UPDATE: The first emergency response scene of the Sheenjek River fire near Fort Yukon, Alaska was captured and ordered on June 21 at 12:48 pm local time. The processed scene was downloaded and user product generation began 24-hours later--just prior to 1:00pm on June 22. The data can and images can be downloaded here.

UPDATE: The system went operational on June 10, 2005. Following capture at FCDAS and transport by GINA, Landsat 5 data is being placed into the USGS EROS archive and is available for ordering. Data can be ordered directly from EROS using GloVis and EarthExplorer. Users can also order data at a discount through GINA. Emergency response users needing 24-hour turnaround should work through GINA. Contact Tom Heinrichs of GINA for information, or see the GINA Landsat data page for further details and alternate contacts.

The USGS National Center for Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS), NOAA/NESDIS Fairbanks Command & Data Acquisition Station (FCDAS), and UA Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) have teamed up to provide Landsat 5 data for Alaska this summer. Landsat 5 is an Earth imaging satellite with many applications, including resource management, crisis response, and hazard monitoring. The Landsat program has gathered a continuous set of data since 1972, making it one of the most successful and widely used satellite remote sensing programs.

Tracy Zeiler (left) and Dr. Buck Sharpton (right)
Grant Mah, USGS EROS

EROS, FCDAS, and GINA have partnered to receive Landsat 5 data for the 2005 summer season. Data will be received at the FCDAS ground station at Gilmore Creek just outside Fairbanks, Alaska, transmitted by GINA over high speed networks to EROS in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, then processed and archived by EROS. It will be available to users in less than 24 hours following reception. "This timely data will be a useful supplement for wildfire managers. The 30-meter resolution imagery from Landsat 5 will give firefighters more precise locations and finer-grained pictures than the statewide coverage of 250-meter resolution MODIS scenes we provide them several times each day," said President’s Professor Buck Sharpton, GINA Director.

FCDAS ground station at Gilmore Creek
NOAA/NESDIS

Tracy Zeiler, Landsat Project Manager, adds, "This partnership will allow us to populate our archive with Landsat 5 imagery for Alaska that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to acquire. Not only will wildfire managers benefit this summer, but the data will be preserved in perpetuity in our National Center archive for future users. I am certain it will be a valuable data source for Earth studies for years to come."

"We are in final testing and certification mode at this point," explains Tom Heinrichs, GINA Technical Services Manager. "All the components have been tested individually, and we’ll be spending the last part of April doing end-to-end testing. We should be operational in early May in time for the fire and growing seasons."

The Alaska Landsat 5 project has grown out of AmericaView, an ongoing collaboration between EROS and GINA and nineteen other state organizations committed to near-real-time application of satellite data. GINA and FCDAS have a partnership to receive and distribute near-real-time satellite data for Alaska. The Landsat 5 project augments existing GINA-FCDAS collaborations for delivery of other NOAA and NASA satellite data rapidly to users.

Additional information is available from GINA's Tom Heinrichs.