Recently the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Board of Directors voted unanimously for a third resolution calling for immediate support and funding for the continuation of the Nation’s moderate resolution imaging program. Several events have led to the possible discontinuation of the collection of moderate resolution, multispectral remote sensing. One of those events was the technical failure in the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) instrument on-board the Landsat 7 spacecraft in May 2003, and most recently the decline of the Landsat 5 spacecraft.
Although many other remote sensing efforts exist these days, the more than 40 years of uninterrupted Landsat imagery has been instrumental in monitoring ongoing stresses on the Earth from climate change, population, land use and other factors that challenge the natural resources available to mankind. According to the announcement, measuring the Earth’s resources such as food, water, and energy is best done by collecting and implementing moderate resolution imagery.