(1) The continuous collection and utilization of land remote sensing data from space are of major benefit in studying and understanding human impacts on the global environment, in managing the Earth's natural resources, in carrying out national security functions, and in planning and conducting many other activities of scientific, economic, and social importance.
(2) The Federal Government's Landsat system established the United States as the world leader in land remote sensing technology.
(3) The national interest of the United States lies in maintaining international leadership in satellite land remote sensing and in broadly promoting the beneficial use of remote sensing data.
(4) The cost of Landsat data has impeded the use of such data for scientific purposes, such as for global environmental change research, as well as for other public sector applications.
(5) Given the importance of the Landsat program to the United States, urgent actions, including expedited procurement procedures, are required to ensure data continuity.
(6) Full commercialization of the Landsat program cannot be achieved within the foreseeable future, and thus should not serve as the near-term goal of national policy on land remote sensing; however, commercialization of land remote sensing should remain a long-term goal of United States policy.
(7) Despite the success and importance of the Landsat system, funding and organizational uncertainties over the past several years have placed its future in doubt and have jeopardized United States leadership in land remote sensing.
(8) Recognizing the importance of the Landsat program in helping to meet national and commercial objectives, the President approved, on February 11, 1992, a National Space Policy Directive which was developed by the National Space Council and commits the United States to ensuring the continuity of Landsat coverage into the 21st century.
(9) Because Landsat data are particularly important for national security purposes and global environmental change research, management responsibilities for the program should be transferred from the Department of Commerce to an integrated program management involving the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
(10) Regardless of management responsibilities for the Landsat program, the Nation's broad civilian, national security, commercial, and foreign policy interests in remote sensing will best be served by ensuring that Landsat remains an unclassified program that operates according to the principles of open skies and nondiscriminatory access.
(11) Technological advances aimed at reducing the size and weight of satellite systems hold the potential for dramatic reductions in the cost, and substantial improvements in the capabilities, of future land remote sensing systems, but such technological advances have not been demonstrated for land remote sensing and therefore cannot be relied upon as the sole means of achieving data continuity for the Landsat program.
(12) A technology demonstration program involving advanced remote sensing technologies could serve a vital role in determining the design of a follow-on spacecraft to Landsat 7, while also helping to determine whether such a spacecraft should be funded by the United States Government, by the private sector, or by an international consortium.
(13) To maximize the value of the Landsat program to the American public, unenhanced Landsat 4 through 6 data should be made available, at a minimum, to United States Government agencies, to global environmental change researchers, and to other researchers who are financially supported by the United States Government, at the cost of fulfilling user requests, and unenhanced Landsat 7 data should be made available to all users at the cost of fulfilling user requests.
(14) To stimulate development of the commercial market for unenhanced data and value-added services, the United States Government should adopt a data policy for Landsat 7 which allows competition within the private sector for distribution of unenhanced data and value-added services.
(15) Development of the remote sensing market and the provision of commercial value-added services based on remote sensing data should remain exclusively the function of the private sector.
(16) It is in the best interest of the United States to maintain a permanent, comprehensive Government archive of global Landsat and other land remote sensing data for long-term monitoring and study of the changing global environment.
Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992
(A) sufficiently consistent (in terms of acquisition geometry, coverage characteristics, and spectral characteristics) with previous Landsat data to allow comparisons for global and regional change detection and characterization; and(4) The term ''data preprocessing'' may include -
(B) compatible with such data and with methods used to receive and process such data.
(A) rectification of system and sensor distortions in land remote sensing data as it is received directly from the satellite in preparation for delivery to a user;(5) The term ''land remote sensing'' means the collection of data which can be processed into imagery of surface features of the Earth from an unclassified satellite or satellites, other than an operational United States Government weather satellite.
(B) registration of such data with respect to features of the Earth; and
(C) calibration of spectral response with respect to such data, but does not include conclusions, manipulations, or calculations derived from such data, or a combination of such data with other data.
