There was good news for the satellite imagery industry and imagery users on Friday with the announcement that the U.S. Geological Survey has awarded three multi-year acquisition contracts for high and moderate-resolution imagery to GeoEye, DigitalGlobe and Spot Image. The USGS will make the data electronically accessible to Federal users and others that are within the data license agreement.

This program falls under the new National Land Imaging Program that was announced in August of 2007. This new program within the Department of interior is responsible for the deployment and operation of future government-owned land imaging satellites and ground systems. The program also promotes and facilitates research into land imaging technologies, applications and services to support a growing number of users within the federal government.

Stated uses of the new data described in the press release include environmental monitoring, land management, energy development and natural hazards mitigation. Responsibility for these applications fall under a wide number of different federal agencies including the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Institute of Standards and others.

It’s clear that a coordinated imagery purchasing effort is a good move for taxpayers, and the combined buying power should help all agencies achieve the same high standard of data. The projects within these many agencies are likely to benefit significantly from the increased accuracy of the imagery as well as the broad coverage.

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