Contributor: Terry Arvidson
The 16th Landsat Technical Working Group (LTWG) meeting was held in Brazil May 14-18, 2007. The meeting was organized by USGS and hosted by the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) in São José dos Campos, Brazil. International Cooperator representatives from 9 countries and members of the USGS Landsat project and NASA Landsat Science Office discussed topics of technical interest. These included the status of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, Landsat 5 and 7 operational issues, the Mid-Decadal Global Land Survey, results from a geometric accuracy analysis of the tri-decadal survey, data validation and exchange, redefinition of the metadata format, and Landsat science team activities. Each International Cooperator presented a station report, including the status of their historical archive. The Japan delegation briefed the group on the status of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) mission. INPE hosted visits at two of their facilities located in São José dos Campos and Cachoeira Paulista, including a tour of the Center for Weather Forecast and Climate Studies. INPE also briefed the group on the China Brazil Earth Resouces Satellite program and the processing system that handles CBERS and Landsat data. Side trips to Ilha Bela on the coast and to Campos do Jordão in the mountains provided opportunities to see the countryside, socialize with the attendees and our hosts, and sample the local cuisine.
Meeting Actions
Actions were taken by USGS to assist the International Cooperators in updating their data processing software to accommodate changes in the ETM+ and TM telemetry. The USGS will also continue efforts to keep the International Cooperators current on the status of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission. Finally, initial steps were taken to catalog the capabilities of the stations to read older media formats, with an eye toward archive preservation and recovery from deteriorating physical media.