(A) established by, and responsible to, the Administrator and the Secretary of Defense pursuant to section 5611(a) of this title; and(7) The term ''Landsat system'' means Landsats 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and any follow-on land remote sensing system operated and owned by the United States Government, along with any related ground equipment, systems, and facilities owned by the United States Government.
(B) consisting of appropriate officers and employees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, and any other United States Government agencies the President designates as responsible for the Landsat program.
(A) such data shall not be used in connection with any bid for a commercial contract, development of a commercial product, or any other non-United States Government activity that is expected, or has the potential, to be profitmaking;(12) The term ''Secretary'' means the Secretary of Commerce.
(B) the results of such activities are disclosed in a timely and complete fashion in the open technical literature or other method of public release, except when such disclosure by the United States Government or its contractors would adversely affect the national security or foreign policy of the United States or violate a provision of law or regulation; and
(C) such data shall not be distributed in competition with unenhanced data provided by the Landsat 6 contractor.
(A) United States Government agencies;(Pub. L. 102-555, Sec. 3, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4164.)
(B) researchers involved with the United States Global Change Research Program and its international counterpart programs; and
(C) other researchers and international entities that have signed with the United States Government a cooperative agreement involving the use of Landsat data for noncommercial purposes.
(1) specify that the fundamental goal of the Landsat Program Management is the continuity of unenhanced Landsat data through the acquisition and operation of a Landsat 7 satellite as quickly as practicable which is, at a minimum, functionally equivalent to the Landsat 6 satellite, with the addition of a tracking and data relay satellite communications capability;
(2) include a baseline funding profile that -
(A) is mutually acceptable to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Defense for the period covering the development and operation of Landsat 7; and
(B) provides for total funding responsibility of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Defense, respectively, to be approximately equal to the funding responsibility of the other as spread across the development and operational life of Landsat 7; (3) specify that any improvements over the Landsat 6 functional equivalent capability for Landsat 7 will be funded by a specific sponsoring agency or agencies, in a manner agreed to by the Landsat Program Management, if the required funding exceeds the baseline funding profile required by paragraph (2), and that additional improvements will be sought only if the improvements will not jeopardize data continuity; and
(4) provide for a technology demonstration program whose objective shall be the demonstration of advanced land remote sensing technologies that may potentially yield a system which is less expensive to build and operate, and more responsive to data users, than is the current Landsat system.
(1) Landsat 7 procurement, launch, and operations;(d) Authority to contract
(2) ensuring that the operation of the Landsat system is responsive to the broad interests of the civilian, national security, commercial, and foreign users of the Landsat system;
(3) ensuring that all unenhanced Landsat data remain unclassified and that, except as provided in section 5656(a) and (b) of this title, no restrictions are placed on the availability of unenhanced data;
(4) ensuring that land remote sensing data of high priority locations will be acquired by the Landsat 7 system as required to meet the needs of the United States Global Change Research Program, as established in the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2921 et seq.), and to meet the needs of national security users;
(5) Landsat data responsibilities pursuant to this chapter;
(6) oversight of Landsat contracts entered into under sections 5612 and 5613 of this title;
(7) coordination of a technology demonstration program, pursuant to section 5633 of this title; and
(8) ensuring that copies of data acquired by the Landsat system are provided to the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive.
(1) Establishment(Pub. L. 102-555, title I, Sec. 101, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4166.)
The Landsat Program Management shall seek impartial advice and comments regarding the status, effectiveness, and operation of the Landsat system, using existing advisory committees and other appropriate mechanisms. Such advice shall be sought from individuals who represent -
(A) a broad range of perspectives on basic and applied science and operational needs with respect to land remote sensing data;
(B) the full spectrum of users of Landsat data, including representatives from United States Government agencies, State and local government agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, value-added companies, the agricultural, mineral extraction, and other user industries, and the public, and
(C) a broad diversity of age groups, sexes, and races.
