Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS) Group Purchasing

Description

ALOS Group Purchasing permits pre-approved ALOS non-commercial users to share the cost of purchasing the same ALOS data over a common area. Although costs are shared, it is important to note this concept does not involve a group licence.  Each group member must be licensed individually and will receive products directly from The Australian Centre for Remote Sensing (ACRES).

An ALOS group purchase requires the nomination of a lead agency from the group. Other members of the group will be known as collaborators.

The lead agency will be responsible for placing all orders with ACRES and paying ACRES invoices on behalf of the group. It is the responsibility of the lead agency to decide which collaborators it wishes to include or exclude from the group. The lead agency also may choose to invoice collaborators to facilitate cost sharing within the Group.

Geoscience Australia may be the lead agency in some cases.

Note that an ALOS ortho-corrected product may be shared among different non-commercial users for the approved non-commercial purpose. This means that a Group Purchase may not be necessary if group members ONLY require an ortho-corrected ALOS product.

Pricing (including GST for Australian clients)

* Note that the copy price applies only to copies ordered simultaneously with the first full-priced product.

For example, if there is the lead agency and three group members, the total price for a product will be $330 + $22 + $22 + $22 = $396. ACRES will invoice the full cost to the lead agency.

Please note that Priority Processing is not available for ALOS group purchases.

How to Participate in an ALOS group purchase

• For group purchase customers who will be directly invoiced by ACRES (i.e. lead agencies), it is strongly recommended that an ACRES 30 day account is opened. To apply for a 30 day account please contact ACRES customer services.
• The potential lead agency and collaborators must be approved already as ALOS non-commercial users for their own specific purposes.
  
• Any approved ALOS non-commercial user can become a lead agency by registering online at ALOS Group Purchase registration form. (The lead agency is required to provide a short description of the purpose and approximate location of the project.).
• Potential collaborators can then view projects proposed by a lead agency and register their interest in belonging to a specific lead agency's group online.  At this stage, the collaborators also need to agree online to the ALOS End User Licence for the products which will be ordered by the lead agency on their behalf.
• The lead agency receives an email when a potential collaborator has registered its interest.
• The lead agency accepts or rejects individual collaborators as part of the group using the ALOS Group Purchase registration form.
• The lead agency places orders online and may choose all, some or none of the collaborators to receive products from a particular order.
• The lead agency agrees to the End User Licence and submits the order on behalf of the whole group.
• Confirmation emails will be sent by ACRES to the lead agency upon registration, when a collaborator applies to join the group and when a collaborator withdraws. Collaborators receive confirmation emails after applying to be a collaborator and on acceptance, rejection or removal by the lead agency.

Conditions of Participation – lead agency

A lead agency is responsible for:

• Accepting and rejecting collaborators for the group it is leading;
• liaising with collaborators on issues such as data coverage, product types and cost-sharing arrangements;
• placing all orders on behalf of the group it represents;
• paying all ACRES invoices for the group it represents;
• invoicing collaborators for their share of data costs; and
• abiding by the ALOS End User Licence for its own approved non-commercial use. (Lead agencies agree to licence conditions at the time of ordering products from ACRES).

If an organisation wishes to be a lead agency for a number of different groups, it can either:

• Open multiple logins and customer accounts with ACRES for ALOS non-commercial use; or
• use a single login and customer account. In such cases, all collaborators from the different groups will be shown in a list for the lead agency to select from when placing an order.

Conditions of Participation – collaborators

Collaborators are responsible for:

• Selecting a lead agency from the online list;
• liaising with the lead agency on issues such as data coverage, product types and cost sharing arrangements;
• paying any invoices from the lead agency as arranged; and
• abiding by the ALOS End User Licence for its own approved non-commercial use. (Collaborators agree to licence conditions at the time of registering as a collaborator).

Paticipation as a collaborator can be made through the ALOS Group Purchase registration form.