availability of Landsat imagery, products and value-added services will adversely affect governmental, international, and other users and may limit use of the global data set for certain types of scientific analysis.

In order to maintain Landsat’s legacy of continual, comprehensive coverage of the Earth’s surface, the United States Government will transition the Landsat program from a series of independently planned missions to a sustained operational program and establish a long-term plan for the continuity of Landsat observations.” Dr. John Marburger Director, OSTP

FY06 budget impact

• Clear Administration position on Landsat

• Landsat/Land Remote Sensing as a core component of DOI

• Dr. Marburger has indicated that we should define what an operational Landsat program means.– “… a blank whiteboard …”

What does “operational” mean?

• “…expect land data just like you would weather data…” Brett Alexander (OSTP) – Daily, cheaply, continuously– Current and planned studies:

• "Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the future” (NAS)

• “Characteristics of an Operational Land Remote Sensing System” (Rand/USGS; proposed)

• “Landsat Data Alternatives” (USGS/NASA)• Commercial Remote Sensing Data requirements definition

(USGS/Federal Civil community CRSSP implementation)

Science Needs

Biology Gap Analysis Biology Breeding Bird Survey

Water Occurance and Distribution of

Pesticides

Geography Habitat Suitablity for Valley Fever and

West Nile Virus Biology Hemlock Defoliation

FWS Forest Breeding Bird Habitat

Biology Amphibian Research and Monitoring

BLM Wetland Identification

Geography Burn Severity Mapping

Examples of DOI uses of Landsat data (DOI Land Cover Summit January 25-26, 2005)

Policy Drivers• Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992

• GEOSS 10-year plan– http://earthobservations.org/

• Strategic Plan for US Integrated Earth Observation System– http://iwgeo.ssc.nasa.gov/

• Commercial Remote Sensing Space Policy– http://crssp.usgs.gov/

• US Space Policy (pre-decisional)– DOI/USGS to have responsibility for land surface data acquired

from space and operational land surface data requirements

Operational = Landsat + X

• Solve for “X”• Landsat is critical but, not enough

– Some user needs not fully met– Landsat has evolved since its inception

• What should the next system(s) look like?

– No single system will meet all needs

• “X” = GEOSS (i.e. a system of systems)– USGS intends to play lead role in operational land remote sensing – Data gap study to become GEOSS pilot project

Then…and Now

• September 1966– Secretary of the Interior announces a US program to

view the earth from space

• September 2006– Secretary of the Interior announces operational

program for integrated (remote and in-situ) Earth observation incorporating full and open sharing of data with other nations

Vision

• A DOI-centric, operational Earth Observation System (of systems)– Needs of DOI users form primary requirements– Anchored by Landsat: consistent, high-quality, calibrated, seasonal,

global data

• “Gaps” filled by other systems– International Moderate Resolution Data: smallsats, global coverage– US Commercial High Resolution Data: monitoring-site/event- specific

data– Future U.S. moderate resolution systems (smallsats) ?

• Buy data to influence future system development– Commercial satellite coverage becoming more affordable – Today’s smallsats cost less than $10 million

Satellite-mania!

Next Steps

• Advisory Committee review of data gap study• Prepare for a short-term data gap

– Select high-resolution sampling sites– Accelerate calibration studies of foreign data sources

• IRS, SPOT, CBERS, ALOS

• Develop 10-year roadmap– Aggressively pursue broad NSLRSDA data distribution

policies with commercial providers– Data sharing agreements with foreign data providers

• Data “rescue” from foreign Landsat stations

– Influence (FUND) next generation operational systems• Create market for operational providers (high and mod.-res.):

LDCM done small

Back-up Material

Geography Science Plan Goals– 1: Characterize and quantify land surface status and trends to provide a framework for understanding change

patterns and processes from local to global scales– 2: Identify local, regional, national, and global drivers of land change to model and forecast plausible land

change scenarios– 3: Understand past, present, and future consequences of land change and its effects on the economy, resources,

people and the environment– 4: Improve the scientific basis for vulnerability and risk assessment, mitigation, response, and recovery related

to the human and environmental dynamics of land change– 5:Apply credible and accessible geographic research, tools, and methods to support decisionmaking related to

the human and environmental consequences of land change.– 6: Develop and test hypotheses about the use of geographic regions to understand the human and environmental

dynamics of land change.

– 7: Observe the Earth at all scales using remote sensing to understand the human and environmental dynamics of land change.

– 8: Provide timely, intelligent access to new and archived USGS geographic data needed to conduct science and support policy decisions.

– 9: Develop innovative methods of modeling and information synthesis, fusion, and visualization to improve our ability to explore geographic data and create new knowledge.

Next Steps• Intra-program

– Re-establish LRS Advisory Panel• Participants from all disciplines and all regions

– Training program than meets requirements of other programs• SRTM, Lidar (II), Land Cover, Radar

• Bureau– Co-Chair CENR Earth Observation subcommittee– Strategic partnership with NOAA

• IOOS, Landsat, hazard warning