(2) Reports
Within 1 year after October 28, 1992, and biennially thereafter, the Landsat Program Management shall prepare and submit a report to the Congress which -
(A) reports the public comments received pursuant to paragraph (1); and
(B) includes -
(i) a response to the public comments received pursuant to paragraph (1);
(ii) information on the volume of use, by category, of data from the Landsat system; and
(iii) any recommendations for policy or programmatic changes to improve the utility and operation of the Landsat system.
(1) retaining the existing or modified contract with the Landsat 6 contractor;(Pub. L. 102-555, title I, Sec. 103, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4168.)
(2) the termination of existing contracts for the exclusive right to market unenhanced Landsat data; and
(3) the establishment of an Alternative private sector mechanism for the marketing and commercial distribution of such data.
(1) ensure that unenhanced data are available to all users at the cost of fulfilling user requests;(b) Additional data policy considerations
(2) ensure timely and dependable delivery of unenhanced data to the full spectrum of civilian, national security, commercial, and foreign users and the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive;
(3) ensure that the United States retains ownership of all unenhanced data generated by Landsat 7;
(4) support the development of the commercial market for remote sensing data;
(5) ensure that the provision of commercial value-added services based on remote sensing data remains exclusively the function of the private sector; and
(6) to the extent possible, ensure that the data distribution system for Landsat 7 is compatible with the Earth Observing System Data and Information System.
(1) United States private sector entities to operate ground receiving stations in the United States for Landsat 7 data;(c) Landsat 7 Data Policy Plan
(2) other means for direct access by private sector entities to unenhanced data from Landsat 7; and
(3) the United States Government to charge a per image fee, license fee, or other such fee to entities operating ground receiving stations or distributing Landsat 7 data.
(1) provides justification for the Landsat 7 data policy in terms of the civilian, national security, commercial, and foreign policy needs of the United States; and(Pub. L. 102-555, title I, Sec. 105, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4170.)
(2) provides justification for any elements of the Landsat 7 data policy which are not consistent with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section.
(1) The Administrator and the Secretary of Defense are directed to continue and to enhance programs of remote sensing research and development.(b) Roles of Department of Agriculture and Department of the Interior
(2) The Administrator is authorized and encouraged to -
(A) conduct experimental space remote sensing programs (including applications demonstration programs and basic research at universities);
(B) develop remote sensing technologies and techniques, including those needed for monitoring the Earth and its environment; and
(C) conduct such research and development in cooperation with other United States Government agencies and with public and private research entities (including private industry, universities, non-profit organizations, State and local governments, foreign governments, and international organizations) and to enter into arrangements (including joint ventures) which will foster such cooperation.
(1) In order to enhance the ability of the United States to manage and utilize its renewable and nonrenewable resources, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior are authorized and encouraged to conduct programs of research and development in the applications of remote sensing using funds appropriated for such purposes.
(2) Such programs may include basic research at universities, demonstrations of applications, and cooperative activities involving other Government agencies, private sector parties, and foreign and international organizations.
(1) seek to launch advanced land remote sensing system components within 5 years after October 28, 1992;
(2) demonstrate within such 5-year period advanced sensor capabilities suitable for use in the anticipated land remote sensing program; and
(3) demonstrate within such 5-year period an advanced land remote sensing system design that could be less expensive to procure and operate than the Landsat system projected to be in operation through the year 2000, and that therefore holds greater potential for private sector investment and control.
(1) private sector funding and management of a successor land remote sensing system;
(2) establishing an international consortium for the funding and management of a successor land remote sensing system;
(3) funding and management of a successor land remote sensing system by the United States Government; and
(4) a cooperative effort between the United States Government and the private sector for the funding and management of a successor land remote sensing system.
(1) encourage the development, launch, and operation of a land remote sensing system that adequately serves the civilian, national security commercial, and foreign policy interests of the United States;
(2) encourage the development, launch, and operation of a land remote sensing system that maintains data continuity with the Landsat system; and
(3) incorporate system enhancements, including any such enhancements developed under the technology demonstration program under section 5633 of this title, which may potentially yield a system that is less expensive to build and operate, and more responsive to data users, than is the Landsat system projected to be in operation through the year 2000.