The White House announced on August 14 the release of a plan for a national land-imaging program. The plan will serve as the framework for continuing the collection of moderate resolution multispectral remote-sensing data for the globe. The new program will be established at the U.S. Department of the Interior and will provide focused leadership and management for the nation’s land-imaging efforts.

“We understand and acknowledge the need for a long-term plan to develop technical, financial, and managerial stability for the U.S. National Land Imaging Program,” Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne said. “We look forward to working with the Congress, other federal agencies and private-sector partners to ensure the United States maintains its civil land-imaging capabilities and can meet the nation’s future needs for this vital information.”

“Population growth, resource development, natural disasters and climate change are having significant impacts on the Earth’s surface,” Kempthorne noted. “The use of remote-sensing satellites to monitor these developments more effectively and
sustainably will play a critical role in shaping our national as well
as international response plans.”

The report, titled "A Plan for a U.S. National Land Imaging Program," provides a new framework for continuing the long-term collection of photographic, infrared and other multispectral remote-sensing data for the globe. The report recommends an interagency council to oversee the effort and a program office at the Interior Department.

Since 1972, U.S. Landsat satellites have provided millions of moderate resolution images of the planet’s surface. Responsibility for developing, launching, and managing the satellites has historically moved among agencies. The National Land Imaging Program will ensure a consistent planning process for future imaging missions, the report states. Land imaging data serve government, commercial, industrial, civilian, military, and educational communities in the United States and worldwide.

Interior is the nation’s principal conservation agency, managing 500 million acres of public land -- one out of every five acres in the United States. The department’s U.S. Geological Survey, the Nation's largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency, operates Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 and provides the portal to the largest archive of remotely sensed land data in the world. A Plan for a U.S. National Land Imaging Program is online at http://ostp.gov/.