Landsat Civil Agency Meeting
NASA Headquarters
November 15, 1996
Minutes of the Meeting
- Attending (Name/Organization):
- Tom Bickerton:WAB/USDA
- Steve Covington: AERO/GSFC
- Ken Dolan: NASA/GSFC
- Chuck Dull: USFS/USDA
- John Faundeen: HSTX/GSFC
- Tom Holm: USGS/EDC
- George Komar: NASA/GSFC
- Frank Looney: NIMA
- Mike Mignogno: NOAA/NESDIS
- Larry Pettinger: USGS/DOI
- Phil Sabelhaus: NASA/GSFC
- Ed Sheffner: JCWS/NASA ARC
- Bill Stein: NIMA
- Bill Stoney: MITRETEK Systems
- Jim Thomas: NOAA/NMFS
- R.J. Thompson: USGS/EDC
- Jay Tullos: SITAC
- Darrel Williams NASA/GSFC
- Greg Williams: NASA/MTPE
AGENDA
- Review of events since last meeting - G. Komar
- Update on Landsat 7 - P. Sabelhaus
- Landsat activities at NOAA - M. Mignogno
- Remote sensing training opportunities - J. Tullos
- Landsat 7 activities at EDC - RJ Thompson and T. Holm
- Landsat science report - D. Williams
- Landsat advisory process - E. Sheffner
- Remarks/discussion - G. Komar
1. G. Komar (meeting chair): Review of events since last meeting (March 21, 1996)
- Landsat Technical Working Group met in Annapolis. Issues discussed included standard formats for metadata, browse and image transfer. (4/15-17)
- Level 1 processing added to Landsat Ground System requirements (5/2)
- Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group met in South Africa (5/21-24)
- Pecora Conference in Sioux Falls (8/20-23)
- New Landsat Science Team held initial meeting (10/15-17)
- NASA reorganization
- Office of Mission to Planet Earth (OMPTE )- Dr. Kennel has returned to academia. Bill Townsend is now acting associate administrator. Annoucement of permanent successor to Dr. Kennel is not imminent.
- Major activity in OMPTE regarding program development and management is now at GSFC in Code 170.
- Personnel changes at GSFC: Rick Obenschain has moved from Landsat 7 Project Manager to Manager of EOSDIS. Phil Sabelhaus has replaced him in Landsat Project.
- Congressional report on options for Landsat 7 follow-on:
- Schedule for completion of the report has been established. The report will be worked on in relation to the biennial review.
- NASA will evaluate the four options specified in the 1992 law. New Millenium will also work into this report as well as the data buy.
- Recommendation in the report may be to wait at least one year to examine the results of commerical ventures, new satellites, etc. before commiting to "Landsat 8"
- NASA, et al. are considering sponsoring a conference in 1997 to update the 1995 land satellite meeting.
- Biennial review of MTPE:
- Examine current state of remote sensing from space - all aspects, and recommend agency actions. Five teams - Interagency, Tech Development, Science Requirements, etc.
- The work for the review has started. The teams will meet December through February. Series of internal and external reviews in March and April, and final review in June/July to support FY99 budget submittal.
- Rich Beck, GSFC will run the interagency group. He will extend invitations to specific groups, but any interested parties should contact him. 301-286-0008
2. Phil Sabelhaus: Status of Landsat 7
- Recent administrative changes in the project:
- Sabelhaus replaced Obenschain as project manager
- M. Fontaine new deputy for resources
- L7 system concept changes
- addition of L1 processor: Limited Level 1 processing (up to 25 scenes per day) will be accomplished by the EOS Data and Information Systems (ESDIS) project
- addition of ground stations in Alaska and Spitsbergen (EOS stations modified to handle Landsat)
- Program status
- Mission to Planet Earth program now operated from GSFC
- MTPE is committed to full funding of Landsat development
- Acquisition of an advanced flight operations team
- Program is on schedule for launch in May, 1998.
- Spacecraft status
- Spacecraft integration began in June
- Initiated near term scedule accelerations to ensure May 1998 launch
- Spacecraft delivery date is 11/97 but several months of contingency is included.
