Spatially Connected

From NPR's Science Friday, check out this video about how the GIS layer, Blue Marble is created.
  
http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201202034

"There's artistry to creating the world, according to Rob Simmon, art director of NASA Earth Observatory. NASA's collection of Earth-from-space imagery dates back to the Apollo 8 mission, when astronauts snapped a picture of Earth rising over the moon. Simmon and NASA scientist Gene Feldman explain how the modern "Blue Marble" images are made and how they relate to scientific study of the Earth. (Credits: images courtesy of NASA) Viewed 15072 times. See More Videos

NASA’s iconic images of Earth from space date back to the late 1960s--with snapshots taken by Apollo astronauts. The modern “blue marble” images are captured by machines and they’re not photos--they’re datasets collected by instruments aboard satellites and then translated into imagery here on the ground."

Press releasewith links to where to download the data:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/aster20111017.html

PASADENA, Calif. – NASA and Japan released a significantly improved version of the most complete digital topographic map of Earth on Monday, produced with detailed measurements from NASA's Terra spacecraft.

The map, known as a global digital elevation model, was created from images collected by the Japanese Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, or ASTER, instrument aboard Terra. So-called stereo-pair images are produced by merging two slightly offset two-dimensional images to create the three-dimensional effect of depth. The first version of the map was released by NASA and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in June 2009.

The NHD User guide is now live and two tutorials have been published to the website.
http://bit.ly/qq0Ox8

The first tutorials we published are on downloading data from the NHD.

USGS puts out a new Global Elevation model - here is a excerpt from the announcement:

"the USGS and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) have collaborated to produce an enhanced replacement for GTOPO30, the Global Land One-km Base Elevation (GLOBE) model and other comparable 30-arc-second-resolution global models, using the best available data. The new model is called the Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010, or GMTED2010 for short. This suite of products at three different resolutions (approximately 1,000, 500, and 250 meters) is designed to support many applications directly by providing users with generic products (for example, maximum, minimum, and median elevations) that have been derived directly from the raw input data that would not be available to the general user or would be very costly and time-consuming to produce for individual applications."

To read the full report:  http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1073/

Interior Announces Satellite Imagery of Earth Accessible to Public on "ChangeMatters" Website

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes announced that a new geospatial website, "ChangeMatters," has made the Department of the Interior's satellite imagery of the world more easily accessible to the public.

Developed by Esri, the site allows users to view the Global Land Survey(GLS) Landsat data developed by Interior's U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA, which spans a time period from 1975 to 2005.  By viewing GLS satellite imagery throughout the world, anyone can monitor and map change between epochs resulting from events such as forest harvesting, urban growth, wildfires, floods,  pest outbreaks, and drought. "Landsat satellite imagery is one of the most valuable resources for Earth observation," stated Deputy Secretary Hayes. "Esri's website achieves the kind of thing we had hoped to see happen by making USGS's Landsat dataset available to the public.  The website will enable people and scientists around the world to more quickly and easily see how landscapes have changed over the years.   Nearly four decades of continuously acquired data provide a remarkable window to our planet."


"The site brings the ability to monitor landscape change to internet users worldwide," said Esri President Jack Dangermond.  "We are excited to showcase this valuable government resource, using Esri's image-service technology, which allows rapid delivery of imagery over the web through dynamic mosaicing and the on-the-fly processing of a large number of images."

The website leverages the 40-year U.S. government investment in the collection and archiving of continuous worldwide Landsat imagery for earth observation.  USGS began providing Landsat imagery to the public for free two years ago.  At 30- meter spatial resolution, Landsat imagery is useful for mapping regional trends in agriculture, climate change, wildlife habitat, forestry, regional planning, coastal zones, and national security, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in estimated value to the U.S. economy per year.   Each Landsat satellite image "sees" more than humans can by collecting data in the infrared, as well as the visible (natural color) portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The website permits users to roam the Earth, choose the decade they want to view, and pick from different combinations of Landsat bands, each highlighting a different application.  For example, pest outbreaks can be monitored using the "Healthy Vegetation" band combination, and water flooding can be viewed using the "Land/Water" combination.

The site also includes a change-detection tool that users can employ to view and map landscape change by decade. Several examples and tutorials are included in the site--such as wildfire damage in Grand Canyon National Park, bark beetle mortality in the Rocky Mountains, deforestation in Haiti, conversion from forests to agriculture in Paraguay, wetland loss in the Mississippi River delta, and the decline of water level in Lake Mead.
"This announcement complements Interior's Open Government Plan to incorporate transparency, collaboration and participation into the mission for an open and accountable government," said Assistant Secretary of Water and Science Anne Castle.  "We are very pleased that this Landsat data can be the platform for new innovative products that provide great value to many end users and are publicly available."


In March 2011, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced plans to make the USGS the permanent manager of the Landsat series of Earth observation satellites, a recommendation endorsed by both the Obama and Bush Administrations. Landsat has become vital to the Nation's agricultural, water management, disaster response, and national security sectors, providing an estimated $935 million in value to the U.S. economy per year. Working closely with NASA to procure and build future satellites, a USGS-led program will best ensure the continued collection and maintenance of this important scientific resource.

To find out more about USGS's Landsat program, please visit:
http://landsat.usgs.gov/
The ChangeMatters website is available here:  www.esri.com/landsat

A message from the Oregon Grospatial Enterprise office:
"We are pleased to announce the release of the 2009 NAIP Imagery for Oregon (1/2 meter 4-band), now available through the Oregon Imagery Explorer. In addition to the 2009 imagery, the 2000 and 1995 1-meter black and white image services are also now available.

Instructions for connecting to these services are available on the Oregon Imagery Explorer site: http://oregonexplorer.info/imagery

Note: We are still working to address issues of speed and display quality for these image services, and will be providing updates to improve these services over the next few months. During this ‘beta period’, there may short periods when the services will become unavailable. We will make every effort to ensure that these interruptions occur during off-peak hours."