PROGRAM

Monday, October 24

7:00 – 8:30 am: Coffee Break

7:30 am – 4:30 pm: Registration Open

8:00 am – 5:30 pm: NGA and USGS are hosting a One-Day Secure Session at the Denver Training and Conference Center (DTCC), please see the pdf document here for more information to register and participate.

8:00 am – Noon: Workshop: A Primer on Remote Sensing of Water Quality
Room: Denver Ballroom 1 & 2

8:30 am – 5:00 pm: Envisioning the Future of International Earth Observations Collaboration
Room: Penrose Ballroom 1 & 2

10:15 am – 12:15 pm: Workshop: Build a pixel with 50 years of Landsat to share an important story or memory
Room: Denver Ballroom 3

12:15 – 1:30 pm: Lunch on your own

1:30 – 5:30 pm: Workshop: Demystify SAR for Climate Resilience and Sustainable Future Initiatives
Room: Denver Ballroom 1 & 2

1:30 – 5:30 pm: Workshop: Climate Change Monitoring and Impacts Assessment using NASA Earth Observations
Room: Denver Ballroom 3

3:00 – 4:00 pm: Coffee Break

Tuesday, October 25

7:00 – 8:30 am: Coffee Break

7:30 am – 4:30 pm: Registration Open

8:30 am – 10:00 am: Plenary Session: Exploring the State of the Art, Including State-of-the-Art Earth Observation Capabilities, Advances in Computing and Algorithms with a Focus on the Global Development Community
Room: Colorado Ballroom F-J

10:00 am – 7:00 pm: Exhibit Hall Open
Room: Colorado Ballroom A-E

10:00 – 10:30 am: Coffee Break

10:30 am – Noon:

Technical Session 1-1: From Three to Many Shades of Water Color: The Legacy of Landsat and Its Prospects
Room: Penrose Ballroom 1

Technical Session 1-2: Analysis Ready Data: New Providers, New Opportunities
Room: Penrose Ballroom 2

Technical Session 1-3: Advancing Radiometric/Geometric Calibration – I
Room: Denver Ballroom 1 & 2

Technical Session 1-4: Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Coastal Ecosystems
Room: Denver Ballroom 3

Technical Session 1-5: National Land Cover Database (NLCD): Next Generation Products and Research
Room: Denver Ballroom 4

Technical Session 1-6: Land Elevation and Surface Processes
Room: Denver Ballroom 5 & 6

Panel Session: Ladies of Landsat
Room: Colorado Ballroom F-J

Noon – 1:30 pm: Lunch on Your Own

1:30 – 3:00 pm:

Technical Session 2-1: Power, Promise and Challenges in Remote Sensing of Water Quality
Room: Penrose Ballroom 1

Technical Session 2-2:  Conservation and Sustainability, Part 1
Room: Penrose Ballroom 2

Technical Session 2-3: Advancing Radiometric/Geometric Calibration – II
Room: Denver Ballroom 1 & 2

Technical Session 2-4: Addressing Local Decision-Making Needs through the Application of NASA Earth Observations
Room: Denver Ballroom 3

Technical Session 2-5: Monitoring, Assessing, and Projecting Land Change Impacts with LCMAP Science Products
Room: Denver Ballroom 4

Technical Session 2-6: Land Cover and Land Use Change and Impacts on Decision Making Processes Affecting Food Security and Environment
Room: Denver Ballroom 5 & 6

Featured Session: Advancing the State of the Art in the Next 50 Years
Room: Colorado Ballroom F-J

3:00 – 3:30 pm: Coffee Break

3:30 – 5:00 pm:

Technical Session 3-1: Remote Sensing of Open Water Surface Dynamics and Quality
Room: Penrose Ballroom 1

Technical Session 3-2: Conservation and Sustainability, Part 2
Room: Penrose Ballroom 2

Technical Session 3-3: Advancing Vicarious Calibration
Room: Denver Ballroom 1 & 2

Technical Session 3-4: Advancing Earth Analytics on the Cloud using STAC
Room: Denver Ballroom 3

Technical Session 3-5: Full Speed Ahead: Increasing Frequency and Reducing Latency of National-Scale Maps
Room: Denver Ballroom 4

Technical Session 3-6: Improving Food Security Through Crop Yield Forecasting
Room: Denver Ballroom 5 & 6

Panel Session: Imagining Innovation: The Next 50 Years of Earth Observations – Value and Benefits
Room: Colorado Ballroom F-J

5:00 – 7:00 pm: Exhibitor Reception
Room: Colorado Ballroom A-E

Poster Sessions will be presented during the Exhibitor Reception

Wednesday, October 26

7:00 – 8:30 am: Coffee Break

7:30 am – 4:30 pm: Registration Open

8:30 am – 10:00 am: Plenary Session: A half-century of discovery: The scientific discoveries and technical innovations enabled by Pecora’s vision
Room: Colorado Ballroom F-J

10:00 am – 7:00 pm: Exhibit Hall Open
Room: Colorado Ballroom A-E

10:00 – 10:30 am: Coffee Break
Room: Colorado Ballroom A-E

10:30 am – Noon:

Technical Session 4-1: Intercomparison and Synergies between Multispectral and Imaging Spectroscopy Earth Observation Data in Preparation for the Future
Room: Penrose Ballroom 1

Technical Session 4-2: Remote Sensing of Shallow Water Bathymetry: Methods for a New Era
Room: Penrose Ballroom 2

