Free Earth Observation Data on a Global Scale

Gilberto CâmaraGeneral DirectorNational Institute for Space ResearchBrazil

The fundamental question of our time

fonte: IGBP

How is the Earth’s environment changing, and what are the consequences for human civilization?

Global Change

Where are changes taking place? How much change is happening? Who is being impacted by the change?

Global Land Project•What are the drivers and dynamics of variability and change in terrestrial human-environment systems?

•How is the provision of environmental goods and services affected by changes in terrestrial human-environment systems?

•What are the characteristics and dynamics of vulnerability in terrestrial human-environment systems?

Impacts of global land change

More vulnerable communities are those most at risk

Earth observation satellites provide key information about

global land change

EO data: benefits to everyoneEO data: benefits to everyone

CBERS-2 image of Manaus

Slides from LANDSATAral Sea

Bolivia

1975 1992 2000

1973 1987 2000

source: USGS

Charles launches campaign to save ravaged rainforests

Prince Charles will this week join the battle against climate change by launching an organisation which calls for a new green economics that recognises the world's rainforests are worth more alive than dead.

Deforestation is responsible for 18-25 per cent of global carbon emissions, an output second only to energy production.

October 21 2007

Source: Carlos Nobre (INPE)

Deforestation is responsible for 18-25 per cent of global carbon

emissions (Prince Charles)

How does anyone know?

“Despite solid improvements by scientists in monitoring deforestation, the uncertainties are still substantial”. (Science, 27 April 2007)

Science, 30 march 2007

NASA’s mission formerly began with “To understand and protect our home planet…”. Those words have now been replaced with “Pioneering the future…”. The aim of better exploring the moon and Mars has attractions, but we agree with the sentiment “The planet that has to matter most to us is the one we live on.”

Growth of Space Government Investments(2002-2006)

source: EUROCONSULT

Costs of EO satellites x benefits from EO data

ENVISAT sat: US$ 3 billionENVISAT images: US$ 5 million/year

The root of the crisis: Budgets of EO satellites

Cost (US$ Million)

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

SPOT-4 RADARSAT-1 LANDSAT-7 ENVISAT

The root of the crisis: Deliverables of EO satellites

Images delivered per year for civilian costumers (estimates)

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

SPOT-4 RADARSAT-1 LANDSAT-7 ENVISAT

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

LANDSAT-5 1984

LANDSAT-8 2012

SPOT-4 1998

SPOT-5 2002

CBERS-2 2003

CBERS-2B 2007

CBERS-3 2010

IRS-P6 2003

IRS-P6/2 2008

Land Remote Sensing: 20 to 50 meter resolution

public commercial

India’s ResourceSat and the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) might be good sources of useful data to substitute for the loss of Landsat data during this period (pg. 37)

August 2007

What did we learn from our fathers?

A penny saved is a penny earned

The Anti-Uncle Scrooge Principle

A pixel unused is a penny wasted

LANDSAT data archive (USGS)

Uncle Scrooge and the Internet

Value comes from use!

The Internet has reduced the cost of data distribution to zero!

What is a public good?

Non-rival ...[goods] which all enjoy in common in the sense

that each individual's consumption of such a good leads to no subtractions from any other individual's consumption of that good... (Samuelson)

Non-excludableit is impossible to exclude any individuals from consuming the good

Pictures are documents of culture (public goods)

Turner, “Snowstorm” (Tate Gallery, London)

Images are public goods

Rondonia, Brazil

19861975

1992

CBERS-2B Launch (19 September 2007)

CBERS:satellites for the public good

Number of full CCD scenes distributed (145 Mb/scene)

360,000

Number of institutions and companies

14,500

CBERS Image Distribution in Brazil (05/2004- 08/2007)

Images delivered per year (estimate)

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

SPOT-4 RADARSAT-1 LANDSAT-7 ENVISAT CBERS-2

Time to respond an image request

9 minutes

User Distribution(%)

Government Institutions 23%

Educational Sector 26%

Private Companies 51%

“CBERS brought the freedom to have data immediately available when you need it.”

Private Farm Management

What do the private companies say

about free CBERS data?

Enables new business development

Facilitates trial uses for new clients

Planning new applications becomes easier

Creates jobs by reducing cost of data buys

Increases quality by adding data previously unavailable

USGS/EROS Data Center EOS Polar Ground NetworkInternational Cooperators (Landsat 5 & Landsat 7) IC (Landsat 7 only)LTAP+ Station (University of Puerto Rico) IC (Landsat 5 only) (Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia)Campaign Station (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)

LANDSAT Ground Station Network

CBERS as a global satellite

CBERS ground stations will cover most of the Earth’s land mass between 300N and 300S

A vision for the future

A constellation of satellites will provide free global land imaging for all countries on Earth

The Group on Earth Observations, GEO, is leading a worldwide effort to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems, GEOSS.

Terrestrial

Airborne

Near-Space

LEO/MEO Commercial Satellites and Manned Spacecraft

Far-Space

L1/HEO/GEO TDRSS & CommercialSatellites

Dep

loyab

le

Perm

an

en

t

Forecasts & Predictions

Aircraft/Balloon Event Tracking and Campaigns

User Community

Vantage Points

Capabilities

Will the Global Earth Observation System of Systems be based on free and open

data policies?

TERRA (ASTER & MODIS)

LANDSAT

SPOT

ALOS

RESOURCESAT

IRS

CBERS

A Potential Land Surface Imaging Constellation

SAC-C

Source: Daniel Vidal-Madjar (France)

What can we achieve?

There is an enormous demand for remote sensing data in the world

Free on-line data access will significantly increase the number of users of earth observation data

Free data will lead to a much better understanding of the global Earth System

One world, one dream...

Free Earth Observation data for all!