In the first 1,000 miles above the lens of Earth’s atmosphere, a proliferation of Low Earth Orbit satellites circles the planet collecting scientific data and relaying communications. Government and commercially owned satellites operate in tandem here.
NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition program, known as CSDA, champions the interoperability of data collected by commercial Earth observation satellites to support Earth science data users. CSDA evaluates data from commercial satellite vendors; data that meet quality and value criteria set by CSDA are purchased for the scientific community to use along with open data collected by flagship government satellites—like Landsat. CSDA has evaluated data from companies including Planet, Maxar, and Airbus U.S.
We recently interviewed Dana Ostrenga, the CSDA Project Manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Dana is a data interoperability expert; she described how government and commercial Earth observation satellites complement each other and provide broader support to the scientific community when used together.
Here’s what she had to say:
What role does the commercial remote sensing industry play in satellite-based Earth observation?
The commercial remote sensing industry plays a pivotal role in expanding the reach of satellite-based Earth observation (EO) by providing data at a global or near-global scale,* often at higher revisit frequencies and higher resolution than government funded missions. Commercial companies are often able to operate smaller satellites, making Earth observation more accessible to a wider range of sectors, such as agriculture, forestry, urban planning, and disaster management. By focusing on niches and delivering tailored, real-time tasking data services, they complement government missions, offering flexibility and lower-cost alternatives for various users.
*Many commercial missions build up a global archive of small area snapshots; they typically are not global repeat mappers.
Where do you think this industry stands in relationship to NASA’s flagship missions?
The CSDA program is focused on products from the commercial remote sensing industry that support NASA’s Earth science research, application goals and complement flagship missions. NASA’s missions are typically high-complexity, global observing, and long-term, often focused on groundbreaking scientific research or large-scale Earth observations. In contrast, the commercial industry provides more agile and frequent high-resolution data collection that can supplement NASA’s mission data or be used for operational, timely needs.
While commercial satellite data may not have the same level of scientific rigor and depth as NASA’s missions, it provides valuable, near real-time insights, and can sometimes complement the data from NASA’s programs.
Do you think the commercial satellite industry will ever be a viable substitute for any of NASA’s flagship missions?
The commercial satellite industry is growing rapidly and offers a range of flexible and affordable capabilities, but it is unlikely to fully replace NASA’s flagship missions.
NASA’s flagship missions are designed to answer complex, long-term scientific questions that require large-scale, specialized infrastructure and data collection. Small satellite constellations can provide timely, high-resolution data but may not have the depth or the technological capability to conduct some of the more detailed scientific studies that flagship missions like Landsat Next or NISAR will focus on.
It is our objective to utilize commercial satellites, like Airbus, Umbra, Planet Labs, to supplement NASA missions especially in monitoring trends for specific targets of interest or specific applications.
How do you think commercial licensed data can and should be used with open science standards?
Commercial licensed data can be integrated into open science standards by ensuring that data providers share metadata and processing methods along with their data to make it accessible and reusable. A system could be set up where commercial data is openly accessible but accompanied by licensing terms that allow scientists and researchers to use and share the data while acknowledging its commercial origin.
The integration of commercial data into open science can also involve creating open access platforms for distributing the data and encouraging collaboration between commercial entities, government agencies, and academia. Ensuring transparency about the accuracy, limitations, and processing standards of the data will be essential in promoting this open data approach.
NASA’s Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program provides quality assessments of commercial remote sensing data. Why does data quality matter?
Data quality is crucial because scientific conclusions and operational decisions depend on the accuracy, precision, and consistency of satellite-derived data. The quality of remote sensing data determines its reliability for tasks like climate modeling, disaster monitoring, or agricultural forecasting. Low-quality data could lead to flawed analyses and inappropriate decisions, especially in mission-critical applications like early warning systems for natural disasters or environmental management. NASA’s CSDA program is therefore essential in verifying the quality of commercial data and ensuring that it meets acceptable standards for both research and operational use.
What quality metrics does CSDA use?
NASA’s CSDA program conducts two types of evaluations, one is focused on the quality of the data and the other is on the utility for NASA research and application programs. The quality evaluations look at the accessibility of the imagery and data, accuracy and completeness of the metadata, quality of the vendor support, the ability of the commercial provider to provide data for advancing science research and applications, and the quality of the data. The quality portion of the assessment include:
- Radiometric accuracy: Ensures the correct measurement of reflected or emitted energy from Earth’s surface.
- Geometric accuracy: Verifies the alignment of the satellite image with the Earth’s true surface coordinates.
- Spatial resolution: Assesses how much detail can be discerned from the data (e.g., pixel size).
- Temporal resolution: Refers to how frequently data is collected, which is essential for time-sensitive monitoring (e.g., daily or weekly).
- Data continuity: Measures how well data from various sources can be consistently integrated over time.
- Spectral Resolution/Accuracy: Assessing how precisely a sensor can measure the actual wavelength of the radiation it detects.
Can researchers easily compare commercial satellite data quality with NASA flagship data quality?
The CSDA Program compares data quality from commercial satellites and NASA flagship missions through our Subject Matter Experts. Flagship missions tend to have more stringent validation and calibration procedures due to their long-term scientific objectives, while commercial satellite data may be more variable, depending on the commercial provider’s capabilities and customer base needs.
The CSDA program is working with our international partner, ESA, to develop commercial data evaluation guidelines for various sensor data to provide consistent evaluation criteria and standardized calibration/validation procedures for data assessment. We have found when researchers do comparisons of the data they may need to adjust for differences in sensor calibration, temporal resolution, and spatial coverage.
What is the best way to compare satellite data?
The best way to compare satellite data with NASA flagship data is to use a common validation and analysis framework, ideally underpinned by NASA’s data quality standards and methodologies and utilizing the Earthnet Data Assessment Project (EDAP) Guidelines developed with ESA.
One approach is to utilize cross-validation techniques, where satellite data is compared with the established baseline datasets from NASA’s missions using the same region of interest, similar timescales, and under controlled conditions.
Another way is by using publicly available datasets from both sources and conducting accuracy assessments, looking at error margins, consistency, and correlations. Additionally, open collaboration between industry, NASA, and academic institutions helps refine data comparison standards and we feed that back into our guidelines.