Technical Session 4-3: Agricultural Monitoring with Landsat Data
Room: Mattie Silks

Technical Session 4-4: Community Science Through Remote Sensing of the Environment
Room: Denver Ballroom 1 & 2

Technical Session 4-5: Advancing Geospatial Data Science Through Data Access and Computing, Part 1
Room: Denver Ballroom 3

Technical Session 4-6: Rigorous Assessment and Application of Land Surface Phenology: A Track in Honor of Bradley C. Reed, Part 1
Room: Denver Ballroom 4

Technical Session 4-7: Education & Outreach – Preparing the Next Generation of Remote Sensing Scientists
Room: Denver Ballroom 5 & 6

Featured Session: From Landsat 9 Into the Future
Room: Colorado Ballroom F-J

Noon – 1:30 pm: Lunch in Exhibit Hall – sponsored by KBR
Room: Colorado Ballroom A-E

1:30 – 3:00 pm: Plenary Session: Observing the Earth for Benefit of All and Presentation of the 2020-2022 Pecora Awards
Room: Colorado F-J

3:00 – 3:30 pm: Coffee Break
Room: Colorado Ballroom A-E

3:30 – 5:00 pm:

Technical Session 5-1: Google Earth Engine — Past, Present and Future
Room: Denver Ballroom 3

Technical Session 5-2: Integrated Analysis of Land Imaging Satellite Performance and Benefits
Room: Penrose Ballroom 2

Technical Session 5-3: Performance of Hyperspectral and Advanced Multispectral Data in the Study of Leading Agricultural Crops of the World
Room: Mattie Silks

Technical Session 5-4: Opening the Aperture: Citizen Science Ground Photos as Reference for Earth Observations
Room: Denver Ballroom 1 & 2

Technical Session 5-5: Advancing Geospatial Data Science Through Data Access and Computing, Part 2
Room: Penrose Ballroom 1

Technical Session 5-6: Rigorous Assessment and Application of Land Surface Phenology: A Track in Honor of Bradley C. Reed, Part 2
Room: Denver Ballroom 4

Technical Session 5-7: 50 Years of Landsat Terrestrial Monitoring – Past, Present and Future  
Room: Denver  Ballroom 5 & 6

5:30 – 7:00 pm: Landsat 50^th Celebration Gala
Room: Colorado Ballroom F-J

A Gala event has been scheduled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Landsat Program during the Pecora22 Conference. The event will occur on Wednesday evening, October 26 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. in the Ballroom of the Hilton City Center, Denver, CO, the Conference hotel. If you have not already registered, tickets for the event can be purchased at the registration desk for a cost of $30. Tickets will entitle the holder to a wide selection of heavy hors d’oeuvres and to two drinks at the Gala bar (cash will be accepted for more than two drinks). Brief comments will be made by representatives of the Department of the Interior, NASA, and the three Platinum Sponsors — Ball, General Dynamics and Google Earth. Most of the time will be devoted to connecting with all those present to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Landsat. The dress code is business casual.

Thursday, October 27^th

7:00 – 8:30 am: Coffee Break

7:30 am – 4:30 pm: Registration Open

8:30 am – 10:00 am: Plenary Session: The Next 50 Years: Synergy and Collaboration
Room: Colorado Ballroom F-J

10:00 am – 1:30 pm: Exhibit Hall Open
Room: Colorado Ballroom A-E

10:00 – 10:30 am: Coffee Break
Room: Colorado Ballroom A-E

10:30 am – Noon: 

Technical Session 6-1: Surface Temperature and  Evapotranspiration (ET)
Room: Penrose Ballroom 1

Technical Session 6-2: High-Latitude Aquatic Remote Sensing
Room: Penrose Ballroom 2

Technical Session 6-3: Commodity-Driven Tropical Deforestation
Room: Mattie Silks

Technical Session 6-4: Current and Future Earth Observation Innovations Across Mobile, Aerial and Satellite Remote Sensing Platforms
Room: Denver Ballroom 1 & 2

Technical Session 6-5: AmericaView Demonstrates the Power of Landsat Imagery
Room: Denver Ballroom 3

Technical Session 6-6: Forest Inventory and Condition Mapping
Room: Denver Ballroom 4

Noon – 1:30 pm: Lunch on Your Own & Final Exhibit Viewing

1:30 – 3:00 pm:

Technical Session 7-1: New Applications Using Declassified Defense and Intelligence Community Remote Sensing Data and Technology
Room: Penrose Ballroom 1

Technical Session 7-2: Fire Detection, Monitoring, and Remediation
Room: Penrose Ballroom 2

Technical Session 7-3: Monitoring Spatial Patterns and Causes of Deforestation and Degradation
Room: Mattie Silks

Technical Session 7-4: Detecting and Monitoring Land Cover and Land Use Change, Part 1
Room: Denver Ballroom 1 & 2

Technical Session 7-5: AmericaView and StateView Educational Outreach Empowers Earth Observation Education
Room: Denver Ballroom 3

Technical Session 7-6: Forest Growth and Ecosystem Productivity Estimation
Room: Denver Ballroom 4

Technical Session 7-7: Advancing Nighttime Imaging Technology
Room: Denver Ballroom 5 & 6

Panel Session: Qualifying and Quantifying Earth Observation Value
Room: Colorado Ballroom F-J

3:00 – 3:30 pm: Coffee Break

3:30 – 5:00 pm:

Technical Session 8-1: Landsat-Derived Global Rainfed and Irrigated-Cropland Product at 30m (LGRIP30) for World’s Food and Water Security in the twenty-first Century
Room: Penrose Ballroom 1

