40 years strong—Long-time Geoscience Australia, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) partnership benefits both agencies and the world

Should Landsat 8’s on-board data recorder ever fail or lose capacity, the direct reception capability of Geoscience Australia’s ground station would help prevent a gap in Landsat coverage. The USGS also realized increased efficiencies when the Alice Springs ground station was integrated into the Landsat 8 International Ground Network. Using a higher performing electronic data transfer method, S-band (telemetry) and X-band (imagery) data could be transferred from Alice Springs to the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at much higher speed and in a more direct route than previously was possible. It also improved the data transfer for Landsat 7.