Landsat and the Data Continuity Mission
Carl E. Behrens
Specialist in Energy Policy
May 22, 2009
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R40594
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repared for Members and Committees of Congress

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Landsat and the Data Continuity Mission

Summary
The U.S. Landsat Mission has collected remotely sensed imagery of the Earth’s surface for more
than 35 years. At present two satellites—Landsat-5, launched in 1984, and Landsat-7, launched in
1999—are in orbit and continuing to supply images and data for the many users of the
information, but they are operating beyond their designed life and may fail at any time.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) jointly operate Landsat. The two agencies are developing a follow-on initiative known as
the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). The LDCM spacecraft (LDCM-1), with its
instrument payload, is currently planned for launch in December 2012.
Landsat has been used in a wide variety of applications, including climate research, natural
resources management, commercial and municipal land development, public safety, homeland
security and natural disaster management. Despite its wide use, efforts in the past to
commercialize Landsat operations have not been successful. Most of the users of the data are
other government agencies. For that reason, funding a replacement for the failing Landsat orbiters
has been a federal responsibility. A number of factors have made it difficult for Congress to assure
that the project successfully meets the goal of bridging the impending Landsat data gap.
Of particular concern has been the possibility that the new satellite may not include the capability
of receiving data in the thermal infrared spectrum, a capability that is now in Landsat 5 and 7 and
which some users have found particularly useful. NASA has indicated that a Thermal Infrared
Sensing Instrument (TIRS) may be included in LDCM-1, but funding for it has been uncertain
and progress on the instrument has been delayed. However, for FY2009, the Omnibus
Appropriations Act, 2009 (H.R. 1105, P.L. 111-8) included $10 million specifically for TIRS, and
NASA announced in its FY2010 budget request that TIRS would be developed “to be flown on
LDCM or (potentially) some other spacecraft.”




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Landsat and the Data Continuity Mission

Contents
Introduction: Continuing Landsat ................................................................................................ 1
Bridging the Landsat Data Gap ................................................................................................... 3
International Alternative Sources........................................................................................... 4
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission ......................................................................................... 4
NASA and LDCM ................................................................................................................ 5
USGS and LDCM................................................................................................................. 5
Landsat/LDCM Funding ............................................................................................................. 6
NASA Funding ..................................................................................................................... 6
USGS Funding...................................................................................................................... 6
The Future of Landsat ................................................................................................................. 7

Tables
Table 1. Characteristics of Space-based Land Imaging Satellites.................................................. 2
Table 2. Landsats 1-7 and LDCM-1 Payloads .............................................................................. 3
Table 3. Funding Request for LDCM by NASA .......................................................................... 6

Contacts
Author Contact Information ........................................................................................................ 7

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Landsat and the Data Continuity Mission

Introduction: Continuing Landsat
The U.S. Landsat Mission has collected remotely sensed imagery of the Earth’s surface at
moderate resolution1 for more than 35 years.2 At present two satellites—Landsat-5, launched in
1984, and Landsat-7, launched in 1999—are in orbit and continuing to supply images and data for
the many users of the information. A study organized by the Office of Science and Technology
Policy (henceforth called the FLI-IWG study) noted in August 2007 that the two satellites “are
operating beyond their design lifetimes in degraded status and are subject to failure at any time.
Because of fuel limitations, neither satellite is expected to operate beyond 2010.”3 However, the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) FY2010 budget request, released in
May 2009, said recent analyses “have estimated the Landsat-7 mission should continue to operate
through at least the end of 2012.”4
NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) jointly operate Landsat. To maintain a robust
archive of Landsat data and imagery,5 the two agencies are developing a follow-on initiative
known as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). The LDCM spacecraft (LDCM-1), with
its instrument payload, was initially planned for launch in July 2011, but the current projection is
now December 2012.
Landsat has been used in a wide variety of applications, including climate research, natural
resources management, commercial and municipal land development, public safety, homeland
security and natural disaster management, among others. Landsat stakeholders include (1)
investigators in geophysical and atmospheric sciences; (2) decision makers and program
managers at NASA, USGS, and other federal agencies, including land management agencies; (3)
international government and military decision makers; (4) for-profit enhanced Landsat products
distributors; and (5) consumers of commercial land surface imagery and environmental data.