Technical Session 8-2: Floods, Weather Events and Other Hazards
Room: Penrose Ballroom 2

Technical Session 8-3: Forest Health and Invasive Species Monitoring
Room: Mattie Silks

Technical Session 8-4: Detecting and Monitoring Land Cover and Land Use Change, Part 2
Room: Denver Ballroom 1 & 2

Technical Session 8-5: “Rising Waters”- A Summer Workshop Providing an Inside Look into the World of Imagery for High School Students
Room: Denver Ballroom 3

Technical Session 8-6: Using Earth Observations for Marine and Freshwater Applications Research
Room: Denver Ballroom 4

Technical Session 8-7: Developing Capacity to Apply Earth Observations for Global Societal Benefit
Room: Denver Ballroom 5 & 6

Pecora 22 Plenary Sessions

Tuesday, October 25

8:30 am – 10:00 am

Opening Plenary Session: Exploring the State of the Art, Including State-of-the-Art Earth Observation Capabilities, Advances in Computing and Algorithms with a Focus on the Global Development Community

Opening Comments: Anne Miglarese, Symposium Chair

Welcoming Remarks: Kevin Gallagher, Associate Director for Core Science Systems, USGS

Speakers giving comments on emerging breakthroughs. The speakers will be followed by audience Q&A.

Moderator: Budhendra Bhaduri, Oak Ridge National Lab DOE

Speakers:

• Marc Levy, Director, GRID3 Program, Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), The Earth Institute
• Rebecca Moore, Director, Google Earth Engine, Google, Inc.
• Catherine Nakalembe, Associate Research Professor, University of Maryland – NASA Harvest Africa Program Director

Wednesday, October 26

8:30 am – 10:00 am

Plenary Session: A Half-Century of Discovery: The Scientific Discoveries and Technical Innovations Enabled by Pecora’s Vision 

This is a 90-minute panel discussion featuring Pecora Award winners (Landsat pioneers) that discuss “what we know now because of Landsat” through short presentations on the major impacts and discoveries over Landsat’s 50-year history. Session includes Q&A with the audience and audience Landsat memories and testimonials. Panelists include recent Pecora Award winners with career Landsat credentials.

Moderator: Dr. Jim Irons, NASA (retired)

James R. (Jim) Irons is an Emeritus at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center following his January 01, 2022 retirement as the Director of the Earth Sciences Division . As Director he managed a staff of over 200 civil servants and over 1200 people not in the civil service, all dedicated to studying the Earth as an integrated system that includes the atmosphere, oceans, biosphere, cryosphere, and geosphere. Jim was also the NASA Landsat 8 Project Scientist beginning in 1999. Prior to 2007, Jim worked 28 years as a physical scientist in the Biospheric Sciences Branch where he served as the Landsat 7 Deputy Project Scientist beginning in 1992. He then served as the Associate Deputy Director for Atmospheres from 2007 to 2013, as the Deputy Director for Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences in 2014, and as the Deputy Director of the Earth Sciences Division from 2015 to 2018. Jim received his B.Sc. degree in environmental resources management in 1976 and the M.Sc. degree in agronomy in 1979 from the Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. degree in agronomy in 1993 from the University of Maryland College Park. As an Emeritus Jim donates service as a mentor and shares legacy knowledge of science and flight projects for the benefit of the Center.

Panelists:

• Kass Green, 2020
  • Kass Green’s experience spans over thirty years of managing and supervising GIS and remote sensing professionals for vegetation mapping, as well as leadership in GIS and remote sensing research and policy. Over the last 20 years Ms. Green has focused her career on challenging remote sensing and policy projects for public agencies, development organizations, and NGOs.
    Ms. Green’s coauthored texts include Imagery and GIS: Best Practices for Extracting Information from Imagery 1 , and 3 editions of Assessing the Accuracy of Remotely Sensed Data, Principles and Practices 2 . She has served on several Federal Advisory Committees for NOAA, NASA, and the Department of the Interior. Her career is one of 23 profiled in Esri’s 2019 book, Women in GIS: Mapping Their Stories 3 . Ms. Green was the first woman to receive the ASPRS Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2020 she was awarded the individual Pecora award. Ms. Green is currently part of the leadership team mapping wildland fuels and fine scale vegetation for 7 San Francisco Bay Counties and California’s north coast.
• Barb Ryan, 2018
  • Under Barbara J. Ryan’s leadership, millions of satellite images and other Earth observation data have been made available to the general public at no charge, allowing scientists, planners and policy makers to make better-informed decisions on problems that transcend political boundaries. Her work addresses critical issues in agriculture, biodiversity, climate change, disaster planning, energy, health and water. Barbara Ryan’s career began in 1974 when she joined the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the nation’s largest natural resource science and civilian mapping agency. She advanced steadily in the USGS, earning master’s degrees in geography from the University of Denver and in civil engineering from Stanford University. As associate director for geography at the USGS, she was responsible for the agency’s remote sensing, geography and civilian mapping programmes, including the Landsat satellites. From 2008 to 2012, she was Director of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Space Programme, and from 2012 to 2018, Ryan was the Secretariat Director of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) in Geneva, Switzerland. In January of 2021, Barbara became the second Executive Director of the World Geospatial Industry Council (WGIC), a not-for-profit trade association of private-sector companies working in the geospatial and Earth observation ecosystem. Ryan has served as chair of the international Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS). She has been awarded an honorary doctorate of science degree from her alma mater, SUNY Cortland. She has been named an Honorary Fellow of the American Geographical Society, in 2017 she was one of 10 global Leaders to be named to the Geospatial World Forum’s Hall of Fame, and in 2019 she was awarded the Department of Interior and NASA’s Pecora Award. She serves on several Boards and Advisory Committees including for two start-ups Azimuth1 and Data for Development Insights (D4DInsights), the Ecological Sequestration Trust, the International Centre for Earth Simulation (ICES), the International Symposium for Remote Sensing of Environment (ISRSE), and the Jane Goodall Institute.
• Darrel Williams, 2017
  • Dr. Darrel Williams retired from NASA in 2010, following a distinguished 35-year career in the Earth Sciences Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). His career focus was the development and advancement of digital remote sensing techniques to monitor, assess and manage terrestrial ecosystems using Earth observation data, primarily Landsat. He attained BS and MS degrees in Forest Science from the Pennsylvania State University School of Forestry in 1973 and 1974 respectively, and his Doctor of Philosophy in Physical Geography from the University of Maryland in 1989. Following his retirement from NASA, Williams has served as Chief Scientist at Global Science & Technology, Inc., in Greenbelt, Maryland, where among other activities, he has explored innovative approaches to low-cost Landsat-like missions to improve temporal repeat. He was the second author and catalyst behind more than a decade-long effort to compile and document the definitive history of the Landsat program in the book Landsat’s Enduring Legacy, published in 2017 by ASPRS via partial support from the NASA History Office.
• Curtis Woodcock, 2016

