1. Proposed Way Forward LSI-VC, SDCG for GFOI, and GEOGLAM
Jenn Lacey
LSI-VC 7
Agenda Item 6.1
Hanoi, Vietnam
15 February 2019

2. Background
SDCG for GFOI and GEOGLAM teams are “Ad Hoc”, yet have existed for many years and have demonstrated significant contributions to GEO flagships.
CEOS Ad Hoc SDCG for GFOI established in 2011 (7 years)
CEOS Ad Hoc Working Group on GEOGLAM established in 2012 (6 years)
Continued annual approvals create uncertainty in the CEOS support to GEO flagships. Most agree that a permanent solution is needed.
Secretariat support is desired for LSI-VC and both Ad Hoc teams. An opportunity exists to optimize this support, while also addressing annual concern about funding this support.

3. Options 3 Options Considered
Status Quo – Continued annual renewal of Ad Hoc Teams
Create one (or more) new WGs or VCs to address Forests and Ag
Merge Forest/Ag groups into LSI-VC (now or later)

4. Pros and Cons Option 1 Status Quo Option 2 New WGs / VCs Option 3
New LSI-VC Sub-groups
Pros
Continued strong independent identity for SDCG for GFOI and GEOGLAM
Permanent existence
Operational efficiencies – SEC support and combined meetings
Technical efficiencies – ARD and interoperability, consolidated and optimized missions and measurements
Strategic efficiencies – GEO, UN
Cons
Continued annual renewal and related uncertainty
Annual uncertainty with SEC support
Additional administrative overhead for the new WGs / VCs as well as for other CEOS organizational entities (Chair, SIT, CEO, SEO)
Additional SEC support
Risk losing “identity” to outside stakeholders and direct access to CEOS Agencies
Risk losing visibility and reporting time at major CEOS meetings
Will other GEO initiatives (e.g., GEOBON) seek to have the same arrangement under LSI-VC and add complexity to the solution?
Concern of LSI-VC taking on too much since its “revitalization”. The team has proven it can produce significant results and that with Forests and Ag maintaining their leadership structure and resources, there would be little remaining concern or additional LSI-VC leadership burden.

5. Proposed Solution
LSI-VC > Maintain existing work (ARD, Interoperability)
> Add new Forests and Ag Sub-groups
SDCG for GFOI > Transition > New LSI-VC Forests Sub-group
GEOGLAM > Transition > New LSI-VC Ag Sub-group

6. Virtual Constellation (LSI-VC) Agriculture Sub-group
New LSI-VC Plan
Land Surface Imaging
Virtual Constellation (LSI-VC)
ARD
Interoperability
Requirements/Gaps
Forests Sub-group
Tasks
Agriculture Sub-group
Chair
Lead
External Policy coordination
Satellite Data (requirements, ARD production, access, tools, data services)

7. Reporting and Meetings
Topical Sub-groups (Forests and Ag) continue to have their own focused meetings, as needed
Continue annual joint meeting, bringing together LSI-VC, Forests, and Ag
Add Forests and Ag Sub-group reports to CEOS Plenary as part of the GEO session (i.e., reporting on GEO Flagship contributions)

8. Timeline  SIT-TW (September 2018)
Present proposal for review and comment
 Plenary (October 2018)
Request annual renewals for SDCG for GFOI and GEOGLAM
Review proposal and prepare for a decision to merge groups into LSI-VC with an updated LSI-VC Terms of Reference to follow
SIT-34 (April 2019)
Present a new LSI-VC Terms of Reference for review
Plenary (October 2019)
Make final decision

9. Plenary Conclusion and Actions
LSI-VC to draft a plan forward for the proposed merger of SDCG for GFOI and the CEOS Ad Hoc Working Group on GEOGLAM into LSI-VC. This plan would address the discussions and concerns raised at the CEOS Plenary meeting.
Virtual Constellation Co-Leads to propose at SIT-34: a documented approach to VC leadership that includes a leadership rotation cycle. Each VC has the liberty to propose different time cycles.
Plenary Decision: Plenary renewed the AHT mandate for the SDCG for GFOI and for the CEOS Ad Hoc Working Group on GEOGLAM for 1 year – noting the intention for a SIT-34 discussion on organisational structure with the LSI-VC.

