MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER
Landsat Program records including the Multispectral Scanner, Thematic Mapper,
and Enhanced Thematic Mapper and sensors
(United States of America)
Ref N° 2010-49
PART A – ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
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SUMMARY
Scientists worldwide recognize that there exists only one accurate image record, spanning
nearly four decades, of the Earth’s land surfaces, coastlines, and reefs at a scale revealing
both natural and human-induced change. This record has been obtained and continuously
updated by sensors onboard a series of land-imaging satellites that began with the launch
of Landsat 1 in 1972. The Landsat program, managed under a partnership between the
United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), provides historical and current land-surface image data to users
in over 180 countries via USGS archives and those of its international-partner ground
receiving stations around the world.
In 1975, NASA Administrator Dr. James Fletcher predicted that if one space age
development would save the world, it would be Landsat and its successor satellites. In
recent years Landsat data have emerged as critical to the discovery, monitoring, and
understanding of changes to the Earth’s surface caused by climate, human impact, or
natural disasters. Indeed, the historical and scientific value of Landsat data record
increases with time.
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DETAILS OF THE NOMINATOR
2.1
Bruce Quirk, U.S. Geological Survey
Jim Irons, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
2.2
Relationship to the documentary heritage nominated
USGS manages the Landsat Program and NASA has been instrumental in the
development in the Program since the very beginning.
2.3
Contact person (s)
Bruce Quirk
2.4
Contact details (include address, phone, fax, email)
U.S. Geological Survey
Mail Stop 517
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, Virginia USA 20192
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Phone : 703-648-5057
Fax : 703-648-5939
Email : quirk@usgs.gov
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IDENTITY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE
3.1
Name and identification details of the items being nominated
Landsat Program records including the Multispectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper
(TM), and Enhanced Thematic Mapper + (ETM+) sensors.
3.2
Description
The Landsat Program is composed of the three sensors listed in 3.1. The volume of the
records is broken down as follows:
MSS
TM
ETM+
652,000
827,000*
970,000*
Total
2,449,000
* New records added daily.
Full catalogue information is available through the URL http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov
which includes descriptive information, discovery tools and the means to directly
download each record.
The provenance for the records reveals a U.S. government ownership involving the
federal agencies of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) since the program start in 1972. Even during a brief experiment
with commercialization, the records were still considered government owned.
The records maintained with the USGS are in good physical condition with at least three
copies preserved including one off-site. Records held at receiving stations around the
world are in varying degrees of preservation from good to unknown.
Referees who could provide insights into the Landsat Program include:



Dr. Sam Goward, University of Maryland College Park (sgoward@umd.edu)
Dr. Darrel Williams, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, retired
(darrel.williams@gst.com)
Ms. Joanne Gabrynowicz University of Mississippi (jgabryno@olemiss.edu)
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JUSTIFICATION FOR INCLUSION/ ASSESSMENT AGAINST CRITERIA
4.1
Is authenticity established?
U.S. Government agencies have retained ownership and control of the six Landsat
satellites that have made it into orbit since 1972 (Landsat 6, a government-subsidized
commercial venture, failed at launch in 1993). The U.S. Government has also
continuously held responsibility for the long-term archival and management of all U.S.held Landsat records.
4.2
Is world significance, uniqueness and irreplaceability established?
As indicated above, there is simply no other image record of the Earth’s land regions at
this scale or over the same period of time (1972-present). All U.S.-held Landsat data are
managed by the U.S. Geological Survey, which maintains original digital files in its
primary archives plus back-up copies in off-site locations.
The 30 by 30 meter spatial resolution per pixel and 185 by 185 kilometer area per Landsat
“scene” fill an important scientific niche because a Landsat satellite (as in Landsat 7) can
provide global coverage on a seasonal basis, yet the images are detailed enough to
characterize human-scale processes such as urban expansion, agricultural irrigation, and
deforestation.
By establishing baseline knowledge of Earth’s land areas from the early 1970s plus
comparative “overlay” images over time, Landsat allows scientists to detect and evaluate
environmental change over time. Often, this baseline knowledge is represented in the
form of a map.
Landsat and cartography have a long history. In July of 1972, Dr. Paul Lowman, a
pioneer of the Earth remote sensing concept at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
drew the first map from a Landsat image. Since that time, Landsat-derived maps have
been used to aid in navigation of poorly charted areas, especially in the Arctic and
Antarctic regions where ice conditions can change drastically.