- Instrument status
- Technical problems have delayed deleivery of instrument. Current estimate is January, 1997
- All hardware has been delivered and final system integration is in process
- Ground system
- Ground system CDR completed
- Released version 1 of the Mission Operations Center (MOC) software
- Reallocated Image Assessment System (IAS) responsibilities between GSFC and EDC to take advantage of Level 1 Product Generation System (LPGS).
- Issues
- Instrument delivery schedule
- Late delivery of critical spacecraft hardware including transponder, solid state recorder, power control unit and controls interface unit.
- MTPE ground system funding
3. M. Mignogno: Landsat activities at NOAA
- Landsat 4: In standby status
- Landsat 5: status unchanged
- In operation over 12 years
- Provides direct transmission of TM data to US and international ground stations
- TM Scene transmission in 1996 (January through October): CONUS = 16,005; Non-US = 209,818
- Maneuvers perfomed on Landsat 5 in November and October of 1995 were successful in reversing degradation in equatorial crossing time. Nominal time for the mission is 9:45 am +/- 15 minutes. In 10/95 the crossing time was 9:12. Crossing time on 9/30/96 was 9:32:23 am.
- Data policy: US government agency price from EOSAT now for NEW TM acquisitions is $2500 with unrestricted right to redistribute (after 10/1/96)
- Landsat 7
- NOAA preparing to operate the system
- Ground station operators working group meeting held in South Africa (5/96)
- Landsat 7 Technical Working Group meeting planned for Santa Barbara next week.
- NOAA has developed a Landsat 7 seminar which it will present to interested agencies on request
- Developing long term plan as a road map for scene acquisition strategy.
- Defines seasonality of each scene
- Defines scene acquisition frequency
- Defines acceptable cloudiness levels
- Developing algorithm for using NCEP cloud predicts in daily acquisition schedule
- Considering offering incentive to users who commit to data purchases in 1998.
4. J. Tullos: Remote sensing training opportunities
- LOGICON Remote Sensing Training Opportunities
- One week course in image processing focused on civil and commercial users
- December 2-6 a complimentary trial course for government organizations. First come, first served basis
- 11/25 cut off date
- Interested parties should contact Jay Tullos for details: call 703-691-3639 or 3600 ext 194, 800-436-7781, Fax 703-691-4880.
- Published multi-spectral users guide. Public version will be out soon.
- Will soon put out a spectral reference guide focusing on hyperspectral and ultraspectral. Available second quarter 1997.
5. R.J. Thompson: Landsat 7 activities at EDC
- Support activities include:
- Ground system integration and engineering
- Image assessment system development support
- DAAC systems interfaces
- Operations planning
- International community support
- Systems engineering
- Systems integration and test planning
- LGS, LPS, IAS, DAAC interface definition
- Operations interfaces
- Network readiness assessment
- Augmented staff
- Systems planning and documentation
- Facility modifications
- DAAC facility readiness
- Landsat 7 facility readiness
- Antenna installation support
- DAAC systems interface support
- Assessment of ECS release replan schedule
- Assessment of Landsat 7 billing and accounting alternatives
- Preparation for DAAC mass storage systems installation
- Customer services and science support
- DAAC science advisory panel meetings (11/96 and 4/97) see below
- Image assessment system development
- Full time project manager started at EDC in July
- 16 Level 1 geometry algorithms delivered to GSFC by November
- Draft algortithm theoretical basis document delivered in August
- Release 1 radiometry and geometry walk-throughs conducted in September
- IAS element specification baselined in October
- Level 1 geometry software design began in October
- Draft project plan delivered in October
- Technical approach for implementing interval processing agreed upon in November
- International community support
- Support for Landsat Ground Station Operators Working Group
- Support for Landsat Technical Working Group
- Participation in Dewfinition of IGS Metadata Standard
- Issues
- ECS release replan impact
- Data acquisition request capability
- Data exchange with IGS network
- Operations management and funding responsibilities
T. Holm: Landsat 4/5 operations and data distribution
- EOSAT will continue to operate L4/5 system at no charge to USG
- USGAU has unlimited rights now to re-distribute data within USGAU
- Current EOSAT charges for TM data - to non-USGAU: $4400
- USGS/EDC charges for TM data to USGAU: $425 plus HDT access fee if applicable; $150 per scene if previously purchased and in the EDC archive. (For 1992 data and more recent)
- Fast format: available from EOSAT but not from EDC.
