Users, Uses, and Value of Landsat Satellite Imagery— Results from the 2012 Survey of Users By Holly M. Miller, Leslie Richardson, Stephen R. Koontz, John Loomis, and Lynne Koontz Open-File Report 2013–1269 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey i U.S. Department of the Interior SALLY JEWELL, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Suzette Kimball, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 2013 For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Suggested citation: Miller, H.M., Richardson, Leslie, Koontz, S.R., Loomis, John, and Koontz, Lynne, 2013, Users, uses, and value of Landsat satellite imagery—Results from the 2012 survey of users: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2013–1269, 51 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20131269. 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Contents Contents ......................................................................................................................................................... ii Acronyms and Initialisms ................................................................................................................................ v Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... vi Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 1 Sampling ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 Survey ............................................................................................................................................................ 2 Results ........................................................................................................................................................... 3 Analyses ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Statistical Significance and Interpretation ................................................................................................... 3 Response Rate ........................................................................................................................................... 4 User Types ................................................................................................................................................. 5 Demographics ............................................................................................................................................ 6 Use of Landsat Imagery.............................................................................................................................. 7 Types of Imagery Used ........................................................................................................................... 7 Temporal and Geopolitical Characteristics of Projects Using Landsat Imagery ...................................... 8 Application Areas .................................................................................................................................. 11 Change in Use of Landsat Over Time ................................................................................................... 13 Discussion: Use of Landsat Imagery ..................................................................................................... 13 Impacts of No-Cost Data Policy ................................................................................................................ 14 Discussion: Impacts of No Cost Data Policy ......................................................................................... 17 Value of Landsat Imagery ......................................................................................................................... 19 Importance and Satisfaction.................................................................................................................. 19 Benefits of Landsat ............................................................................................................................... 21 Level of Use and Dependence on Landsat in Work .............................................................................. 22 If Landsat Imagery Was No Longer Available ....................................................................................... 23 Loss of Landsat 5 Imagery .................................................................................................................... 28 Economic Benefits from Landsat Imagery............................................................................................. 32 Discussion: Value of Landsat Imagery .................................................................................................. 40 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 40 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................ 41 References ................................................................................................................................................... 42 Appendixes .................................................................................................................................................. 44 Appendix 1 ................................................................................................................................................ 45 Appendix 2 ................................................................................................................................................ 46 ii Figures Figure 1. Respondents by Landsat imagery use and current Landsat users by citizenship (n = 13,473) ......... 5 Figure 2. Status of Landsat imagery use among current Landsat users (n = 11,227) ...................................... 6 Figure 3. Sectors of current Landsat users (n = 10,789) .................................................................................. 7 Figure 4. Acquisition years of scenes obtained by current Landsat users (n = 11,170) .................................... 9 Figure 5. Locations of projects using Landsat imagery in the year prior to the survey among current Landsat users (n = 11,183) ............................................................................................................. 10 Figure 6. Locations of projects using Landsat imagery among citizens of each geographic region who conducted projects within that region in the year prior to the survey (n = 11,183) ........................... 10 Figure 7. Geopolitical scales of projects using Landsat imagery in the year prior to the survey among current Landsat users (n = 11,184). ................................................................................................ 11 Figure 8. Primary applications of Landsat imagery in projects conducted in year prior to survey among current Landsat users (n = 11,190) ................................................................................................. 13 Figure 9. Predicted changes in use of Landsat imagery after the launch of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) among current Landsat users (n = 9,860) ............................................................. 14 Figure 10. Sources used by established Landsat users to obtain Landsat imagery before and after the imagery became available at no cost from the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center (n = 4,494) ..................................................................... 15 Figure 11. Sources used by established U.S. and international Landsat users to obtain Landsat imagery before and after the imagery became available at no cost from the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center (n = 4,494) ................................................... 16 Figure 12. Mean importance of and mean satisfaction with specific attributes of Landsat imagery among current Landsat users (n ≥ 10,225) ................................................................................................. 20 Figure 13. Benefits observed by current Landsat users from their projects that used Landsat imagery (n ≥ 10,196) .................................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 14. Dependence on Landsat imagery among users with varying levels of use of Landsat imagery (n = 8,398) ....................................................................................................................................... 22 Figure 15. Imagery preferences among current Landsat users who selected the same imagery both with