  • Curtis Woodcock got BA, MA and PhD degress in Geography from UC Santa Barbara. He has been a Professor at Boston University since 1984.

    He has served as a team leader of the Landsat Science Team since 2006. His recent research involves the use of time series analysis to monitor change in land cover, land use and ecosystem health and condition.

• Vincent Salomonson, 1987
  • Vincent V. Salomonson is a Research Professor (Emeritus) at the University of Utah. He served as a Research Professor with joint appointments in the Departments of Atmospheric Sciences and Geography at the University of Utah from 2005-2020. He is also a Senior Scientist (Emeritus) in the Earth Sciences Division at the Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA. Prior to being a Senior Scientist, he was the Director of the Earth Sciences Directorate at the Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA from 1990-2000. He served at Goddard as the Deputy Director for Earth Sciences in the Space and Earth Sciences Directorate (1988-1990), Chief of the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics (1980-1988), Head of the Hydrospheric Sciences Branch (1973-1980), and as a research meteorologist (1968-1973). From 1988 to 2009 he served as the Science Team Leader for the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) MODIS instrument and Project Scientist for Landsat 4 and 5 (1977-1989). Prior to coming to Goddard, he spent three years as Weather Officer in the United States Air Force (1959-1962). His academic training includes a B.S. degree in Agricultural Engineering from Colorado State University (1959), a B.S. degree in Meteorology from the University of Utah (1960), an M.S. degree in Agricultural Engineering from Cornell University (1964), and
    a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University (1968). He is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow and Honorary Member of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS), a member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the American Geophysical Union (AGU). His publication record shows over 130 publications in scientific journals, books, conference proceedings, and NASA reports (over 80 are refereed/peer-reviewed publications).

1:30 – 3:00 pm

Plenary Session: Observing the Earth for Benefit of All

Anne Hale Miglarese is an environmental science and geospatial solutions executive with a focus on bringing new technologies to market. Anne presently works with clients to implement new strategic initiatives and enhance organizational performance.

Anne is the founder of Radiant Earth Foundation and served as the CEO from 2016 to 2020 and continues to serve on the foundation’s Board of Directors. Ms. Miglarese served as President and CEO of Fugro Earth Data, as President and CEO of PlanetiQ and as a Principal Director at Booz Allen Hamilton. In addition, she worked for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where she created the Digital Coast program and directed remote sensing and GIS programs focused on ocean and coastal applications.

Ms. Miglarese was the first chairperson of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee- (NGAC). Anne presently serves on the Landsat Advisory Group, a subcommittee of the NGAC. Anne has been a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing,
, the Board of Advisors of Saildrone Inc., the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland’s School of Computer Science, Mathematical and Natural Sciences and the USGS Civilian Applications Committee.

Speakers:

• Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, Department of Interior
  • Tanya Trujillo is a water lawyer with more than 20 years of experience working on complex natural resources management issues and interstate and transboundary water agreements. She most recently worked as a project director with the Colorado River Sustainability Campaign. Before then, she served as the Executive Director of the Colorado River Board of California. She has served as Senior Counsel to the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and as Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at Interior. A native New Mexican, Tanya attended Stanford University and the University of Iowa College of Law.
• Dr. Karen St. Germain, Earth Science Division Director, NASA

  • Dr. St. Germain is the Division Director of the Earth Science Division, in the Science Mission Directorate at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters. She provides executive leadership, strategic direction, and overall management for the entire agency’s Earth Science portfolio, from technology development, applied science, research, mission implementation and operation.

    Prior to coming to NASA, Dr. St. Germain was the Deputy Assistant Administrator, Systems (DAAS), for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service. She guided the ongoing development and deployment of NOAA’s two major satellite programs (the Joint Polar Satellite System and Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite – R series), the COSMIC-2 mission, and the Space Weather Follow-On. She also led the development of the next-generation capabilities that will replenish and augment these systems in the future.

