I think Thejesh's idea of a joint response is excellent, and am happy to contribute. My immediate observation is that a) the RS policy does not cover drones/UAVs, which according to me is the hot area, where a lot of application development is also required. The UAV related policy by DGCA is purely regulatory (what permissions are required etc), not developmental b) the opening of 5.6m imagery is great. HOWEVER, there is lack of clarity of whether the govt will continue to support the IRS P6 (or equivalent) programmes well into the future. There is no clear commitment. There is talk about past images, and open sharing, but obviously if commercial players come in, their data will not be shared. So a bit more clarity on whether (like USA) the state agency will continue to do imaging till 5.6m resolution and leave the 5.6m to 1m field for commercial providers is required. c) the shift from NRSC to a socalled PSU is noticeable and its implications unclear. What we do know as users is that NRSA is not particularly accountable to users in terms of quality of data, transparency in what they do (they will suddenly stop taking requests for imaging on particular dates, saying they are doing a full run for govt), technical transparency (quality), and promptness. And it is not clear in the policy how this accountability will be enforced vis-a-vis the PSU either. d) The USA defines 'high-res' as 0.5m and below. That's why commercial providers stop at 0.6m. (please correct me if I am wrong--or if this is outdated). We should use the same threshold, not 1m. Because otherwise our data users are unnecessarily penalised, while 0.6m data on India are available to users located in the USA or elsewhere! e) accountability of the high-res committee--they simply turn down requests without any reason. Who holds them accountable? f) If commercial providers are to come in from India, how will they beat existing global suppliers of 1m data such as Ikonos and others who are well established?
Some quick thoughts, to spark further debate in the group and help in the drafting of the joint comment. Sharad On Saturday, November 28, 2020 at 12:37:17 PM UTC+5:30 Sharad Lele wrote: > Rajya Sabha TV just now called saying the programme got cancelled. Typical > of them. > > On Friday, November 27, 2020 at 10:15:42 PM UTC+5:30 Sharad Lele wrote: > >> Btw, I will be appearing on Rajya Sabha TV tomorrow at 1pm with MoES Secy >> for a panel discussion on this new policy. So do send in more comments >> tonight/tomorrow morning, AND listen in on that discussion. >> >> On Friday, November 27, 2020 at 10:14:16 PM UTC+5:30 Sharad Lele wrote: >> >>> I agree with you, Ujaval. Getting 5.6m data in the public domain will be >>> a big boost. >>> >>> But I am curious to know from others what their experience has been with >>> the quality of this 5.6m (IRS P6) data. For instance, I found the spectral >>> quality to be rather poor: it boasts of being 10-bit but all the data are >>> clustered in a 7-bit space. So we had to go back to coarser Landsat-8 >>> because it gave better spectral quality (not just more bands). >>> >>> On the rest of the policy: I am wondering why they say nothing about >>> drones, about UAV-based LIDAR, and so on, which are really the cutting-edge >>> these days, are they not? >>> >>> Sharad >>> >>> On Friday, November 27, 2020 at 8:13:01 PM UTC+5:30 >>> [email protected] wrote: >>> >>>> Hi Sharad, >>>> >>>> Thanks for sharing. From the perspective of sharing ISRO's own data, >>>> the policy says >>>> >>>> " In the interest of promoting research, innovation, societal >>>> applications and value addition, DOS shall make IRS satellite data having >>>> GSD of 5 meter and coarser, easily accessible on ‘free and open’ basis. " >>>> >>>> I think this is really good. As the best open remote sensing >>>> multispectral data currently is Sentinel-2 (10m), ISRO sharing LISS4 >>>> (5.6m) >>>> data puts them ahead of USGS and ESA. Of course, the concern would be the >>>> implementation and how fast they can make that data available. My comment >>>> here would that they adopt a true open data license for this data, like >>>> Government Open Data License. >>>> >>>> [image: Logo] <https://spatialthoughts.com/> >>>> Ujaval Gandhi >>>> Spatial Thoughts >>>> mobile: +91-8095684687 <+91%2080956%2084687> >>>> email: [email protected] >>>> [image: LinkedIn icon] <https://www.linkedin.com/in/spatialthoughts/> >>>> [image: >>>> Twitter icon] <https://twitter.com/spatialthoughts> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Fri, Nov 27, 2020 at 7:33 PM Thejesh GN <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Thank you for sharing. We should send out comments as community. >>>>> Thej >>>>> -- >>>>> Thejesh GN *⏚* ತೇಜೇಶ್ ಜಿ.ಎನ್ >>>>> http://thejeshgn.com >>>>> GPG ID : 0xBFFC8DD3C06DD6B0 >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Fri, 27 Nov 2020 at 19:30, Sharad Lele (शरच्चंद्र लेले) < >>>>> [email protected]> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Please read and comment. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> https://www.isro.gov.in/sites/default/files/spacers_policy_ngp_2020_draft.pdf >>>>>> >>>>>> Sharad >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> Datameet is a community of Data Science enthusiasts in India. Know >>>>>> more about us by visiting http://datameet.org >>>>>> --- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups "datameet" group. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>> send an email to [email protected]. >>>>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/datameet/e9221cdf-1e29-9f26-cd5a-1b031ba51761%40gmail.com >>>>>> . >>>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Datameet is a community of Data Science enthusiasts in India. Know >>>>> more about us by visiting http://datameet.org >>>>> --- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "datameet" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>> >>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/datameet/CAABnYsWm7xuY33vkAP0nu8qDRBibSwFx-pEGKCESe5Nuu9Bn6g%40mail.gmail.com >>>>> >>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/datameet/CAABnYsWm7xuY33vkAP0nu8qDRBibSwFx-pEGKCESe5Nuu9Bn6g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>>> . >>>>> >>>> -- Datameet is a community of Data Science enthusiasts in India. Know more about us by visiting http://datameet.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "datameet" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/datameet/21c37aac-2453-4452-88fa-fae32485be75n%40googlegroups.com.
