Editors: Samuel N. Goward, Terry Arvidson and Darrel Williams

The October issue of PERS is dedicated to activities of the Landsat Project Science Office (LPSO) carried out over the last decade along with related topics. The LPSO until recently was primarily focused on the development and operations of the Landsat 7 mission. Dr. Goward and other department faculty have been involved in the LPSO efforts since 1994, when he undertook development of the long-term acquisition plan (LTAP) for the Landsat 7 mission. In addition, in 1996, Dr. Goward was selected to serve as Team Leader for the Landsat Science Team, a position that he held until 2002. Dr. Williams, the Landsat Project Chief Scientist is also an alum (Ph.D. ‘89) of our Department. Ms. Arvidson is also UMD graduate (BS ’74 in Zoology).. Additional topics covered are the USGS EROS National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive (NSLRSDA), which consists predominately of Landsat data. Kass Green, remote sensing entrepreneur and former executive member of Space Imaging, provides insight on the Landsat business model.

Landsat: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Darrel L. Williams, Samuel Goward, and Terry Arvidson
Puts the Landsat-7 system in context with earlier missions, showing how mission operations have changed over time, increasingly exploiting the global monitoring capabilities of the Landsat observatory.

Historical Record of Landsat Global Coverage: Mission Operations, NSLRSDA, and International Cooperator Stations
Samuel Goward, Terry Arvidson, Darrel Williams, John Faundeen, James Irons, and Shannon Franks
A comprehensive review of the U.S. Landsat archive holdings has revealed significant gaps in the archive of Landsat acquisitions from the last 34+ years. Analyses are underway to identify the reasons for these gaps and, where possible, identify holdings at the International Cooperator ground stations that may assist in filling the gaps in the U.S. archive.

Landsat-7 Long-Term Acquisition Plan: Development and Validation
Terry Arvidson, Samuel Goward, John Gasch, and Darrel Williams
Summary of the validation of the Landsat-7 Long-Term Acquisition Plan, an approach for assuring acquisition of a seasonally-refreshed, essentially cloud-free global archive of Landsat-7 data.

Landsat-7 Long-Term Acquisition Plan Radiometry – Evolution over Time
Brian Markham, Samuel Goward, Terry Arvidson, Julia Barsi, and Pat Scaramuzza
The history, rationale, and results of the strategies employed to set the radiometric gains for the ETM+ instrument as part of the Landsat-7 Long-Term Acquisition Plan (LTAP).

Characterization of the Landsat-7 ETM+ Automated Cloud-Cover Assessment (ACCA) Algorithm
Richard R. Irish, John L. Barker, Samual N. Goward, and Terry Arvidson
The operational ACCA algorithm is documented and its performance is validated to a standard error of ± 5 percent.

Landsat in Context: The Land Remote Sensing Business Model
Kass Green
A review of the business models for remote sensing with a particular emphasis on the Landsat program including its history and its political economy.