[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 223 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73506-73507]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25375]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey

[GX21RB00TU60200; OMB Control Number 1028-0123]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Current and Future 
Landsat User Requirements

AGENCY: Geological Survey, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we, 
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are proposing to renew an information 
collection. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 
and as part of our continuing efforts to reduce paperwork and 
respondent burden, we invite the general public and other Federal 
agencies to take this opportunity to comment on this IC.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
January 19, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on this information collection request 
(ICR) by mail to U.S. Geological Survey, Information Collections 
Officer, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive MS 159, Reston, VA 20192; or by 
email to [email protected]. Please reference OMB Control 
Number 1028-0123 in the subject line of your comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request additional information 
about this ICR, contact Rudy Schuster, Branch Chief by email at 
[email protected], or by telephone at (970) 226-9165.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, we provide the general public and other Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on new, proposed, revised, and 
continuing collections of information. This helps us assess the impact 
of our information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. It also helps the public understand our information 
collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired 
format.
    We are soliciting comments on the proposed ICR that is described 
below. We are especially interested in public comment addressing the 
following issues: (1) Is the collection necessary to the proper 
functions of the USGS; (2) will this information be processed and used 
in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) how 
might the USGS enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (5) how might the USGS minimize the 
burden of this collection on the respondents, including through the use 
of information technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    Abstract: The USGS National Land Imaging (NLI) Program is currently 
planning for the next generation of Landsat satellites. These 
satellites will continue the multi-decadal continuous collection of 
moderate-resolution, multispectral, remotely-sensed imagery through the 
Landsat program. Landsat satellite imagery has been available at no 
cost to the public since 2008, which has resulted in the distribution 
of millions of scenes each subsequent year, as well tens of thousands 
of Landsat users registering with USGS to access the data. In order to 
continue to provide high quality imagery that meets the needs of users, 
NLI is collecting current and future user requirements for sensor and 
satellite attributes. These attributes include spatial resolution, 
spectral bands, frequency of acquisition, and many others. NLI will use 
the information from this collection to understand if they are 
currently meeting the needs of their user community and to help 
determine the features of future Landsat satellites. Questions will be 
asked to determine user characteristics, current uses of imagery, 
preferred attributes of Landsat imagery, and benefits of Landsat 
imagery. Previous surveys were provided to all U.S. Landsat imagery 
users who were registered with USGS and a large sample of international 
Landsat users were also invited. However, many changes have occurred, 
and many Landsat users are not registered with USGS, but instead access 
Landsat imagery through a variety of cloud servers. The current and 
future user requirements for sensor and satellite attributes 
information from this user group has not been collected and is 
essential for future satellite decision-making within the NLI program. 
All Landsat users who participate during Earth observation capacity-
building workshops will be invited to take part in the survey.
    To protect the confidentiality and privacy of survey respondents, 
the data from the survey will not be associated with any respondent's 
email address at any time and will only be analyzed and reported in 
aggregate. All files containing PII will be password-protected, housed 
on secure USGS servers, and only accessible to the research team. The 
data from the survey will be aggregated and statistically analyzed and 
the results will be published in publicly available USGS reports.
    Title of Collection: Current and Future Landsat User Requirements.
    OMB Control Number: 1028-0123.
    Form Number: None.
    Type of Review: Renewal of a previously approved collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: General public.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 11,660.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 11,660.
    Estimated Completion Time per Response: 20 minutes on average. We 
estimate that it will take 20 minutes per person to complete the full 
survey and 5 minutes per person to complete the non-response survey.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 3,335.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.

[[Page 73507]]

    Frequency of Collection: One time.
    Total Estimated Annual Nonhour Burden Cost: There are no ``non-hour 
cost'' burdens associated with this collection of information.
    An agency may not conduct, or sponsor and a person is not required 
to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number.
    The authority for this action is the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Timothy Newman,
Program Coordinator, National Land Imaging Program, US Geological 
Survey.
[FR Doc. 2020-25375 Filed 11-17-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4338-11-P