Landsat imagery at the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute includes data covering Alaska and the surrounding areas since 1972. The collection is comprised primarily of Multispectral Scanner System (MSS) data, although data from the Return Beam Vidicon (RBV) and Thematic Mapper (TM) are also included. The MSS provides repetitive acquisition of high-resolution multispectral data of the earth's surface on a global basis. This sensor package images a 100 nautical mile (185 km) wide swath directly below the satellite as it passes over the Earth. Each scene, or frame of data, covers an area 100 by 100 n. miles in size. The nominal size of a pixel (picture element) for this sensor is 80 meters on a side. Four separate bands (wavelengths) are recorded by the MSS: Green 0.5-0.6 microns Red 0.6-0.7 microns Near IR1 0.7-0.8 microns Near IR2 0.8-1.1 microns Initially data were acquired directly from NASA, and were a subset of the holdings of the EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Starting in 1978, additional images were acquired from the Canadian Centre for Remote Sensing. From 1982 to 1991, most of the coverage was acquired by the Geophysical Institute Quick Look Project, which operated recording equipment at the NOAA Gilmore Tracking Station near Fairbanks. Scenes in the database that were acquired by the Quick-Look program are so indicated. Much of this data IS NOT in the EROS Data Center's data base and is therefore UNIQUE to this collection. TM and RBV data included in the collection originally came from NASA, the EROS Data Center or EOSAT, depending on the time of acquisition. Their characteristics are described in the references listed for the collection.

• ALI

SCIOPS Short Name: ALI Version ID: Not provided Unique ID: C1214592988-SCIOPS

This data set contains raw unregistered Landsat digital data covering most of Alaska. Data obtained from EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Data acquired from 1980 and is ongoing. Some Landsat scenes date back to 1972. The data set currently has 585 records with a growth chart at 5-10 records per year. The amount of storage required varies by medium used or full scene or subscene selection; the file structure is sequential. Spatial referencing of data is by 57 x 59 meter grid cell size-MSS data. Data are available on 9-track, 800 bpi, 1600 bpi, 6250 bpi, unlabeled, unblocked, BCD, fixed record length tape. Subsets and custom formats are available. Limited documentation is available. The data is organized in 7 1/2 ' or 15 ' quads. Data is used for false color composites, land cover analysis, geologic analysis, hydrogeologic analysis, land use planning, basis for update of topographic maps, production of image maps.

• EARTH_LAND_USGS_EDC_AK_Landsat

CEOS_EXTRA Short Name: EARTH_LAND_USGS_EDC_AK_Landsat Version ID: Not provided Unique ID: C2231551714-CEOS_EXTRA

Satellite and aircraft images concerning the area of interest of the Italian researches in Antarctica have been acquired and catalogued for scientific and logistic application purpose. For copyright reasons the images cannot be freely distributed.

• GEO1

SCIOPS Short Name: GEO1 Version ID: Not provided Unique ID: C1214598637-SCIOPS

The Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) is an initiative of the inter-governmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) that aims to: foster the sustained availability of observations for national forest monitoring systems; support governments that are establishing national systems by providing a platform for coordinating observations, providing assistance and guidance on utilising observations, developing accepted methods and protocols, and promoting ongoing research and development; and work with national governments that report into international forest assessments (such as the global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) of the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO) and the national greenhouse gas inventories reported to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) using methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

• Metadata link
• GFOI_Malawi

CEOS_EXTRA Short Name: GFOI_Malawi Version ID: Not provided Unique ID: C2231550955-CEOS_EXTRA

INPE's only receiving station for Landsat MSS was located in Cuiaba, MT (geographic coordinates approx. 15.5S/56.0W). Data were acquired routinely over the entire range from 1973 until 1986, some time after TM data began being received. MSS data recordings were then reduced to Brazilian territory only. Also, many gaps exist, some of them several months long, related mostly to station downtimes caused by lightning. The MSS tapes recorded at Cuiaba were air shipped to the processing and distribution center in Cachoeira Paulista, SP, where they are kept. The holdings are estimated to be around 75,000 scenes (or 300,000 images, counting individually each of the four spectral bands), not all of them processed. The fifth band (thermal infrared) available on Landsat 3 is not counted for practical purposes. Very few were processed at INPE with disappointing results and it was soon dropped as a product. Demand for MSS products decreased sharply after TM products started being distributed. This determined the reduction and eventually the discontinuing of MSS recordings in 1987. The original processing system, based on 16-bit minicomputers, was dismantled in early 1991. An alternative ingestion system is being developed to allow limited processing of MSS data by the TM system, with a forecast to be ready in late 1998. Meanwhile, available products are limited to reproduction of existing photographic originals (about 150,000 black-and-white and color images). No digital products can be delivered, since no copies were kept from produced CCTs. Requests for products and for image search listings are handled directly by the processing center (listed at the Data Center entry), through contacts by mail, phone or fax. No online remote access is available to the moment, although plans exist to implement it, including the International Directory protocols. No firm date is speculated for that, but hopes are that it can be made before 1998. Information about costs, delivery time and available formats can be requested at the same address.

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• INPE_LS_MSS

CEOS_EXTRA Short Name: INPE_LS_MSS Version ID: Not provided Unique ID: C2227456141-CEOS_EXTRA