    Prior to becoming the DAAS, Dr. St. Germain served as the Director of the Office of Systems Architecture and Advanced Planning (OSAAP) where she led NOAA’s enterprise-level architecture development to define NOAA future spaceborne capabilities. Dr. St. Germain is a leader in enterprise-level planning and multi-organizational programs of national significance. She is also an expert in major systems acquisition, with particular proficiency in transitioning new technology into operational systems. Prior work for NOAA included leading all aspects of system performance during the development of the Suomi-NPP system, from 2006 to 2011.

    From 2011 to 2016, Dr. St. Germain served in the Space, Strategic and Intelligence Systems (SSI) Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (OUSD AT&L). There, she led the DoD 2014 Strategic Portfolio Review for Space, a special assignment task for the Deputy Secretary of Defense to develop a strategy and implementation plan for adapting to evolving challenges in the space domain. Dr. St. Germain also led the Remote Sensing and Prompt Strike Division within SSI, where she was responsible for acquisition shaping and oversight of DoD strategic missile warning and space-based environmental monitoring portfolio.

    Dr. St. Germain had a successful research career at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Nebraska, and the Naval Research Laboratory. She has performed research aboard ice-breakers in the Arctic and Antarctic, flown through hurricanes and tropical storms on NOAA’s P-3 airplanes and measured glacial ice on a snowmobile traverse of the Greenland ice sheet. She also led the modeling and calibration of the WindSat Coriolis mission, the first space-borne radiometer to measure ocean surface wind direction.

    Dr. St. Germain holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Union College (1987) and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts (1993). She is also a Distinguished Graduate of the National War College, National Defense University where she earned a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy in 2013.

Thursday, October 27

8:30 am – 10:00 am

Plenary Session: The Next 50 Years: Synergy and Collaboration

This Town Hall interactive plenary focuses on evolving to a globally comprehensive and complementary system of Earth observations. A 90-minute panel explores the synergy and collaboration between the US Government, industry, and international partners and engages with the audience to identify the needs, elements, and approaches that might lead to a stronger future EO system. The first half of the session will involve panelist presentations that illuminate issues or opportunities associate with a set of questions identified prior to the start of the session and listed in the conference program. The final half will involve a town hall discussion with the audience.

Moderator: Anne Hale Miglarese

Anne Hale Miglarese is an environmental science and geospatial solutions executive with a focus on bringing new technologies to market. Anne presently works with clients to implement new strategic initiatives and enhance organizational performance.

Anne is the founder of Radiant Earth Foundation and served as the CEO from 2016 to 2020 and continues to serve on the foundation’s Board of Directors. Ms. Miglarese served as President and CEO of Fugro Earth Data, as President and CEO of PlanetiQ and as a Principal Director at Booz Allen Hamilton. In addition, she worked for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where she created the Digital Coast program and directed remote sensing and GIS programs focused on ocean and coastal applications.

Ms. Miglarese was the first chairperson of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee- (NGAC). Anne presently serves on the Landsat Advisory Group, a subcommittee of the NGAC. Anne has been a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing,, the Board of Advisors of Saildrone Inc., the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland’s School of Computer Science, Mathematical and Natural Sciences and the USGS Civilian Applications Committee.

Panelists:

• Maurice Borgeaud, Head of Science, Applications, and Climate Activities, Earth Observation Directorate, European Space Agency
  • Dr. Maurice Borgeaud is Senior Advisor for the Director of the Earth Observation (EO) Directorate of the European Space Agency (ESA). He interacts with the scientific community, ESA Member States and industry in order to propose ground-breaking EO science satellite missions as well as new domains for the development of innovative applications using EO data. He also plays a key role in defining the long-term EO data exploitation strategy addressing the full spectrum of EO user communities. He also advised the ESA office for climate change including the development of essential climate variables, promotes the use of EO data to monitor the UN SDG’s, interacts with international partners, and represents ESA on the Board of the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters.
    Mr. Borgeaud graduated with a Degree in Engineering from EPFL, Lausanne and holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Associate Editor for the “IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing”.
• Grega Milcinski, CEO and Co-founder, Sinergise
  • Grega Milcinski is the CEO and co-founder of Sinergise, a geospatial company from Slovenia best known for Sentinel Hub and EO Browser. Several years ago, they recognized the potential of open EO data, but hit a wall trying to use existing technologies to work with these large datasets. Fast-forward a couple of years and Sentinel Hub is now processing more than half a billion of requests every month, powering thousands of applications and machine learning workflows worldwide, providing seamless access to Planet, Sentinel, Landsat and many other satellite missions. 
• Chris Justice, University of Maryland
  • Professor Chris Justice received his Ph.D. from the University of Reading, UK in 1979. He held post-doctoral fellowships at NASA GSFC and ESA ESRIN, launching a career in satellite earth observation. He is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland. His research has a focus on the practical use of satellite remote sensing for societal benefit and he has developed satellite–based systems for global agriculture, fire and land use monitoring. His research has contributed to the development and use of time-series earth observation satellite data, starting with the AVHRR and subsequently with MODIS and VIIRS. He was instrumental in developing NASA’s LANCE capability. He is the co-lead for the NASA MODIS and Suomi-NPP VIIRS Land Discipline Team. He has been the Project Scientist for the NASA Land Cover Land Use Change Program since its inception. He is Chair of the international GOFC-GOLD Fire Implementation Team and is Co-Chair of the international GEO Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM) which is endorsed by the G20 Agricultural Ministers. He is the science lead for the NASA Harvest Consortium which is NASA’s program on the application of remote sensing to agricultural monitoring.
• Bill Gail, Google (Earth Science Decadal Survey Co-Chair)
  • William B. Gail is a product manager for weather and climate at Google. He was previously co-founder and CEO at Global Weather Corporation, an industry-leading provider of weather forecast services to the media, energy, and transportation industries. Prior to that he was a Director in the Startup Business Group at Microsoft, Vice President of mapping products at Vexcel Corporation, and Director of Earth science programs at Ball Aerospace. Dr. Gail received his undergraduate degree in Physics and his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, where his research focused on physics of the Earth’s magnetosphere. During this period, he spent a year as cosmic ray field scientist at South Pole Station. Dr. Gail is a past-president and Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and a lifetime Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. He was the co-chair of their 2017 Earth Sciences Decadal Survey, served on their Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, and has participated on many prior National Academies committees including the 2012 review of the National Weather Service and the 2007 Earth Sciences Decadal Survey. He serves or has served on a variety of other editorial, corporate, and organizational boards, including the US Commerce Data Advisory Council and NOAA Environmental Information Services Working Group (EISWG), and has testified in Congress on multiple occasions regarding weather issues. His book Climate Conundrums: What the Climate Debate Reveals About Us was released in 2014, and his opinion pieces have been published in The New York Times, USA Today, and elsewhere.
• Joe Morrison, Umbra
  • Joe Morrison is the VP of Commercial Product at Umbra, a radar satellite imagery company where he is responsible for commercial marketing, sales, and customer success. He won’t rest until tasking satellites is as easy as booking hotel rooms. In his spare time he writes a newsletter on the business and strategy of modern mapping (and tweets too much).