- NSLRSDA partnership
- With other current satellite programs e.g. SPOT: In negotiation with SPOT for transfer of SPOT US archive to EDC and reception of SPOT data at EDC.
- Future satellite programs
- partnerships are for population of the archive for land data
- Archive advisory panel: workshop held in November to outline issues.
- Note: The minutes of the November, 1996 meeting of the archive advisory panel and related documents are available on-line at www.space.edu/nslrsda
6. D. Williams: Landsat science report
- Recent Landsat 7 events related to science issues
- Level 1 processing of ETM+ data added to requirements
- Baseline Landsat 7 system design required Level 0R (raw data) distribution only with radiometric and geometric calibration information appended
- GSFC MTPE office recognized Level 1 data (systematic radiometric and geometric correction) as an EOS requirement and provided funding for Level 1 processing of up to 25 ETM+ images per day.
- High latitude ground station capability added to back up EDC, ensure acquisition of 250 scenes per day and enable extended direct downlink coverage.
- MOU signed between Landsat 7 and EOS/AM projects for orbit synchronization of the two systems, i.e. fly in loose formation covering same ground track about 15-60 minutes apart.
- Landsat 7 NMP EO-1 orbit synchronization
- Plans are being made to fly the EO-1 spacecraft within 1 minute of Landsat 7
- Goal is to acquire 100-200 matched scenes of ETM+ and EO-1 data to facilitate evaluation of the two systems by the data user community
- EO-1 targeted launch date is May 1999.
- For more information on EO-1: www710.gsfc.nasa.gov/~nmp-eo1/eo1.html
- Recent accomplishments of science office related to user community needs
- Preserved devices on-board Landsat 7 for enhanced in-orbit sensor calibration
- Defined IAS as essential component of ground system for image quality assessment.
- Defined concept of acquiring a US held archive of Landsat 7 images covering global continental surfaces on a "seasonal basis"
- Promoted clound cover predicition into daily acquisition scenario
- Promoted "formation flying" for Landsat 7 with AM-1 and EO-1.
- Preserved decision to add x-band receiving antenna at EDC and add x-band capability in Alaska.
- Add Level 1 data processing capability
- Defined Landsat Advanced Technology Instrument (LATI concept for follow-on missions
- Played a key role in defining and securing "land-imager" as first NMP
orbiter.
- Landsat science team selected and first meeting held in October. Next meeting scheduled for April in Valley Forge.
7. E. Sheffner: Landsat advisory process
- Activities since March, 1996
- LAP report to congress reviewed by NASA, NOAA and USGS. Report will be forwarded to OMB before release
- Landsat homepage updated regularly and sections added.
- Participated in and/or made presentations at LTWG, LGSWOG, Pecora 13 and LTWG.
- Planed activities next quarter
- Maintain Landsat Program homepage
- Respond to inquiries about the Landsat program
- Revise LAP questionnaire and implement interactive version on the Internet
- Contribute to congressional reports on post Landsat 7 systems and LAP.
Other info:
8. Comments during discussion period
- Executive summary of the ASPRS conference from Sept. 1995 now available
- RJ Thompson
- EDC is serious about archive advisory panel and encourages input from the community
- There is an opportunity for the federal community to state its requirements for the L7 follow on to the reviews that are occurring in the coming year.
- B.Stein: Landsat follow-on - how to issure DoD requirements are included. -
- At the next meeting, the agencies should come prepared to talk about needs for Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 . Also include what volume of Landsat 7 data will be needed.
Next meeting - Thursday, March 20, 1997.
Return to Landsat Homepage
(Minutes prepared by E. Sheffner, NASA/Ames Research Center: esheffner@gaia.arc.nasa.gov)