10. Mission statement – suggest no changes needed
Terms of Reference
LSI-VC Terms of Reference – Mission Statement
The Land Surface Imaging Virtual Constellation exists to maximize the value derived from CEOS agency land surface imaging assets and activities by providing an overarching coordination role.
The responsibility of the LSI-VC is to facilitate coordinated and optimized land surface imaging contributions from CEOS agencies to enable access to fundamental measurement products in support of confirmed/validated requirements linked to adopted CEOS priorities. These priorities are typically derived from key stakeholders, such as UN agencies/programs and GEO.
Mission statement – suggest no changes needed

11. Objectives – keep but add for SDCG and GEOGLAM
LSI-VC Terms of Reference – Objectives
Promoting sustained and systematic collection of satellite-derived land surface imaging observations by sharing information on future mission development
Drawing together validated requirements identified by downstream user communities to:
- Identify opportunities to better optimize, and increase resilience of, land surface imaging programs
- Identify current and potential data gaps (both in terms of geographic and temporal coverage, and in land monitoring requirements)
Coordinating production and distribution of, and ability to analyze, fundamental, non-domain specific, measurements derived from land surface imaging observations
 Facilitating maximum utilization of land surface imaging observations through the promotion of common standards making land surface image products more easily discovered and ready for analysis
Objectives – keep but add for SDCG and GEOGLAM

12. Scope LSI-VC Terms of Reference – Scope
- Assessing land surface imaging data requirements, identifying the fundamental measurements that are required from land surface imaging assets to meet them, and undertaking gap analyses
- Facilitating the coordination of mission development to ensure the overall set of space assets is optimized, within the supplying organizations’ abilities and constraints, to support the overall package of validated data requirements
- Harmonizing, based on inputs received from CEOS Working Groups and ad hoc teams, periodic acquisition planning to optimize asset use and help facilitate the resolution of conflicts between competing requirements, while promoting resiliency and redundancy – reconcile the various sets of requirements by providing an overarching discussion forum among the various land surface domains

13. Scope – add for SDCG and GEOGLAM
Scope Continued
LSI-VC Terms of Reference – Scope (continued)
- Support the coordination of the retrieval and reprocessing of historical products to fill gaps in archives where required to support validated time series analysis requirements
- Support the coordination (along with the CEOS Working Group on Calibration and Validation (WGCV)) the implementation of consistent calibration and pre-processing approaches so that observation data are used to produce comparable fundamental measurement products for user benefit
- Facilitate the coordination of the implementation of CEOS land surface imaging data processing, distribution and analysis capabilities (such as those being developed by the CEOS Systems Engineering Office (SEO) and the Working Group on Information Systems and Services (WGISS)), which enable the broadest user access to fundamental measurement products for generating derived products
Scope – add for SDCG and GEOGLAM

14. Implementation – delete and reference work plan
LSI-VC Terms of Reference – Implementation Horizon
3-Year Horizon
5-Year Horizon
Space Segment
Multiple sets of validated domain-specific requirements aggregated and analyzed to identify gaps and opportunities for optimization – supporting the implementation of interoperability and complementarity
Optimize and harmonize where feasible the global data collections provided by CEOS member agencies
Acquisition plans across major international land surface imaging programs harmonized to best support validated domain-specific requirements
Ground Segment and Information Systems
Explore architectures for future distribution that would potentially enable analysis of very large land surface imaging data sets trialed across at least 3 nations/regions
Stimulate an environment conducive to the creation of analysis ready data in support of enhanced usage and exploitation of the CEOS data portfolio for land surface imaging
Establish the framework for an architecture network for analysis of very large land surface imaging data sets adopted
Products and Services
1-2 compatible non-domain specific measurement products, derived from 1 sensor, being produced by multiple Agency systems
4-5 compatible non-domain specific measurement products, derived from 3-4 sensors, being produced by multiple Agency systems
Implementation – delete and reference work plan

15. Remaining Sections of ToR
Implementation and coordination issues to be addressed
Identifies role of LSI-VC and CEOS entity
Needs to be updated to include SDCG for GFOI and GEOGLAM at the top
Meetings – need to include reference to the joint meeting held annually.
Membership and leadership
Add information on process to update co-chairs
Add references to SDCG for GFOI and GEOGLAM membership/leadership, or point to documents that identify this

16. 15 March 2019 – Receive comments/edits
Way Forward
28 February Small team update the ToR and distribute to GEOGLAM and SDCG for GFOI chairs
15 March 2019 – Receive comments/edits
21 March Make adjustments and review at LSI-VC telecon
2-4 April Present updates at SIT-34