1Moderate resolution land imaging satellites have a resolution between 5 meters and 120 meters. Landsat 5 and 7 have
resolution in the optical range of 30 meters.
2 For a complete history of the Landsat Program, see NASA, “Landsat Then and Now,” at http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/
about/.
3 Executive Office of the President (EOP), Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), National Science and
Technology Council (NSTC), Future of Land Imaging Interagency Working Group (FLI-IWG), A Plan for a U.S.
National Land Imaging Program, August 2007, p. 4. Available at
http://www.ostp.gov/pdf/fli_iwg_report_print_ready_low_res.pdf. Henceforth cited as the FLI-IWG study.
4 NASA FY2010 Budget Estimate, available at http://www.nasa.gov/news/budget.
5 USGS/NASA, Landsat Missions, “NASA Selects Contractor for Landsat Data Continuity Mission Spacecraft,”
Landsat and LDCM Headlines 2008, April 22, 2008, available at http://landsat.usgs.gov/mission_headlines2008.php.
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Table 1. Characteristics of Space-based Land Imaging Satellites

Geographic Coverage
Frequency of Repeat
Spatial Resolution
Swath per image
Coverage of the Same
Type of Satellite
(meters)
(kilometers)
Location
High-Resolution
less than 5
10 to 15
Months to years
Moderate-Resolution
5 to 120
50 to 200
15 to 30 days
Low-Resolution
greater than 120
500 to 2000
1 to 2 days
Source: FLI-IWG report, p. 1
Despite its wide use, efforts in the past to commercialize Landsat operations have not been
successful. Commercial users tend to find that high-resolution, narrow coverage is more
marketable, as is the data from low-resolution weather satellite images of cloud cover that can
show the same location within one or two days. (See Table 1.) In contrast, Landsat orbiters cover
the globe every 16 days, but many of the images received on the ground are obscured by cloud
cover, so that producing a useful image of a particular area requires selecting data from multiple
passes. Typically, Landsat’s historical data series consist of complete, cloud-free images on a
seasonal frequency. Most of the users of the data are other government agencies, or grantees
engaged in inherently governmental activities. For that reason, funding a replacement for the
failing Landsat orbiters has been a federal responsibility. A number of factors have made it
difficult for the Congress to assure that LDCM successfully meets the goal of bridging the
Landsat data gap.

The Landsat Instrument and Functions6
Landsat sensors record reflected and emitted energy from Earth in various wavelengths of the electromagnetic
spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum includes all forms of radiated energy from tiny gamma rays and x-rays all the
way to huge radio waves. The human eye is sensitive to the visible wavelengths of this spectrum; we can see color, or
reflected light, ranging from violet to red.
Today, Landsats 5 and 7 “see" and record blue, green, and red light in the visible spectrum as wel as near-infrared,
mid-infrared, and thermal-infrared light that human eyes cannot perceive (although we can feel the thermal-infrared as
heat). Landsat records this information digitally and it is transmitted to ground stations, where it is processed, and
stored in a data archive.
It is this digital information that makes remotely sensed data invaluable. “Observations from Landsat are now used in
almost every environmental discipline,” explains John Barker, a Landsat 7 Associate Project Scientist.
Landsat data have been used to monitor water quality, glacier recession, sea ice movement, invasive species
encroachment, coral reef health, land use change, deforestation rates and population growth. (Some fast food
restaurants have even used population information to estimate community growth sufficient to warrant a new
franchise.) Landsat has also helped to assess damage from natural disasters such as fires, floods, and tsunamis, and
subsequently, plan disaster relief and flood control programs. In addition, the long-term continuity of Landsat allows
users to go back in time to monitor changes in the earth’s surface.


6 This description is excerpted from NASA, The Landsat Program, Landsat News, “The Numbers Behind Landsat”
which is available at http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/. For technical details about the Landsat spacecraft and
instrumentation, see NASA, GSFC, The Landsat-7 Science Data User’s Handbook, at
http://landsathandbook.gsfc.nasa.gov/handbook/handbook_toc.html.
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Landsat has never had a permanent agency home at NASA for planning and operation, and the
project is small compared to the agency’s major space activities. Tight budgets due to funding
under continuing resolutions for the last three years have also threatened the project. USGS
funding is also limited.
Of particular concern has been the possibility that the new satellite may not include the capability
of receiving data in the thermal infrared spectrum, a capability of Landsat 5 and 7 that some users
have found particularly useful. NASA has indicated that a Thermal Infrared Sensing Instrument
(TIRS) may be included in LDCM-1, but funding for it has been uncertain and progress on the
instrument has been delayed. However, for FY2009, the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (H.R.
1105, P.L. 111-8) included $10 million specifically for TIRS.
Bridging the Landsat Data Gap
Since the launch of Landsat-4 in 1985, mission payloads have included multiple instruments that
capture surface imagery in the visual and near-infrared spectral region and have included sensors
that collect environmental data in the infrared spectrum. Table 2 shows the payloads and types of
digital data and imagery acquired from Landsats 1-7, as well as those proposed for LDCM-1.
Table 2. Landsats 1-7 and LDCM-1 Payloads
Mission
Launch
In Orbit
Instrument(s)
Purpose: Data/Imagery
ERTS (Landsat) 1
July 1972
2 years
MSS
Land Surface, Resources
ERTS (Landsat) 2
1975
3 years
MSS
Land Surface, Resources
ERTS (Landsat) 3
1978
6 years
MSS
Land Surface, Resources
Landsat 4
July 1982
3 years
MSS/TM/TIR
Land Surface, Resources
Landsat 5
March 1984
24+ years
MSS/TM/TIR
Land Surface, Resources
Landsat 6
1994
launch
ETM+a
N/A
failure
Landsat 7b
April 1999
8+ years
ETM+ TIRS
Surface Radiance, Ice Sheets
LDCM-1 (planned)
2012
5 years
ETM+ -TIRS
Surface Radiance, Ice Sheets




Key: ERTS: Earth Resources Technology Satellite (renamed Landsat in 1975); MSS: Multi Spectral Scanner; TM:
Thematic Mapper; ETM+: Enhanced Thematic Mapper; TIR: Thermal Infrared Sensor; LDCM-1: First Landsat Data
Continuity Mission Spacecraft.
Source: Compiled by CRS from NASA data
a. NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, “The ETM+ is a fixed position, nadir viewing, ‘whisk-broom’, multi-
spectral scanning radiometer and is capable of providing high-resolution imaging information of the Earth’s
surface. Radiation in both the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum are detected by the instrument in
eight distinct bands. The ETM+ is an improved version of the Landsat 4/5 Thematic Mapper (TM) payloads,
but still provides data continuity with all prior Landsat missions.” See “ETM+ and the Landsat7 Mission” at
http://ls7pm3.gsfc.nasa.gov/mainpage.html.
b. Periodical y since May 2003, Landsat-7 has experienced degraded operations, such as scattered data losses
and optical equipment problems. Landsat-7 and LDCM would also col ect MSS data/imagery as on previous
Landsat missions.
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Institutional and commercial users of data from the Landsat mission have urged U.S. lawmakers
to continue a U.S. Landsat-type capability.7 Many Landsat stakeholders are increasingly unable to
use the data and imagery that are being generated due to the declining operational capacities of
Landsats-5 and 7.8 Their greatest concerns are that if LDCM-1 does not deploy on schedule, and
if suitable data-sharing partnerships cannot be forged soon, there is a real danger of gaps in the
Landsat data and imagery archive.9 Information that could be lost, they caution, may include
unobstructed visual and near-infrared spectrum records of Earth surface change, such as seasonal
vegetation cover, moderate-resolution infrared environmental observations, and remotely sensed
land and water resources management data.
International Alternative Sources
Some Landsat product users have suggested that moderate resolution optical imaging satellites of
other nations may supply data to fill the anticipated Landsat gap. A review of this option in the
FLI-IWG report indicates that the global coverage of the Landsat orbiters and their ground-based
receivers could not be duplicated by foreign moderate resolution satellites, but they could provide
a partial, short-term fix to limit losses of some Landsat data and imagery.10
A Landsat Data Gap Study team formed by USGS and NASA in 2005 found that no international
satellite program, current or planned, has the onboard recording capacity, the direct receiving
station network, and the data production systems to routinely perform the full Landsat mission.11
The Data Gap Study team did conclude, however, that capturing and archiving data from
comparable systems could reduce the impact of a data gap. It identified sensors aboard India’s
ResourceSat satellite and the China Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) as the most
promising sources of Landsat-like data. USGS is pursuing the options with a Landsat Data Gap
Implementation Plan, to identify costs and accessibility and the technical process of integrating
data from other sources into the existing framework.12
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission
After some consideration of the possibility of combining the moderate resolution function with
weather satellite missions, the Bush Administration decided in December 2005 to continue
Landsat instruments as free-flyers (i.e., satellites launched for a single purpose).13 NASA and the
USGS had been working to develop the follow-on program to Landsat-7. This joint initiative
became known as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM).

7 American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS), Report to the Future Land Imaging Working
Group on the ASPRS Survey on the Future of Land Imaging, November 6, 2006.
8 W.E. Stoney, Noblis Inc., ASPRS Guide to Land Imaging Satellites, “Optical satellite Schedules,” February 12, 2008.
9Scott Goetz, Woods Hole Research Center, “Crisis in Earth Observation,” Science (AAAS), vol. 315, no. 30, March
2007, p. 1767, http://landcover.usgs.gov/bb_documents/crisis_earth_observation.pdf.
10 FLI-IWG, op. cit., discusses in Appendix B the options available, including foreign satellite operations.
11 USGS. “Landsat Data Gap Studies.” http://ldcm.gsfc.nasa.gov/about.html.
12 USGS. “Landsat Data Gap Implementation Plan.” Landsat Science Team Meeting, Fort Collins, CO, January 6,
2009.
13EOP, OSTP, Memorandum ... from John H. Marburger III, Director, “Landsat Data Continuity Strategy,” December
23, 2005.
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NASA and LDCM
The main instrument in LCDM-1’s payload is the Operational Land Imager (OLI) instrument. A
passive (i.e., fixed) imaging radiometer, OLI would capture imagery of the Earth’s surface as
panchromatic/multi-spectral bands at 30 meters to 15 meters (moderate) resolution. This
capability is similar to instruments deployed on Landsat missions 4-7. In addition, a Thermal
Infrared Sensing Instrument (TIRS) is being developed, and NASA says the LCDM-1 project is
“proceeding down a path as if TIRS will be there.”14
NASA planned originally to launch LDCM-1, the first U.S. moderate resolution imaging
spacecraft to be deployed since Landsat-7, in July 2011. However, a review board found that
target “excessively aggressive” and in January 2009 the launch date was changed to December
2012.15 That new target date could also accommodate NASA’s schedule for development and
delivery of the TIRS instrument. In September 2008, the LDCM project was approved to advance
from Phase A, Concept and Technology Development, to Phase B, Preliminary Design and
Technology Completion.
USGS and LDCM
The U.S. Geological Survey is responsible for the LDCM Mission Operations Center (MOC) that
will be housed within the EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, SD. USGS is supplying the funds for
a five-year $14.5 million contract recently awarded by NASA, to build a ground data processing
center.16
USGS officials announced that when procurement of the entire suite of Landsats 1-7 data is
complete, the MOC will contain a collective archive of over 35-years’ worth of MSS, TM, TIRS
and ETM+ imagery, to be accessible free of charge over the Internet.17 Landsat data and imagery
would also be distributed offline at the marginal cost of reproduction and handling for licensed
investigators, or at a rate set by USGS for users with commercial applications.18 Additional data
and imagery will be forthcoming from the Landsat-5 and 7 satellites until they cease operating,
and eventually from the LCDM and successor missions, if any. These would also be made
available under the same terms from the MOC.

