Some questions that the sector-focused roundtables should discuss include:
1. How are Earth observations currently being used in the sector?
a. Adjustment- Building Damage- afterwards
b. Modeling-
i. Exposure – LULC/ Str assumptions- refinement
ii. Calibration of models- Extent of hazard effects
c. Underwriting- Local Conditions
d. Curiosity
e. Research
2. What data or information is most valuable?
a. Meteorological and Climate data
b. Geological data
c. Land cover use
d. Building inventories
e. Infrastructure, lifelines
f. Topographic data
3. Is this information easily obtained?
a. Raw information must be massaged
b. Information pathway difficult
c. Research into processing
d. Policy concerns
4. What improvements could be made to capitalize on the government’s investment in Earth
observations?
a. Harnessing moderate resolution imagery
b. More sensors in a site
c. Continue to support free distribution of govt data for existing products
5. Is most information for the sector obtained directly from government sources or from a
value-added organization?
a. Value added resellers analyzing public data- RMS, ImageCat, Microsoft
6. How could IEOS/GEOSS improve data and information products for the sector?
a. Standards in data collection, dissemination, formatting, documentation, and
integration
b. Integration of private sector data
c. Availability of data- To establish new markets
d. Publicizing available datasets to professional associations (shipping, naval
energy, transportation, aviation)
e. Maintain currency of existing products through temporal resolution/Speed-
Particularly LULC and Landsat
f. Private and public sectors should cooperate to insure information pathways
(knowing what is there and how to access it)
7. What investment is the private sector willing to make to achieve unparalleled access to
Earth observation and environmental data?
a. Address R & D issues to develop and commercialize markets-
i. Valued added products
ii. Integrate data into products
iii. Resell products
b. Identify Priorities
8. What types of business models can be applied to a global Earth observation system that
enables an entrepreneurial environment?
a. Commercial licensing, subscription services and advertising based models
b. Integration into CAT models, underwriting (Value-added)
c. Free distribution and use of government data encourages widespread use
d. Public/private partnerships to provide seed money-Intelsat
e. Federal agencies sharing funding for key, high cost products
f. Targeted tax credits, funding for private entities supplying data for common good
*Not Royalties or cost recovery- expensive, difficult to monitor
Precipitation-
Temperature- less sensitive
Hail Tornados- Local
Variance of water yield-
Using ASTER data for LU/LC updates
Florida- relative exposure in tampa bay-