The use of NASA LANCE imagery and data for Near real-time applications

Advances in satellite technologies, computing and web mapping have led to a huge increase in the number of people accessing satellite data, or satellite-derived information. Satellite images are routinely used in media reports, virtual globes and interactive maps. The increased exposure, and familiarization, of the general public to satellite data and products is leading to greater expectations about what data should be available and how they should be packaged. To meet these expectations, NASA´s Land Atmosphere Near-real time Capability for EOS (LANCE) has refined the way in which users can browse, filter and retrieve satellite imagery for a particular area of interest. The developments on LANCE, part of the NASA Earth Data website, are largely user-driven based on interviews and interactions with end users. This paper describes the tools available at LANCE, key application areas supported and examples of how LANCE data are being used. All of the LANCE tools can be accessed through http://earthdata.nasa.gov/lance.