Tuesday, October 25

1:30 – 3:00 pm

Featured Session: Advancing the State of the Art in the Next 50 Years

This session will draw upon the perspectives of international EO leaders. Their presentations and the moderator-facilitated Q&A would set the stage for widening the aperture of innovation and expanding the benefits of EO to all societies worldwide. This session will be informed by a Monday workshop on international collaboration, which will consider key programmatic and technical topics for enhanced land-imaging collaboration.

Moderator: Barb Ryan, Steering Committee Convener

Panelists:

• Alison Rose, Chief of Space Division, Geoscience Australia (invited)
• Simon Jutz, Head of the Copernicus Space Office, Earth Observation Directorate, European Space Agency
• Shinichi Sobue, ALOS-2 Mission Manager, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
• Stefan Dech, Head of the Earth Observation Remote Sensing Data Center, German Aerospace Center (invited)
• Krunal Joshi, Counsellor for Space and Indian Space Research Organisation Representative, Embassy of India to the United States (invited)
• Representative of the South African National Space Agency (invited)

Wednesday, October 26

10:30 am – Noon

Featured Session: From Landsat 9 Into the Future

A look at early results and impacts of the Landsat 9 mission and an introduction to concepts for the next generation of Landsat missions – Landsat Next.

Participants include:

• Bruce Cook/Kevin Horn, Steering Committee conveners
• Bruce Cook (NASA) and Chris Crawford (USGS), session co-organizers and agency co-chairs of the Landsat Science Team

Presenters:

• Tim Newman, National Land Imaging Program Manager, USGS
• Mike Egan, Landsat Program Executive, NASA

Thursday, October 27

10:30 am – Noon

Featured Session: Observations Current and Future Priorities and Plans: The Perspectives from NASA, NOAA, and USGS

 This session will focus on U.S. civil agencies’ current and future Earth observation program plans. 

Tim Stryker, Steering Committee convener

Presenters:

• Kevin Gallagher, Associate Director, Core Science Systems, USGS
• Karen St-Germain, Director, Earth Science Division, NASA
• Steve Volz, Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Services, NOAA

Leading Earth observations executives from NOAA, NASA, and USGS will report on their current and planned future Earth-observing (EO) satellite capabilities, and the anticipated benefits of these systems to U.S. and global users. These capabilities will include discussions of commercial and international partnerships, and opportunities to advance a more seamless Earth observation “system of systems”. Much like the Tuesday afternoon international plenary session, this session will be informed by a Monday workshop on international collaboration, which will consider key programmatic and technical topics for enhanced land-imaging collaboration.

Tuesday, October 25

10:30 am – Noon:

Panel Session: Ladies of Landsat

Moderators:

• Dr. Kate Fickas – U.S. Geological Survey
• Dr. Morgan Crowley – Natural Resources Canada

Panelists:

• Dr. Catherine Nakalembe – University of Maryland, NASA Harvest
• Kass Green – Kass Green & Associates
• Dr. Meghan Halabisky – University of Washington, Digital Earth Africa
• Africa Flores-Anderson – University of Alabama in Huntsville, McGill University, SERVIR
• Dr. Keiko Nomura – Climate Engine
• Dr. Raha Hakimdavar – Ball Aerospace

