In 2002, the U. S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) launched a program to enhance 

the acquisition, preservation, and use 

of remotely sensed data for USGS 

science programs, as well as for those 

of cooperators and customers. Remotely 

sensed data are fundamental tools 

for studying the Earth’s land surface, 

including coastal and near-shore 

environments. For many decades, the 

USGS has been a leader in providing 

remotely sensed data to the national and 

international communities. Acting on its 

historical topographic mapping mission, 

the USGS has archived and distributed 

aerial photographs of the United States for 

more than half a century. Since 1972, the 

USGS has acquired, processed, archived, 

and distributed Landsat and other 

satellite and airborne remotely sensed 

data products to users worldwide. Today, 

the USGS operates and manages the 

Landsats 5 and 7 missions and cooperates 

with the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) to define and 

implement future satellite missions that 

will continue and expand the collection of 

moderate-resolution remotely sensed data.

In addition to being a provider of 

remotely sensed data, the USGS is a 

user of these data and related remote 

sensing technology. These data are used 

in natural resource evaluations for energy 

and minerals, coastal environmental 

surveys, assessments of natural hazards 

(earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides), 

biological surveys and investigations, 

water resources status and trends 

analyses and studies, and geographic 

and cartographic applications, such as 

wildfire detection and tracking and as a 

source of information for The National 

Map. The program furthers these distinct 

but related roles by leading the USGS 

activities in providing remotely sensed 

data while advancing applications of such 

data for USGS programs and a wider user 

community.

Goal and Objectives of the Land 

Remote Sensing Program

The fundamental goal of the Land Remote 

Sensing Program (LRS) is to provide the 

Federal Government and the public with 

a primary source of remotely sensed data 

and applications and to take the lead in 

defining the future of land remote sensing, 

nationally and internationally.

To accomplish this goal, the LRS Program 

is working to attain the following 

objectives:

• acquire regional and global remotely 

 sensed datasets from multiple sources 

 and participate in defining and 

 developing future satellite missions

• ensure the preservation of and access to 

 the Nation’s remotely sensed land data 

 assets through the National Satellite 

 Land Remote Sensing Data Archive 

 (NSLRSDA)

• expand the understanding and 

 applications of remotely sensed data 

 within the Bureau, the Department of 

 the Interior (DOI), and the scientific 

 and user community at large

Program Concepts

The program encompasses three major 

components: Satellite Mission Operations, 

Long-Term Data Preservation and Access, 

and Remote Sensing Research and Data 

Utilization. Each component performs 

specific tasks to accomplish the program’s 

fundamental mission and primary 

objectives. 

The U.S. Geological Survey Land Remote Sensing Program 

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet 022-03

March 2003
Satellite Mission Operations

Satellite Mission Operations are a 

primary source for remotely sensed land 

data from government, commercial, 

and international assets, including 

data from National Technical Means 

(NTM) sources. The Satellite Mission 

Operations component of LRS 

coordinates mission requirements with 

international cooperators, maintains 

ground receiving stations, and implements 

new technologies that support ground data 

reception and processing in preparation 

for archiving.

Long-term Data Preservation and Access 

Through the Land Remote Sensing 

Policy Act of 1992, Congress directed 

the Secretary of the Interior to establish 

a public-domain archive of satellite 

data of the Earth’s land surface. The 

resulting NSLRSDA, managed by the 

USGS EROS Data Center, includes 

scientifically relevant global land and 

coastal observation data captured by 

Landsat satellites and augmented with 

data from other government, commercial, 

and international sources. 

As the archive’s holdings expand, the 

collection becomes increasingly valuable 

for researchers working to understand 

natural resources, hazards, and longterm changes. The major focus of this 

component is to manage and preserve 

these data so that they remain accessible 

to a broad range of users over time. This 

entails using state-of-the-art transcription 

and archiving technologies, transferring 

the archives to new media as needed, 

investigating and implementing advanced 

media and data storage systems for longterm data preservation, and exploring 

new ways to make data accessible to 

customers and cooperators.

Remote Sensing Research and Data 

Utilization 

This component advances the use of 

remotely sensed data and remote sensing 

technology by the entire USGS and 

by its cooperators and customers. To 

accomplish this, LRS is conducting and 

sponsoring research in remotely sensed 

land data collection, access, distribution, 

and applications from current and future 

data sources. Scientists and engineers 

sponsored by LRS are investigating 

new types of satellite systems and 

sensors, studying promising new data 

sources, developing new data acquisition 

programs and sources, and assessing 

the potential for new data applications. 

In addition, LRS is seeking new ways 

to make remotely sensed data products 

more accessible to the land remote 

sensing user community, as well as ways 

to expand and enhance overall use of 

remotely sensed data and remote sensing 

technology. The LRS Program is also 

working to improve product distribution 

systems and support new avenues of 

education and outreach, information 

access and communication, and remote 

sensing advocacy.

Who Will Benefit?

The LRS supports a global user 

community. Entities that will benefit 

include USGS and DOI programs that 

use remotely sensed data, including The 

National Map; other Government agency 

programs involved in remotely sensed 

data collection, analysis, and application 

and/or land management issues, 

environmental monitoring, and emergency 

response; the Landsat international 

ground station/archive network; the 

USGS business partner network and 

commercial value-added processors; and 

the worldwide user community involved 

in land remote sensing applications.

Information

Information about the Land Remote 

Sensing Program is available at: 

remotesensing.usgs.gov.

The following sites on the World Wide 

Web provide additional information about 

LRS: landsat7.usgs.gov;

edcwww.cr.usgs.gov; edcintl.cr.usgs.gov; 

edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/archive/nslrsda/

index.html. Or, contact the U.S. 

Geological Survey, Geography Discipline, 

Land Remote Sensing Program at 703-

648-4567.

For information on other USGS products 

and services, call 1-888-ASK-USGS, or 

visit the USGS Geography Products Web 

site at erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/pubslists/.

For additional information, visit the 

ask.usgs.gov Web site or the USGS home 

page at www.usgs.gov.

Landsat 7 ETM+ of the Drum Mts., Utah

ASTER vnir-swir decorrelation stretch 4(R), 3 (G), 

7(B) Saturation stretch.