Workshop Summary
NASA’s Satellite Needs Working Group Implementation Team (NSITE) hosted a virtual workshop showcasing the Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) dataset. During this two-day event, NSITE presented an introduction to HLS, illustrated examples of HLS in use, demonstrated how to access and use HLS across a variety of platforms, and addressed your questions, challenges, and needs.
At this workshop, participants:
- Learned about the latest enhancements to HLS and future development plans;
- Heard how users are putting HLS data to work;
- Learned about HLS integration into OPERA products and the Prithvi Foundational Model;
- Engaged directly with the HLS project leaders and team;
- Engaged with other users from the HLS community;
- Followed live demonstrations for accessing and using HLS in NASA Worldview, the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC), ESRI products, the Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS), Microsoft Planetary Computer, Google Earth Engine, and Planet Insights Platform;
- Provided feedback on HLS data product offerings.
To connect with NSITE and stay informed about HLS updates, consider signing up for HLS-specific notifications on upcoming events, trainings, and other information.
Refer to the agenda below for access to workshop materials, including presentations and recordings. Questions posed during the workshop along with their responses are also available.
Agenda
Day 1: Tuesday May 12, 2026 (11 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT)
| Duration | Time (EDT) | Topics | Format | Speaker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes | 10:45 - 11:00 a.m. | "Pre-show" Mentimeter | Interactive | NSITE MCs |
| 1 hour, 20 minutes | 11:00 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. | Session 1: History, Overview, & Future of HLS | ||
| 5 minutes | 11:00 - 11:05 a.m. | Welcome and Logistics | Presentation | Stephanie Jiménez, NSITE/University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| 15 minutes | 11:05 - 11:20 a.m. | Welcome from NASA HQ and SNWG Context | Presentation | Tom Wagner and Natasha Sadoff, NASA HQ |
| 60 minutes | 11:20 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. | HLS History and Developments, Science and Production Updates, Future Outlooks | Presentation and Interactive | Pontus Olofsson, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)/NSITE/HLS Solution Implementation Team |
| 1 hour, 5 minutes | 12:20 p.m. - 1:25 p.m. | Session 2: HLS in Action | ||
| 5 minutes | 12:20 - 12:25 p.m. | Introducing Impactful Applications of HLS | Presentation | Stephanie Jiménez, NSITE/University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| 20 minutes | 12:25 - 12:45 p.m. | Monitoring Cover Crops for Agroecosystem Assessment Using HLS Data | Presentation | Feng Gao, USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) |
| 20 minutes | 12:45 - 1:05 p.m. | Near-Real Time Processing of HLS for Rangeland Management | Presentation | Sean Kearney, Thunder Basin Grassland Prairie Ecosystem Association (USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) subcontractor) |
| 20 minutes | 1:05 - 1:25 p.m. | HLS Applications Challenges, Questions, and Needs | Interactive | NSITE MCs |
| 60 minutes | 1:25 - 2:25 p.m. | Lunch | ||
| 3 hours, 15 minutes | 2:25 - 5:40 p.m. | Session 3: Accessing HLS in Various Environments | ||
| 5 minutes | 2:25 - 2:30 p.m. | Introducing HLS in Various Environments | Presentation | Stephanie Jiménez, NSITE/University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| 60 minutes | 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. | Getting Started with HLS Data Access (includes Q&A) | Demonstration Presentation and Interactive | Mahsa Jami, NASA’s LP DAAC Scientist |
| 60 minutes | 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. | Working with HLS Data in QGIS: Access, Visualization, and Analysis (includes Q&A) | Demonstration Presentation and Interactive | Qiusheng Wu, University of Tennessee, Knoxville |
| 10 minutes | 4:30 - 4:40 p.m. | Break | ||
| 60 minutes | 4:40 - 5:40 p.m. | HLS Data and Services in ESRI's ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro (includes Q&A) | Demonstration Presentation and Interactive | Leah Schwizer and Nalin Ly, NASA Earth Science Data Systems GIS Team (EGIST) |
| 10 minutes | 5:40 - 5:50 p.m. | Session 4: Resources, Feedback, & Next Steps | ||
| 10 minutes | 5:40 - 5:50 p.m. | Summary, Resources, and Next Steps | Presentation and Interactive | Stephanie Jiménez, NSITE/University of Alabama in Huntsville |
Day 2: Wednesday May 12, 2026 (11 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT)
| Duration | Time (EDT) | Topics | Format | Speaker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes | 10:45 - 11:00 a.m. | "Pre-show" Mentimeter | Interactive | NSITE MCs |
| 1 hour, 10 minutes | 11:00 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. | Session 1: HLS in Action | ||
| 5 minutes | 11:00-11:05 a.m. | Welcome and Logistics | Presentation | Stephanie Jiménez, NSITE/University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| 5 minutes | 11:05 - 11:10 a.m. | Introducing Impactful Applications of HLS | Presentation | Stephanie Jiménez, NSITE/University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| 20 minutes | 11:10 - 11:30 a.m. | HLS in NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) | Presentation | Jenny Hewson and Diane Davies, NASA LANCE/FIRMS |
| 20 minutes | 11:30 - 11:50 a.m. | Prithvi-EO-2.0 Foundation Model Applications | Presentation | Venkatesh Kolluru, NASA Office of Data Science and Informatics (ODSI)/University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| 20 minutes | 11:50 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. | HLS Applications Challenges, Questions, and Needs | Interactive | NSITE MCs |
| 4 hours, 20 minutes | 12:10 - 1:15 p.m. and 2:15 - 5:40 p.m. | Session 2: Accessing HLS in Various Environments | ||
| 5 minutes | 12:10 - 12:15 p.m. | Introducing HLS in Various Environments | Presentation | Stephanie Jiménez, NSITE/University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| 60 minutes | 12:15 - 1:15 p.m. | NASA Worldview (includes Q&A) | Demonstration Presentation and Interactive | Minnie Wong and Ryan Boller, Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) and Vantage Systems Inc. |
| 60 minutes | 1:15 - 2:15 p.m. | Lunch | ||
| 60 minutes | 2:15 - 3:15 p.m. | AI-powered HLS Data Analysis with Microsoft Planetary Computer (includes Q&A) | Demonstration Presentation and Interactive | Juan Carlos Lopez, Adam Loverro, and Alex Unger, Microsoft |
| 60 minutes | 3:15 - 4:15 p.m. | HLS within Planet Insights Platform (includes Q&A) | Demonstration Presentation and Interactive | Grega Milcinski, Planet |
| 10 minutes | 4:15 - 4:25 p.m. | Break | ||
| 1 hour, 15 minutes | 4:25 - 5:40 p.m. | Demonstration of HLS data in Google Earth Engine and Retrieving HLS Data Locally from GEE with computePixels (includes Q&A) | Demonstratino Presentation and Interactive | Emil Cherrington and Kelsey Herndon, NASA EarthRISE/University of Alabama in Huntsville and Paulo Arevalo, Boston University |
| 15 minutes | 5:40 - 5:55 p.m. | Session 3: From Access to Impact, Feedback, and Next Steps | ||
| 10 minutes | 5:40 - 5:50 p.m. | How Increased Access Will Enable New Applications | Interactive | Natasha Sadoff, NASA HQ |
| 5 minutes | 5:50 - 5:55 p.m. | Summary, Feedback, Next Steps, and Closeout | Presentation and Interactive | Stephanie Jiménez, NSITE/University of Alabama in Huntsville |