Back in December, CIRES Director and Geography professor Waleed Abdalati testified before the Subcommittee on Space and Science in a hearing titled “Landsat at 50 & the Future of U.S. Satellite-based Earth Observation.” The subcommittee hearing, convened by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), highlighted critical Earth observation satellite data, the rise of commercial satellite providers, and the value this data adds to agriculture, city planning, water management, wildfire prevention and detection, and disaster response.
“The 50-year record of Landsat highlights the value of space-based observations in understanding how our Earth is changing, and how those observations benefit the lives of people,” said Abdalati, “The view from space offered by Landsat and the many other Earth-observing satellites, provides a context, scale, and perspective of change critical to predicting weather, managing hazards, meeting the challenges of climate change, and so much more. They are an indispensable tool in effectively navigating and managing our changing environment.”
Abdalati, who was the former chief scientist at NASA from 2011-2012, joined current NASA chief scientist Kate Calvin as well as leadership from NOAA, Maxar Technologies, and USGS at the hearing.
Abdalati and U.S. Senator from Colorado, John Hickenlooper