File:Landsat Issues, Oct 2014, US Congressional Research Service.pdf

Summary

On February 11, 2013, NASA launched Landsat 8, a remote sensing satellite jointly operated by the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA. Landsat 8 is the latest in a series of Earth-observing satellites that began on July 23, 1972, with the launch of Landsat 1. Landsat has been used in a wide variety of applications, including land use planning, agriculture, forestry, natural resources management, public safety, homeland security, climate research, and natural disaster management, among others. A question for Congress is, should there be a Landsat 9? More generally, should Congress support the development of another moderate resolution land-imaging satellite, and what are the alternatives?

Landsat 8’s 30-meter resolution—its ability to capture images at the scale of about a baseball diamond—renders it a valuable tool for characterizing human-scale processes such as urban growth, agricultural irrigation, and deforestation. Landsat supporters also would contend that the consistent and continuous collection of imagery from the succession of Landsat satellites since 1972 makes it possible to document land changes, because images are comparable over that 42- year time period.

In congressional deliberations about the future of Landsat, it is likely that the topics of privatization and commercialization will be revisited as one alternative to the current arrangement. Landsat’s 30-meter resolution, the continuous and comparable 42-year record of data, and the current policy of making all Landsat data available for no cost would factor into a discussion about commercialization. Efforts to commercialize Landsat in the 1980s and early 1990s culminated with passage of the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992, which reversed the privatization track for Landsat and restored management of the satellite system back to the federal government.

Although a congressional debate over the next phase of the Landsat legacy is in its early stages, there are potentially divergent opinions among the Administration and Congress. The Administration is examining a future land imaging program that may depart from what might be considered the current Landsat “model”—namely, a dedicated satellite pair, each with the same or similar instruments as those aboard Landsats 7 and 8, the two currently orbiting satellites. For example, the Administration is directing NASA to explore options like a hosted payload and international partnerships, as opposed to a stand-alone payload and launch vehicle and an entirely U.S. project.

The Administration, through NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, is crafting a post-Landsat 8 strategy via the Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study Team, which broadly follows guidelines laid out in the White House National Plan for Civil Earth Observations. Senate appropriators have been critical of the Administration’s current approach to continuing a Landsattype moderate-resolution Earth-observing system, namely one that may depart from the current Landsat model. In addition, the committee has emphasized its concerns over a potential data gap should Landsat 7 fail before a successor satellite was launched, leaving just one satellite— Landsat 8—operational. Some members of the House Appropriations Committee have recently questioned if the multiagency Landsat program aligns within the fundamental mission of NASA.

A common theme likely to be expressed by both the House and Senate will be the need to keep costs under control and at least below the amount appropriated for Landsat 8. In addition, Congress will also likely exert pressure on the Administration to move forward on the next land imaging mission and reduce the chances of a data gap if Landsat 7 or 8 fails before the next satellite is placed in orbit....