November 18, 2008

What Next?What Next?

Kass GreenPresident, ASPRS

Presented at the Pecora 17

Three Decades of SuccessThree Decades of Success

The power of the Landsat family of systems to provide consistent measurement and monitoring of the Earth’s resources change cannot be disputed.

Coastal Change - TaiwanCoastal Change - Taiwan

Landsat TM P118 R43 Jul 21, 1990

Landsat TM P118 R44 Jul 21, 1990

Landsat ETM+ P118 R43 Mar 13, 2001

Images courtesy of MDA Federal

November 18, 2008Images courtesy of Sam Goward

Wildfire Risk Assessment and PreparednessWildfire Risk Assessment and Preparedness

Imagery courtesy of Insurance Services Office

Orange County, California

Cleared for development in 1998, new housing development by 2000

Grass and shrub in 1998, cleared for development by 2000

Grass and shrub in 1998, new housing development by 2000

Forest Loss to Agriculture:Forest Loss to Agriculture:Soybean Expansion in BrazilSoybean Expansion in Brazil

1996 2002

52° 45’ 02.03” W, 24° 31’ 07.49” S

Map courtesy of USDA FSA

Urban ExpansionUrban Expansion

From“Decadal Development Within the Las Vegas

Valley, Nevada, from the Year 1950 through

1999”Presented at the ESRI

User’s Conferenceby

Michael J. WallenSouthern Nevada Water

Authority

The Value of Landsat DataThe Value of Landsat Data

In a 2006 survey of 1300 respondents, from across the world, ASPRS learned that loss of Landsat like moderate resolution imagery would cost

$1.278 billion annually

Thirty Years of Success, But a Program Thirty Years of Success, But a Program Still at RiskStill at Risk

Three years ago, at Pecora 16 LCDM funding was in serious jeopardy The thought of a continuously funded,

operational civilian moderate resolution earth observing was still a glimmer in Gene Whitney’s eye

As a Unified CommunityAs a Unified Community

We Wrote letters to the White House and

Congress Spoke everywhere we could concerning the

societal value of Landsat and the urgent need to stop the continual programmatic uncertainty in the Landsat program

Three Years of ProgressThree Years of Progress

After decades of being held hostage

Landsat data is freely accessible to all users

In our wildest dreams, we will not be able to fathom what the world community will be able to create with this free data.

Three Years of SuccessThree Years of Success

LCDM is funded, being built and is in good shape

The National Land Imaging Plan (NLIP) was released

Three Years of ProgressThree Years of Progress

ASPRS working with America View and the Space Council crafted draft legislation which was presented to Congressional staffers in September of this year in support of the National Land Imaging Program.

Three Years of ProgressThree Years of Progress

The Department of Interior National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) called for the Presidential Transition Team to; “Establish and oversee an Urgent Path

Forward for implementation of geospatial programs necessary to support current national priorities and essential government services underpinning NSDA, such as:

Imagery for the NationalNational Land Imaging ProgramNational Land Parcel Data”

Three Years of ProgressThree Years of Progress

President-elect Obama’s Space Program includes language for“Enhancing Earth Mapping:

Obama will continue support for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, which allows study of the earth’s land surfaces and provides valuable data for agricultural, educational, scientific, and government use.”

Three Years of ProgressThree Years of Progress

You in this community, the members of ASPRS an other organizations have made a difference.

You have had impact

But Much More Must Be AccomplishedBut Much More Must Be Accomplished

We must implement the recommendations of the National Land Imaging Plan

1. The United States must commit to continue the collection of moderate resolution land imagery

2. The United States should establish and maintain a core operational capability to collect moderate-resolution land imagery through the procurement and launch of a series of U.S. owned satellites.

3. The United States should establish the Land Imaging Program, hosted and managed by the Department of Interior to meet all US civil land imaging needs.

We must secure funding for an operational moderate earth observing program

Operational Land Imaging is Critically NeededOperational Land Imaging is Critically Needed

The American public and the global community need an operational program to collect moderate resolution multi-spectral land remote imagery for Environmental security Homeland security Economic security Food security

We cannot manage what we do not measure

You Can Make A DifferenceYou Can Make A Difference

Do not let anyone tell you that our economic situation is so dire that we cannot save this planet from global warming, poverty, hunger, or the ravages of war.

Our community has never been so needed by our county, nor has more been required of us.

You Can Make A DifferenceYou Can Make A Difference

Yesterday, I listened to an esteemed colleague expound on the gloom of our future, and tell us that we should hope for less.

If we believe that the future will be a failure, then we doom ourselves to failure

You Can Make A DifferenceYou Can Make A Difference

If you believe in the Obama Administration and in America’s ability to reinvent itself with each morning in America,

Then America can apply its ingenuity, resources, and passion to playing a leading role in building a brighter future for all of the world’s inhabitants.

Any you, because you know what is required to measure and monitor our resources, must be an integral part of that future.