Valuing geospatial information: Using the contingent valuation method to estimate the economic benefits of Landsat satellite imagery
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Abstract
While the U.S. government does not charge for downloading Landsat images, the images have value to users. This paper demonstrates a method that can value Landsat and other imagery to users. A survey of downloaders of Landsat images found: (a) established US users have a mean value of $912 USD per scene; (b) new US users and users returning when imagery became free have a mean value of $367 USD per scene. Total US user benefits for the 2.38 million scenes downloaded is $1.8 billion USD. While these benefits indicate a high willingness-to-pay among many Landsat downloaders, it would be economically inefficient for the US government to charge for Landsat imagery. Charging a price of $100 USD a scene would result in an efficiency loss of $37.5 million a year. This economic information should be useful to policy-makers who must decide about the future of this and similar remote sensing programs.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Valuing geospatial information: Using the contingent valuation method to estimate the economic benefits of Landsat satellite imagery |
| Series title | Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing |
| DOI | 10.14358/PERS.81.8.647 |
| Volume | 81 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Year Published | 2015 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Ingenta |
| Contributing office(s) | Fort Collins Science Center |
| Description | 10 p. |
| First page | 647 |
| Last page | 656 |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |