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The Need for a Landsat Thermal Band 

 
 
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) was reinvigorated in December, 2005 when Dr. John H. Marburger, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, issued a memorandum directing NASA to "...acquire a single Landsat data continuity mission in the form of a free-flyer spacecraft to collect the required land surface data and deliver its data to the Department of the Interior (DOI) / United States Geological Survey (USGS)."
 
The memo emphasizes the need for both near-term and long-term data continuity in the Landsat program.
 
The RFP for the LDCM  has an option for a thermal sensing instrument, but thus far, the NASA budget does not have funding for a thermal instrument. Water-resource applications have a critical need for thermal data, and those data must be maintained on the next and future Landsat satellites. The following documents relate to the need for Landsat thermal data. All papers are in PDF format.
 
NASA publishes a Landsat Data Continuity Mission web site.
USGS publishes a Landsat Data Continuity Mission web site.

     

 

Relevant Documents


 
Author Document Description Date
       

M. Michael Rounds, Governor of 
South Dakota
Dave Freudenthal, Governor of Wyoming
Senator Mikulski and Senator Stevens
and
Rep. Mollohan and Rep. Frelinghuysen
letter expressing the support of the Western Governors' Association for issues including thermal band on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission May 2007

Senator Ken Salazar
(D - Colorado)
Senator Mike Crapo
(R - Idaho)
Support Landsat - A Critical Tool for Water Resource Management  
(1.0 MB)
letter signed by 9 U.S. Senators requesting $35 million be added to NASA's FY08 budget for a thermal sensor on LDCM June 2007

Rick Allen
Martha Anderson
Annotated Bibliography - Landsat Thermal Band  (0.1 MB) annotated bibliography of peer-reviewed literature on Landsat-derived evapotranspiration and energy balance Mar. 2007

Tracy Taylor
Nevada State Engineer
Letter to Senator Harry Reid  (0.4 MB) letter requesting funding for a Landsat thermal band Feb. 2007

Wim Bastiaanssen Progress in utilizing space borne high resolution thermal radiometer in water resources research and management
(0.2 MB)
European use of Landsat thermal data Jan. 2004

Landsat Data Continuity Mission Science Team Letter to 
Dr. Michael Griffin, NASA Administrator
Dr. Mark Myers, Director of the USGS

(0.5 MB)
unanimous recommendation for inclusion of thermal instrument on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission Jan. 2007

Eastern Snake Hydrologic Modeling Committee Letter to Senator Larry Craig  (0.8 MB)
and
Letter to Senator Mike Crapo 
(0.8 MB)
letters asking that funds be appropriated to pay for a thermal imager on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission Jan. 2007

Duane A. Smith Chairman, Western States Water Council Letter to Panels of the National Research Council Decadal Survey  (0.2 MB) letter supporting a thermal band on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission Sep. 2006

Martha Anderson Richard G. Allen, 
et al
Letter to Panels of the Decadal Survey of the National Research Council  (0.7 MB) letter with 117 co-signers explaining the need for a Landsat thermal band  Sep. 2006

M. Michael Rounds, Governor of 
South Dakota
Dave Freudenthal, Governor of Wyoming
Letter from the Western Governors' Association to Dr. John H. Marburger, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
(0.3 MB)
letter expressing the support of the Western Governors' Association for a thermal band on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission Sep. 2006

Simon Hook, 
et al.
Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity
Earth System Data Record
white paper from NASA's Land Measurements Team 2006

Dale Quattrochi NASA Earth Science Questions Addressed by High-Resolution Spaceborne Thermal Infrared Data  (0.3 MB) discussion of how Landsat thermal data apply to 7 of NASA's 23 Earth Science Questions Sep. 2006

Richard G. Allen Critical Need for a Landsat Thermal Band  (0.6 MB) detailed justification for thermal imager aboard Landsat Aug. 2006

Patrick J. Tyrrell Letter from the Wyoming State Engineer to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy  (0.5 MB) letter explaining State of Wyoming's support for Landsat thermal band Aug. 2006

Duane A. Smith

Letter from the Western States Water Council to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy  (0.1 MB)

letter explaining support of the WSWC for Landsat thermal band Jul. 2006

Western Governors' Association Water Needs and Strategies for a Sustainable Future  (9.0 MB) Landsat thermal data are specifically identified in Recommendation 2A  Jun. 2006

William Kramber, 
et al.
Balancing Water Needs of Crops and Fish a general-interest article on mapping ET using Landsat and METRIC -- from Geoworld Magazine Jun. 2006

NASA   TIR Image Requirements (0.2 MB) draft specifications for LDCM thermal band May 2006

Anthony Morse, 
et al.
Mapping Evapotranspiration using Landsat and the METRIC Evapotranspiration Model  (1.0 MB) presented at 2006 ASPRS Annual Meeting - Reno May 2006

Anthony Morse and 
Richard G. Allen
      Water and the Critical Need for a Thermal Band on Landsat (0.24MB) justification for high resolution thermal and short wave imagery on Landsat Apr. 2006

Richard G. Allen Letter to Senator Michael Crapo   (0.5 MB) on the importance of Landsat thermal data to Idaho Feb. 2006

Anthony Morse Summary - The Need for a Thermal Band on Landsat  (0.2 MB) 2 page bulleted summary of justification for the thermal band Feb. 2006

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Landsat Data Continuity Strategy Adjustment  (0.1 MB) announcement for a free-flying Landsat Dec. 2005

Karl J. Dreher
Director, Idaho Department of Water Resources
Letter from the Director of Idaho Department of Water Resources Re: Landsat Data Continuity Mission  (1.0 MB) letter to NASA requesting thermal imager aboard LDCM

Feb. 2006


  Water and Food Satellite System  (0.4 MB)
from the
Conference on Earth Observation for Vegetation Monitoring and Water Management
a resolution supporting a fleet of food and water security satellites having TIR Nov. 2005

Anthony Morse,
 et al.
Mapping Evapotranspiration from Satellites  (1.9 MB) a general-interest article on mapping ET using Landsat and METRIC -- from Southwest Hydrology Magazine May 2005

United States Government

United States Code Title 15, chapter 82  (1.0 MB)

U. S. Land Remote Sensing Policy 1992
 
 

 more information on applications of, and the importance of, the Landsat thermal band is available at  

http://www.idwr.idaho.gov/gisdata/ET/project_reports.htm 

http://www.kimberly.uidaho.edu/water/metric/index.html 

 
   

site maintenance:  Tony Morse  - --

"The Shoshone Falls on the Snake River" by Thomas Moran (1900) used courtesy of the Gilcrease Museum