[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 23, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CELEBRATING 35 YEARS OF SPACE-BASED OBSERVATIONS OF THE EARTH BY THE 
                           LANDSAT SPACECRAFT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 22, 2008

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support 
of H. Res. 891, celebrating 35 years of space-based observations of the 
earth by the Landsat spacecraft and looking forward to sustaining the 
longest unbroken record of civil earth observations of the land, 
introduced by my distinguished colleague from Colorado, Representative 
Mark Udall. This important legislation recognizes the longest running 
enterprise for acquisition of imagery of Earth from space.
  The program was initiated in 1966 as the Earth Resources Observation 
Satellites program but was later changed to Landsat in 1975. On July 
23, 1972, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched 
Landsat 1, originally called the Earth Resources Technology Satellite, 
as the first civilian Earth observation satellite to study the Earth's 
land cover and monitor natural resources. Since 1972, the Landsat 
program has continued to collect data without interruption through the 
successful launches of Landsats 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7, and has established 
the longest and most comprehensive record of global land surface data 
ever collected.
  The year 2007 represents 35 years of continuous collection of space-
based observations of the Earth's land cover by the United States 
Landsat satellites, which have enabled increased scientific 
understanding of the interrelationships of the Earth's land 
cover, energy balance, and biogeochemical processes as well as the 
realization of numerous societal benefits from the applied uses of the 
data. The consistency of Landsat data over three decades of acquisition 
offers opportunities to compare land cover changes over time. Landsat 
greatly enhances remote sensing science that helps give rise to a 
global change research plan and international initiatives to study the 
Earth system. Landsat images are also invaluable for emergency response 
and disaster relief. Advances made in data reception and processing 
permit rapid access to imagery in times of natural or human-made 
disaster. Within hours of data acquisition, the USGS Center for Earth 
Resources Observation and Science provides relief organizations 
worldwide with satellite images for disaster response, as well as 
image-derived products that incorporate information on population 
density, elevation, and other relevant topics.

  Landsat data illuminated for the first time how human decisions led 
to large-scale impacts on the environment. The U.S. Climate Change 
Science Program has recognized Landsat and its 3 long-term data record 
as instrumental to the study of climate and environmental change, 
noting that Landsat data are invaluable for studying the land surface 
and how it affects and is affected by climate. The scientific and 
societal benefits of the Landsat program and its 35-year data record 
illustrate the significant return on the public investment in Earth 
observations and the need for continued support for this critical 
national asset.
  Mr. Speaker, I express my appreciation to all of the dedicated 
scientists, engineers, and program personnel who have contributed to 
the successful development and operation of the Landsat program over 
the past 35 years. I urge my fellow colleagues to join me and continue 
to support the Landsat program and data record so as to sustain 
Landsat's value to scientific research, especially, the study of global 
climate change, and to the myriad applied uses of the data for societal 
benefit.

                          ____________________