Session description:
Ladies of Landsat is a Twitter-based organization that started officially in 2018. Led by a group of women hoping to make the field of Earth observation (EO) more equitable and inclusive for underrepresented scientists, they now have grown over 8,000 members! The field of EO has been dominated by the voices of those who have historically held positions of power, and so Ladies of Landsat are working from multiple directions to achieve a broader mission to make an impact on the field. First, they work bottom-up to amplify the representation of women and other underrepresented scientists in EO science. Second, they lead top-down calls for action from leaders in power and active allies who have the capacity to change the status quo when it comes to diversity, equity, justice, inclusion, and accessibility (DEJIA) in remote sensing.
It’s an exciting time to be in the field of EO as significant advances are being made every day towards increased gender representation. In the past, barriers to mentorship, data accessibility, education, outreach, and collaboration limited women and other underrepresented scientists from using remote sensing and EO. However, these barriers continue to be broken down with the burst of free and open cyberinfrastructure, open science, and accessible communication. With a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive EO community comes more thoughtful, meaningful, and innovative research and applications. Importantly, there is also an increase in representation of who is using the data along with this progress, which is essential for girls and women of all ages to see that folks from all backgrounds, careers, and fields can be part of a broader EO community.
In this panel, Ladies of Landsat of different backgrounds, career stages, sectors, and geographic locations will discuss important topics such as: how EO data has helped open opportunities for underrepresented groups around the world, career trajectories, barriers, challenges and opportunities, parenthood, and the future of EO. Representation matters! Folks of all career stages crave the ability to see women and other underrepresented groups in positions of scientific power, discuss their path, and able to make a difference with their work. Showcasing Ladies of Landsat in this panel creates a platform for this to occur on an international scale.

3:30 – 5:00 pm:

Panel Session: Imagining Innovation: The Next 50 Years of Earth Observations – Value and Benefits

As the Earth observations (EO) community celebrates fifty years of Landsat, we reflect on advancements in understanding the impacts and value of EO on society. Landsat originally focused on land observations, but was eventually leveraged by the larger EO community to support a variety of missions. Its program was also foundational to the broad international EO community in the development of generations of EO satellites.

Today, we have a wide range of Earth observing satellites with many different purposes and capabilities deployed by agencies across the world. These capabilities have fundamentally changed how Earth systems are understood. As we look to the future, we ask ourselves how the emerging paradigm of enhanced satellite observations, new computer models and advanced information technologies will support society over the next 50 years. In this session, we will ask: 

• What is the supporting infrastructure that will be necessary to achieve this new paradigm? 
• How do we assess the value of satellite information in this context and decide on the key directions forward? 
• Why will assessment of value and impact be necessary to bring this future about?

This session is a round table of international agencies and providers of Earth Observation (EO) data to bring their views on possible needs and innovations. This will be envisioned through a broad lens of societal impacts to better understand the multiple aspects of the value of satellite EO data. The panelists will discuss how the vision for the future of EO and EO science will serve people and society.

Panelists:

• Canadian Space Agency (video introduction)
  •  David Haight, Director of Economic, International and Regulatory Affairs
• European Space Agency 
  • Simon Jutz, Head of Copernicus Space Office
• Geoscience Australia
  • Alison Rose, Chief of Space Division
• Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency
  • Shinichi Sobue, Deputy Chief Officer of Earth Observations
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • Karen St. Germain, Division Director of Earth Science
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • Stephen Volz, Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Services
• US Geological Survey
  • Cindy Lodge, Deputy Director of Operations

Thursday, October 27^th

1:30 – 3:00 pm:

Panel Session: Qualifying and Quantifying Earth Observation Value

Communities across the globe must make decisions to deal with the effects of current and future climate and environmental change, create sustainable development, reduce the risk from natural disasters, and much more. These decisions occur every day across different levels of governance and different sectors. Earth observation (EO) data and information are essential in this decision making process.This information not only enhances the collective understanding of our natural systems, but also reveals interactions between natural and human systems that enable the modeling and prediction of human impacts on the environment in support of policy development and decision making. Socioeconomic assessments are used to study the benefits of this information, and identify future EO infrastructure needs.

This session explores and highlights the broad range of approaches and perspectives for measuring the socioeconomic impacts of EO through a diverse and inclusive interdisciplinary panel. 

Panelists:

• Adrianna Duarte
  • Nebraska Indian Community College / Dakota and Omaha Tribes
• Becky Chaplin-Kramer
  • Principle Research Scientist, University of Minnesota / Senior Fellow, Stanford University / Executive Director, SPRING
• Bronya Cuddy Gregg
  • Manager, Strategic Planning – Canadian Space Agency 
• Maree Wilson
  • Branch Head, Digital Earth Branch | Space Division – Geoscience Australia
• Nikki Tulley
  • University of Arizona / Navajo Nation

Title: A Primer on Remote Sensing of Water Quality

Presenter: Michael Meyer and Tyler King, USGS

Time: 8:00 am – Noon

Length: 4 hours

Description: The use of remote sensing data for monitoring water quality and aquatic ecosystem integrity has grown rapidly.  Remote sensing empowers researchers to build a historic record of observations and to scale-up point measurements throughout a system, especially in areas that are difficult to access or only experience infrequent sampling. In tandem with growing opportunity to evaluate spatial and temporal trends in water quality, there is a growing catalog of remote sensing data products and toolkits. Yet, the data skills required to work with these tools are uncommon in most aquatic sciences training programs, potentially isolating certain user communities.  We will host two, 1.5-hour workshops to provide concrete, hands-on training in working with remote sensing data for evaluating water quality constituents, with the goal of priming learners with the principles of using remote sensing to assess water quality. The first 1.5-hour workshop will focus on using existing, analytically-friendly, derived datasets (e.g., AquaSat, RiveRS, LimnoSat-US). The second 1.5-hr workshop will focus on using cloud computing infrastructures (e.g., Google Earth Engine, Amazon Web Services) to extract USGS Landsat data for continental-scale analyses. These workshops will assume learners are familiar with at least one object-oriented coding language (e.g., R, python, MATLAB).

