My question might be simple but can someone explain to me the importance of STATION_ID to satellite images?If the sensor is the same(e.g landsat TM) for 2 images but the STATION_ID is different (MLK and XXXO1) is there a problem?


The STATION_ID refers to the satellite ground station. A ground station is used to upload/download data to/from the satellite. You can think of it like a cellphone tower - when the satellite is in range of a ground station it sends the imagery to earth.

Here is a map which shows the location of the ground stations participating in the International Ground Station (IGS) network. It looks like the MLK station you mention is a historical station and is not part of the network currently transmitting/receiving data as part of the Landsat program..

To answer your question - the ground station does not affect the image data.

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  • I realise that the "station_ID designating the location of the observations" but I couldn't understand the importance of them. This map is very interesting because I can see that the station_id refers to the location AND the right to have direct reception of images.Thank you! – geo_dd Jun 3 '15 at 17:58

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