Satellite Data and Products

Landsat
ASTER
SRTM
Landsat Mosaics
Requesting Data
Acquiring Data
Data Sharing
Useful Links

OSFAC maintains a database of satellite imagery for the Congo Basin and distributes this data upon request. The database contains images of varying resolution and is primarily comprised of LANDSAT, ASTER and SRTM images from 1985 to the present. Data is available in electronic format through the OSFAC office in Kinshasa, DRC and OSFAC focal points. There is no charge for any data distributed through OSFAC, however some data availability is subject to applicable data sharing regulations. For additional information on specific data sharing conditions, please contact us.

	Landsat OSFAC maintains a database of approximately 2000 Landsat images (TM and ETM+; orthorectified and non-orthorectified).This data was provided in large part by the Global Land Cover Facility (UMIACS, University of Maryland). - Coverage area: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo and portions of Angola and Chad (View coverage) - Dates: 1985 - 1990 and 1999 - 2003 - Resolution: 28.5 m - Scene size: +/- 180 km x 180 km - Coordinate system: UTM Zone, North or South - At least two orthorectified scenes per Path/Row - Common applications: general mapping, forest management, land use planning, protected area monitoring, monitoring land cover, calculating vegetation indicies thanks to its wide spectral resolution (8 bands) Back to top
	ASTER OSFAC maintains a database of approximately 2600 ASTER images. - Coverage area: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo (View coverage) - Dates: 2000 - 2008 - Resolution: VNIR = 15 m; SWIR = 30 m; TIR = 90 m - Scene size: +/- 60 km x 60km - Coordinate system: UTM Zone, North or South - Datum: WGS84 - Common applications: general mapping, forest management, land use planning, protected area monitoring, monitoring land cover, calculating vegetation indicies thanks to its wide spectral resolution (14 bands) and the ability to create elevation datasets. Back to top
	SRTM A database of SRTM images, topographic images obtained by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, is available through OSFAC’s head office. - Coverage area: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of Congo (View coverage) - Date: 2000 - Resolution: 90 m - Coordinate system: Geographic - Datum: WGS84 - Common applications: general mapping, creating numerical models, a wide range of hydrological applications (delimiting basins, calculating rates of flow). Back to top
	Landsat Mosaics As part of their CARPE/CBFP activities, the University of Maryland and South Dakota State University has created Landsat mosaics for the Congo Basin and individual CBFP landscapes. Due to persistent cloud cover in the Congo Basin, mulmulti-temporal cloud-free mosaics were created using Landsat data to provide cloud-free images.  These mosaics are available in electronic and paper format through OSFAC.  Posters of 1990-2000 forest change, produced as part of CARPE activities, are also available in electronic or paper copy by contacting OSFAC. Back to top

Useful information when requesting satellite data

The following information can help OSFAC process requests for images:

For Landsat images:
- The Path/Row of the scene, for example p181r063 refers to a portion of Kinshasa
- The location relative to an administrative area or latitude/longitude coordinates, for example in Boende territory or 4o15’30’’ S and 25o14’45’’ E
- The name of an important town or village in close proximity to the area of interest
- Dates of interest

For ASTER images:
- The location relative to an administrative area or latitude/longitude coordinates, for example in Boende territory or 4o15’30’’ S and 25o14’45’’ E
- The name of an important town or village in close proximity to the area of interest

For SRTM images:
- The location relative to an administrative area or latitude/longitude coordinates, for example in Boende territory or 4o15’30’’ S and 25o14’45’’ E
- The name of an important town or village in close proximity to the area of interest

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Acquiring Data

In order for OSFAC to process your data requests as rapidly as possible, please:
- Bring a CD or DVD to store your data
- Complete the data request form (MS Word document)

Data Sharing

All the satellite data available through OSFAC are distributable according to the following conditions:
- Landsat, SRTM and various products are available free of charge to all users.
- ASTER data is available subject to data shareing conditions. For additional information on these conditions contact OSFAC.

Active fire data (from MODIS satellites) are also available through OSFAC upon request. For additional information on this data, please see the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) website: http://maps.geog.umd.edu.

Useful links to download satellite data and products

CARPE Data Explorer
http://maps.geog.umd.edu/metadataexplorer/explorer.jsp

http://carpe.umd.edu/resources/map-library/

FIRMS Active Fire Data
http://maps.geog.umd.edu

Other Links
http://www.gds.aster.ersdac.or.jp/gds_www2002/service_e/all_guid_e/credit_e/credit_e.html
http://www.landsat.org
http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org/SELECTION/inputCoord.asp
http://seamless.usgs.gov/

For additional information, contact us.

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