Landsat 5 and 7 no longer provide global coverage on a 16-day basis, creating a serious challenge for resource management agencies that rely on Landsat for monitoring. The Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water use 20 years of Landsat imagery for monitoring across Queensland. Here we present the findings of a preliminary analysis of CBERS-2 Hi-Res CCD (HRCC), SPOT4 HRG, SPOT5 HRG, IRS-P6 LISS III, and ALOS AVNIR-2 as Landsat alternatives. Three criteria were used: visual assessment of the radiometric quality, and the cost and likelihood of yearly state-wide coverage.

No sensor was found to have ideal radiometric quality. Saturated pixels were present in the HRG and AVNIR-2 imagery, and striping was evident in the LISS III imagery. Queensland coverage for a year is affordable for all sensors except SPOT5 HRG. State-wide coverage for HRCC is unlikely due to no downlink station in Australia. Yearly coverage of SPOT4 is likely as the sensor is underutilised, and less likely for SPOT5 due to high demand. At least six images of a region will be captured by LISS III yearly, and fewer images for AVNIR-2.

The reasonable cost, high likelihood of yearly state-wide coverage and acceptable quality of SPOT4 HRG make it a viable option for natural-resource monitoring in Queensland. AVNIR-2 and LISS III are also possible alternatives, although yearly coverage for AVNIR-2 may not be available, and the radiometric issues of LISS III remain a concern. SPOT5 HRG is cost prohibitive and HRCC data is unlikely to be available.