14 “Status of the Landsat Data Continuity Commission,” presented by Bill Ochs, LDCM Project Manager, Landsat
Science Team Meeting, Jan. 6, 2009. http://landsat.usgs.gov/science_january2009MeetingAgenda.php.
15 Ibid.
16 NASA, The Landsat Program—News, “NASA Selects the Hammers Co. To Build LDCM MOE,” Sept. 17, 2008, at
http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/news/news-archive/news_0169.html.
17 USGS/NASA, Opening the Landsat Archive/Product Specifications, April 21, 2009, available at
http://landsat.usgs.gov/documents/USGS_Landsat_Imagery_Release.pdf.
18 USGS Announcement: Landsat Missions, “Opening the Landsat Archive,” January 9, 2009 available at
http://landsat.usgs.gov/mission_headlines2009.php.
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Landsat/LDCM Funding
NASA Funding
Development of the LDCM satellite has been delayed in part because of funding uncertainties.
NASA typically estimates funding requirements for five years, but these projections have varied
widely from year to year. In addition, various appropriations complications, including the use of
continuing resolutions, led to funding the program at less than the requested amount for FY2006
through FY2008. For FY2009, however, the Omnibus Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-8) funded the
program at $200.9 million, an increase of $60.5 million over the Bush Administration’s request.
For FY2010, the Obama Administration requested $120.6 million for the LDCM project. NASA’s
projection of future costs for the program is shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Funding Request for LDCM by NASA
$ Million
2009
Enacted
2010
Request
2011 2012 2013 2014
$200.9 $120.6 $137.4 $165.0 $90.0 $15.0
Source: NASA FY2010 Budget Request
TIRS Funding
In the early planning for the LDCM satellite, no provision was made for an instrument that would
measure images in the thermal infrared range, although that function is included in the present
Landsat-5 and Landsat-7 satellites. Appeals from numerous users of the information in that
spectrum sector led NASA to reconsider the possibility of including a Thermal Infrared Sensor
(TIRS), and the Congress included $10 million in the FY2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill
directly for TIRS.
The infrared instrument is still not officially part of the design of LDCM, but in its FY2010
budget request NASA said that starting in FY2009 it would develop a TIRS instrument “to be
flown on LDCM or (potentially) some other spacecraft.” A decision on whether to include it in
LDCM is scheduled for the summer of 2009. The key factor would be whether it could be
included without delaying the launch of the satellite. Meanwhile, says NASA, “funding for TIRS
(approximately $150-175 million) is now carried within the LDCM budget.”
USGS Funding
USGS supports data collection and processing from the current Landsat-5 and Landsat-7
satellites, and also funds development of ground facilities to receive and process information
from LDCM. For FY2008 USGS received $24.2 million for LDCM, and for FY2009 the
Omnibus bill appropriated $24.2 million for LDCM and $16.0 million for continuing to support
Landsat-5 and Landsat-7, for a total of $40.2 million. The FY2010 USGS request for LDCM and
Landsat-5 and Landsat-7 was also $40.2 million.
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The Future of Landsat
The lack of a permanent agency home for Landsat was a major factor in the impending data gap
in the Landsat series, and planning for a follow-on instrument after the five-year-life of LDCM-1
is still in limbo. The FLI-IWG report recommended that long-term responsibility for land
imaging, including Landsat planning and operations, be permanently placed under a National
Land Imaging Program at the Department of the Interior. Implementation and funding for that
program continue to be discussed, but the FY2010 USGS budget document does not include any
substantive reference to NLIP.

Author Contact Information

Carl E. Behrens

Specialist in Energy Policy
cbehrens@crs.loc.gov, 7-8303




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