Landsat 7 Global Data Archive
GAGE was invited to contribute to the definition of a global archiving strategy
for Landsat 7, which is scheduled for launch in May, 1998. Its mission is to build
and refresh a global archive of Landsat imagery that will enable earth science
research across most disciplines. Such systematic worldwide effort has not been
undertaken before with satellite remote sensing. Previous collection of satellite
imagery was more or less random and strongly influenced by commercial demand. As a
result, our current coverage for glaciers is quite incomplete, almost lacking, for
many regions of the world.
Glaciers and ice sheets are recognized as major components of the Earth's climatic
and hydrologic systems. Glacier activity is subject of course to many factors of
climate, geothermal heat, internal dynamics, melt-water drainage, crustal movement,
sea level, etc. With these complications in mind, it is necessary to monitor the
behavior of many glaciers in different settings to determine how they are responding
to events of local and global significance.
GAGE invited proposals from the international scientific community for modern glaciers,
including ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, and ice-marginal water bodies (lakes & seas)
for inclusion in the Landsat 7 archive acquisition and refresh mission. We have considered
sites from all parts of the world (except the United States and Antarctica, which are covered
otherwise). Representative glaciers were solicited for all kinds of situations.
- Low-, mid- and high-latitudes
- Lowlands, uplands and mountains
- Maritime and continental environments
- Land-based and marine-based settings
The GAGE proposal has been given to the Landsat 7 project at the NASA Goddard Space
Flight Center, as of Jan. 1997. There are no promises that all sites can be incorporated,
but they will all be considered in the generation of the long-term acquisition plan that
will drive which scenes are added to the archive and how frequently they are
refreshed.
GAGE proposal
for Landsat 7 long-term glacier inventory.
For further information, please contact:
James S. Aber, Earth Science Department,
Emporia State University, Emporia, KS 66801 United States.
316-341-5981, Fax: 316-341-5997,
E-mail: aberjame@esumail.emporia.edu
More information about Landsat 7
Last update 14 Jan. 1997; return to GAGE homepage