Landsat images have been used to map geologic faults and fracture zones. Landsat
information has served as the basis for a series of global tectonic activity maps, the first in
1977, the latest in 2003. Landsat images have also been used to find previously
unmapped volcanic fields.
4.3
Is one or more of the criteria of (a) time (b) place (c) people (d) subject and theme (e)
form and style satisfied (f) social/spiritual/community significance?
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Time – First of its kind
“The Landsat program was created in the United States in the heady scientific and
exploratory times associated with taming the atom and going to the Moon,” explains Dr.
John Barker, NASA. In fact, it was the Apollo Moon-bound missions that inspired the
Landsat program. During the early test-bed missions for Apollo, photographs of Earth’s
land surface from space were taken for the first time.
Place
The geography of the world and how that geography has changed over time are captured
by the Landsat Program.
People
The societal benefits derived from worldwide uses of Landsat data in over 180 countries
are well documented in scientific literature and include the following categories: disasters,
health, energy, climate, water, ecosystems, agriculture, and biodiversity.
Subject and Theme
Periodic imagery of the Earth’s surface: a record vital to monitoring, understanding, and
predicting condition’s on the landscape.
4.4
Are there issues of rarity, integrity, threat and management that relate to this nomination?
Rarity
As indicated elsewhere, there is no other four-decade image record of the Earth’s land
surfaces, shallow coastal regions, and reefs at the scale of Landsat. Such images, which
cannot be retaken, are one-of-a-kind and irreplaceable.
Integrity
The USGS-held global-area Landsat image records are maintained in their original rawdata formats in climate-controlled government archives and back-up copies are
maintained in similar off-site facilities.
Threat
No threat is anticipated for USGS Landsat holdings; however, some regional Landsat data
collections held by current or former international-partner receiving stations are in danger
of being lost due to digital tape degradation and/or obsolete computer-file formats.
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5
LEGAL INFORMATION
5.1.
Owner of the documentary heritage (name and contact details)
U.S. Geological Survey
Point of Contact: Bruce Quirk
Mail Stop 517
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, Virginia USA 20192
Phone : 703-648-5057
Fax : 703-648-5939
Email : quirk@usgs.gov
5.2
Custodian of the documentary heritage (name and contact details, if different to owner)
5.3
Legal status:
(a) Category of ownership
U.S. Federal records
(b) Accessibility
All records in the Public Domain accessible at http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov
(c) Copyright status
No copyright status.
(d) Responsible administration
U.S. Geological Survey
(e) Other factors
All records available at no cost to any requestor.
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MANAGEMENT PLAN
6.1
Is there a management plan in existence for this documentary heritage? YES
The USGS ensures the collection of consistently calibrated images over the Earth's land
surface and ensures the data acquired support the scientific objective of monitoring
changes in the Earth's land cover and associated environment. Satellite operations,
acquisition planning, ground systems operation, public access and distribution systems,
and archiving – including off-site storage, all have management plans in place.
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission will continue to collect consistently calibrated
images of the Earth's land surface and will ensure the data support the science of
monitoring changes in the Earth's land cover and associated environment. This project is
actively planning for the 2012 launch of the next Landsat satellite. Extensive
management plans are being formulated, reviewed and approved.
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CONSULTATION
7.1
Provide details of consultation about this nomination with (a) the owner of the heritage
(b) the custodian (c) your national or regional Memory of the World committee
PART B – SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION
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ASSESSMENT OF RISK
8.1
Detail the nature and scope of threats to this documentary heritage (see 5.5)
The political situation within and external to the country of origin is stable. The
environmental conditions and physical conditions for the records preserved inside the
country is considered good with copies also being stored off-site. Conditions of records
held in other countries is less known. The budget to preserve the records is steady with
no decrease expected. Access to the records through the website Earth Explorer
(http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov) is extensive and complete.
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ASSESSMENT OF PRESERVATION
9.1
Detail the preservation context of the documentary heritage (see 3.3)
The current state of the Landsat records physical state is good with three copies being
maintained. The first copy is maintained on hard disk. The second on magnetic media
and the third on magnetic media stored off-site five hours distant.
The preservation history showed the USGS migrating the media approximately every ten
years and maintaining two copies until 2007 when a third copy was generated and stored
off-site. Migrations now target every three to five years from one media to newer media.
The contact organization and person for preservation is:
U.S. Geological Survey
Point of Contact: Bruce Quirk
Mail Stop 517
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, Virginia USA 20192
Phone : 703-648-5057
Fax : 703-648-5939
Email : quirk@usgs.gov
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