[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 110 (Monday, July 23, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S5256]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       LANDSAT SATELLITE PROGRAM

 Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam President, I wish to recognize 
and commemorate the Landsat satellite program on the 40th anniversary 
of the launch of the first Landsat satellite. While perhaps not as well 
known as some of our other satellite programs, the Landsat satellites 
are nevertheless wildly successful and critically important to 
scientific research and policymaking.
  On September 21, 1966, Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall 
announced the commencement of Project EROS--Earth Resources Observation 
Satellites. The goal of Project EROS was to create a program 
responsible for mapping the characteristics of the surface of the 
Earth, thereby helping us better understand Earth's natural resources 
and changing climate.
  In the years following, the Department of the Interior, through the 
U.S. Geological Survey and partnering with the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration, established the EROS Program, and on July 23, 
1972, launched the first Landsat satellite responsible for Earth 
surface imaging. Over the last 40 years the United States launched six 
more Landsat satellites, ensuring continuous observation and creating a 
national archive of natural resource information. The next Landsat is 
scheduled to be launched in 2013.
  Today Landsat is crucial, not only to environmental research and 
study, but to national policy and decisionmakers at all levels. Landsat 
collects data from across the United States from the forests of 
Washington and Oregon, to the changing wetlands and waterways of 
coastal Louisiana. It also collects data globally, mapping, for 
example, the arid regions of Saudi Arabia and Mexico and the shrinking 
Aral Sea and Lake Chad. Using the information gathered by these 
satellites, researchers are able to catalogue and compare changes in 
the land due to urbanization, deforestation, population growth, climate 
change, and natural disasters. This kind of analysis is critically 
important to local governments, farmers and ranchers, land managers, 
and many other decisionmakers.
  For example, my home State of Colorado has been deeply affected by 
wildfires this year. Drought, climate change, and fire suppression have 
combined to make this one of the most destructive wildfire seasons in 
Colorado history. Landsat satellites collect data measuring water 
consumption by plants, bark beetle infestation, forest health, fuel 
loads, and even environmental recovery data from these damaging fires. 
Given this information, we can better combat wildfires both on the 
front lines and through our decisions here in Washington.
  Not only does Landsat data benefit Colorado decisionmakers, but the 
satellites themselves have a strong Colorado pedigree. Ball Aerospace, 
located in Boulder, CO, is a key contributor to the development and 
progress of the Landsat program. Ball developed and constructed several 
vital components of the Landsat mission, most notably the Operational 
Land Imager, which allows for detailed imaging and a complete scan of 
the entire globe every 16 days.
  I want to congratulate all those who have been associated with the 
Landsat legacy over the past 40 years on fulfilling Secretary Udall's 
vision so ably. Their tireless dedication has been a true benefit to 
all Americans and the world.

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