The Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation team: overview and IKONOS joint characterization approach

The Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) team was formed to leverage government agenciesʹ capabilities for the characterization of commercial remote sensing data. The team is composed of staff from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Each JACIE agency has a vested interest in the purchase and use of commercial imagery to support its research and applications. It is critical that this imagery be assessed for its accuracy and utility. Through JACIE, NASA, NIMA, and USGS jointly characterized image products from Space Imagingʹs IKONOS satellite. The JACIE team acquired IKONOS imagery of several study sites to perform the assessments. Each JACIE agency performed an aspect of the characterization according to its area of expertise. NASA and its university partners performed a system characterization focusing on radiometric calibration, geopositional accuracy, and spatial resolution assessment; NIMA performed image interpretability and feature extraction evaluations; and the USGS assessed the geopositional accuracy of several IKONOS products. The results of the JACIE teamʹs IKONOS effort, which were discussed with Space Imaging and then presented at an industry–government workshop, ensured and improved overall product quality and benefited both the commercial industry and the government. Additional JACIE activities include the characterization of other commercial products such as those from the DigitalGlobe QuickBird and the Orbital Imaging (Orbimage) OrbView-3 satellites.