With the Landsat data gap imminent, NASA’s LCLUC Program may require alternative data sources for producing regional to global-scale mapping products depicting land cover/land use distributions and terrestrial environmental changes. One such alternative is the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) on current and future RESOURCESAT satellites. While AWiFS collects data similar to Landsat, system differences including reduced spatial resolution, reduced number of spectral bands, multiple cameras and larger off-axis viewing geometry, may impact LCLUC products.

This study is investigating the scientific utility of the IRS AWiFS for LCLUC research and for its potential to fill Landsat data gaps. We are performing a first-order analysis to examine the potential of using AWIFS data to generate LCLUC products that are normally generated using Landsat data. For over 34 years, the LCLUC community has heavily relied upon Landsat data to perform its scientific activities. The current on-orbit Landsat capability for monitoring the land masses of the world at a 30-meter spatial resolution will likely be lost well before a replacement is available, thus producing a Landsat data gap.

The AWiFS team is also collaborating with the Stennis Space Center Information Technology Services (ITS) technical contracting team and the US Geological Survey (USGS) EROS Data Center (EDC) who are funded separately. These studies will help ascertain the true viability of AWiFs to serve as a Landsat surrogate as well as lay out the methodology for performing trades for future systems.

CoInvestigators:

Ms. Mary Pagnutti, Innovative Imaging and Research, NASA Stennis Space Center, MS
Mr. Robert Ryan,  Innovative Imaging and Research, NASA Stennis Space Center, MS
Dr. Gyanesh Chander, USGS Earth Resources Observations and Science Center, Sioux Falls, SD

GRA:  Andrew Marx, Dept Geographical Sciences, Unviversity of Maryland