Title: Envisioning the Future of International Earth Observations Collaboration

Presenter: Tim Stryker, USGS

Time: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Length: 8 hours (with lunch break)

Objective: Participants in this workshop will share information and gain knowledge to advance international collaborative opportunities through discussion of the following topics:

• Enhancing International Earth observation (EO) mission and data partnerships – international and
  commercial – to better serve users of EO satellite data, products, and services
•  Mutually supporting agency policies and systems to assure “fitness for purpose” of EO data, compatibility/interoperability, and large-scale Earth Observation (EO) data archiving, sharing and use
• Opportunities to “bring the science to the data”, and systems for providing next-generation information and services to the public
• Advancing gender and racial equality in EO engineering, science, and applications, and extending the benefits of EO to traditionally underserved communities

Target Audience: The workshop will be geared toward managerial staff and technical experts from the
following Earth-observing organizations: Government Agencies, Commercial EO data and service providers, Cloud Service Providers, Non-Governmental Organizations, and International Organizations and Coordination Groups.

Format: Speakers/panelists are invited to provide five-minute “lightning talks” with two PowerPoint slides per
speaker (one title and speaker/organization name slide, plus one content slide) forming the basis for subsequent interactive discussions with a panel moderator and audience members. Presentations are not intended to be one-way reports, but rather invitations to structured dialogue and consensus-building on key
opportunities and challenges faced by our international Earth observations community.

Results: Workshop leaders will summarize the key issues and recommendations for international collaboration identified by workshop participants, to report out during the Pecora Symposium later in the week.

Workshop Contact: Nadia Naji, USGS National Land Imaging Program, nnaji@usgs.gov

Full agenda can be found here. 

Title: Build a pixel with 50 years of Landsat to share an important story or memory

Presenter: Peder Nelson, OregonView + Oregon State University

Time: 10:15 am – 12:15 pm

Length: 2 hours

Description: To celebrate 50 years of Landsat-based Earth Observations, this workshop will dive into the life histories of Landsat pixels. Contribute to generational science and education by archiving some of your knowledge for the present and future.  You will have the opportunity to 1. learn characteristics about the Landsat Time-Series, 2. survey a diversity of stories that have been imaged over this period, 3. explore and characterize a location of personal interest, 4. Record and share a story or memory about these Landsat pixels.

Title: Demystify SAR for Climate Resilience and Sustainable Future Initiatives

Presenter:  Dr. Lorraine Tighe, Esri, Dr. Franz Meyer, ASF DAAC & University of Alaska Fairbanks, Heidi Kristenson, ASF DAAC

Time: 1:30 – 5:30 pm

Length: 4 hours

Description: Climate change impacts us globally. These environmental crises come in many forms, from declining air quality to rising sea levels, diminishing biodiversity, and extreme weather hazards. SAR sensors are vital in understanding our changing climate. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Earth observations sees through darkness, cloud, haze, and smoke, offering a 24/7 vantage point needed to assess, understand, and respond to a broad range of climate change. However, SAR technologies are complex and often a barrier to climate research. This workshop will remove that barrier. SAR Earth observations combined with GIS (geographic information systems) technology create a new window that increases our knowledge of Earth’s changing landscape. Together, SAR and GIS help build a detailed picture of potential climate hazards by combining Earth observations, demographics, and business activity societal data with climate science-based risk assessments. The purpose of this workshop is to engage the attendees in exploring ideas, approaches, and project results for understanding the changing Earth’s surface using SAR and GIS technologies. The four-hour workshop centered on SAR Earth observations provides additional information to assess and respond to climate change using GIS technologies. The following topics are covered:  1] High-level SAR introduction/basics 2] SAR Platforms and SAR Analysis Ready Data  3] Climate Change: Adaptation, Mitigation, and Resilience GIS workflows Using time series analysis in GIS, AI tools & analysis, InSAR techniques, and DInSAR  4] Upcoming Global Products, SAR Tools and Services.

Title: Climate Change Monitoring and Impacts Assessment using NASA Earth Observations

Presenter: Sean McCartney, NASA / SSAI 

Time: 1:30 – 5:30 pm

Length: 4 hours

Description: Addressing our changing climate is a complex and multi-dimensional issue facing the global population. Climate data records provide evidence of climate change through changes in key indicators such as global land and ocean temperature, sea levels, polar and glacial ice extent; frequency and severity of extreme weather such as hurricanes, heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, floods, and precipitation, and cloud and vegetation cover. This information coupled with theoretical models and scenarios of future emissions form a fundamental basis for climate mitigation, adaptation, and risk management planning in all parts of the world and across many elements of society and ecosystems.    This four-hour workshop, hosted by the NASA Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) Program, will provide an overview of NASA resources for monitoring climate change and its impacts on various sectors such as extreme weather, water, food, and health. We will define the terminology and the role of Earth observations in climate change assessment, and then provide an overview of NASA climate models suitable for emissions policy, impacts, risk, and resilience applications. The workshop will provide hands-on examples using open source tools to visualize and access information and data relevant to understanding and planning for climate change. The workshop will also preview NASA’s Earth System Observatory, a new set of Earth-focused missions to provide key information to guide efforts related to climate change, disaster mitigation, wildfires, and improving real-time agricultural processes.

Poster sessions will be on display at the Exhibitor Reception on Tuesday, October 25 from 5-7 pm.