June 18, 2019: Landsat Advisory Group Releases Report on Data Cost Sharing Models
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The National Geospatial Advisory Committee Landsat Advisory Group (LAG) has released a report recommending that the Department of the Interior not implement fees for data with the characteristics of Landsat 8 and 9. They note that “the annual societal benefit of Landsat data to U.S. users in 2011 was estimated at approximately US$1.8 billion, which is two times greater than the cost of building and launching Landsat 8” with much of that value coming from the 2008 open data policy announcement.
The group also recommends that future studies should look at how the cost of building and launching new Landsat missions can be reduced.
The complete report with the LAG’s recommendation is located at: https://www.fgdc.gov/ngac/meetings/june-2019/ngac-paper-evaluation-of-a-range-of-landsat-data.pdf