ne 
al 
al 
ne 
  
LANDSAT DATA PRODUCTION PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 
BILL P. CLARK 
Computer Sciences Corporation 
8728 Colesville Road 
Silver Spring, Maryland 
20910 
ABSTRACT 
The United States Landsat program of data acquisition, production, and distribution has gone 
through three phases. This program was initiated by the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration (NASA) with the launch of Landsat 1 in 1972. In 1982 operational responsibility for 
the program was transitioned from NASA to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA). Private sector responsibility for the program was initiated in 1985. During each period 
the reception, recording, preprocessing, archiving, and data dissemination progressed through 
critical phases dependent on existing technology. This paper discusses the ground systems used for 
these activities from a historical perspective. Although operations for the current system are 
emphasized, a preliminary definition of the next generation Landsat system is also presented. 
1.0 BACKGROUND 
Five Landsat satellites have provided continuity in the remote sensing of earth resources throughout 
the past fourteen years. The control and overall direction for the program was provided by NASA 
from 1972 to 1982. Daily operations at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) during this 
decade evolved from photo production to a mixed photo and Computer Compatible Tape (CCT) 
production to the production of image data on High Density Tapes (HDT). As the system evolved 
the NASA emphasis shifted from the production of final user products to the preproduction of image 
data. All data were sent to the Earth Resources Observation System (EROS) Data Center (EDC) in 
South Dakota. Early film data were archived at EDC and copied for users on demand. Beginning in 
1979 preprocessed HDT products for the Multispectral Scanner System (MSS) and the Return Beam 
Vidicon (RBV) were sent from GSFC to EDC for generation of final film and CCT products. 
The second phase or era of Landsat operations was controlled by NOAA. Responsibility for 
Landsat operations was transitioned from NASA to NOAA after the launch of Landsat 4 in 1982. 
For the next three years preproduction of MSS data followed by user product generation at EDC 
continued as before. There was, however, one significant difference in that Landsat 4 was the first 
satellite to carry the Thematic Mapper (TM). Production for TM data went through two phases. 
Selected Landsat 4 data were produced on a low volume system capable of only one full scene every 
eight hours. Products were mailed to EDC for distribution to the public. By the time of launch of 
Landsat 5 on March 1, 1984, the TM Image Processing System (TIPS) had been accepted. Early 
production using TIPS led to a final acceptance test and product generation demonstration in August 
1984. In September 1984 operational responsibility for the TIPS was transferred from NASA to 
NOAA. 
During the three year period of NOAA responsibility for overall Landsat data production there were 
ongoing negotiations to transition operational responsibility for the Landsat program from the U.S. 
government to the private sector. In October 1985 these negotiations culminated in a contract 
between the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Earth Observation Satellite (EOSAT) company. 
Current operations and the development of new products are now the responsibility of EOSAT. 
The production flow for each product generation subsystem for Landsats 1,2, and 3 has been 
illustrated in earlier publications (1,2). They will be briefly addressed here to illustrate the evolution 
of ground systems and products. This will be followed by a discussion of the current TM 
production system and a brief description of the production system under design for the future. 
241