USGS Newsroom

Landsat Images Provide the Gold Standard for New Earth Applications

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Thu, 9 May 2013 12:29:39 EDT

WASHINGTON — Images from Landsat satellites provided free to the public by the Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey were the starting points for "a new breakthrough" reported today by Time and announced on the Official Google Blog. Using its Earth Engine technology, Google has compiled decades of Landsat images into a new, interactive time-lapse experience.

"This news is the latest example of how the Department of the Interior's policy of unrestricted access and free distribution of Landsat satellite imagery to the public fosters innovation and mutual awareness of environmental conditions around the globe," said Anne Castle, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science. "The 40-year archive of Landsat images of every spot on earth is a treasure trove of scientific information that can form the basis for a myriad of useful applications by commercial enterprises, government scientists and managers, the academic community, and the public at large."

Other commercial products, such as ESRI's Change Matters, also utilize Landsat imagery, providing data for a deeper geographic understanding of the changing world.

Landsat data can assist a broad range of specialists in managing the world's food, water, forests, and other natural resources for a growing world population. The Landsat images contain many layers of data collected at different points along the visible and invisible light spectrum. Consequently, they can show where vegetation is thriving and where it is stressed, where droughts are occurring, where wildland fire is a danger, and where erosion has altered coastlines or river courses.

Landsat satellites provide a view as broad as 12,000 square miles per scene while describing land cover in pixels the size of a baseball diamond. From a distance of more than 400 miles above the earth surface, a single Landsat scene can record the condition of hundreds of thousands of acres of grassland, agricultural crops, or forests.

"With its long-term historical record of the entire globe and widely recognized high quality of data, Landsat is valued all over the world as the gold standard of land observation," said Castle.

Ready access to authoritative Landsat images provides a reliable common record of Earth conditions that advances the mutual understanding of environmental challenges by citizens, researchers, and decision makers around the globe.

USGS and NASA have distinct roles in the Landsat program. NASA develops remote-sensing instruments and spacecraft, launches satellites, and validates their performance. The USGS then assumes ownership and operation. For example, USGS will operate the newest satellite in the Landsat series – Landsat 8 – starting on May 30, 2013, following a successful launch from the Vandenberg AFB on February 11, 2013.

For More Information

See the USGS website for more information on Landsat and to view the entire image gallery
See today's Google Blog to learn about Google's announcement, the Google Earth Engine and how to explore the new global, zoomable time-lapse map as part of TIME Magazine's new TIMElapse project
Read the Time Magazine article TIME and Space
For another example of the application of Landsat imagery, go to ESRI's Change Matters
Learn more about NASA and the Landsat Program

Disclaimer: Any use of trade, firm or product names does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. No warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the Department of the Interior or the U.S. Government as to the accuracy and functioning of the commercial software programs cited in this news release, and the U.S. Government shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the Landsat satellite imagery and data employing these software programs.

USGS Topo Data on the Go

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Wed, 1 May 2013 10:09:15 EDT

USGS The National Map Topographic Data are now available on mobile devices that are using the Android or iOS operating system

Android and iPhone users can now use their mobile devices as digital topo maps, leveraging USGS maps together with the power of GPS to zoom in on their precise location while hiking, biking, running, or any other activity that benefits from precision navigation. The type of data that are available includes USGS imagery and topographic maps from The National Map, as well as road and contour layers.

Currently, two Android applications are using USGS data, OruxMaps (http://www.oruxmaps.com/index_en.html) and AlpineQuest (http://alpinequest.psyberia.net/). These apps include USGS services in the list of available online maps.

For users that may be navigating in an area that is outside of cell phone coverage, Mobile Atlas Creator (http://mobac.sourceforge.net/) is allowing users of this desktop application to build small "mobile atlases" with USGS data. These "mobile atlases" can be built over any area of interest at multiple scales, and when completed, the small file is moved to the phone. The "mobile atlases" enable GPS applications on both iPhone and Android mobile devices. By storing this small amount of data on the phone, these "mobile atlases" ensure the topographic data is available even when cell coverage is not.

Users of mobile devices can use USGS data on their GPS-enabled phones to track their adventure or workout. This capability is new, and promises to increase awareness and use of USGS data and services, as well as increase demand for US Topos.

To use TNM data on your Android device:

Install either OruxMaps or AlpineQuest via Google Play App Store.
USGS TNM data is available through these two applications as a dynamic, online layer.
Switch map sources to view either TNM Topo or Satellite data through the application.
OruxMaps manual available online in PDF format.
More information on Alpine Quest is available online.

To use TNM data on your iOS device:

Install Galileo on your iPhone or iPad via iTunes App Store.
Build offline map file(s) on MOBAC (instructions below).
Move files to iPad or iPhone.

To build map files that will allow an Android or iPhone to use USGS TNM data when data connectivity is not available:

Download the MOBAC desktop application (Mobile Atlas Builder).
Unzip the downloaded file, and activate the "Mobile Atlas Creator.exe" file.
Users can then indicate the mobile application they are using (Galileo, AlpineQuest, etc) , and highlight an area of interest to build an offline map file.
Select the appropriate scales.
Select "Create Atlas", and move resulting folder (and map data) to the appropriate folder on the mobile phone.
More information on using MOBAC is available through the "Quick Start Manual".

The USGS National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC) is continuing to work with mobile developers, to ensure our data are available to the public.

Disclaimer: Any use of trade, firm or product names does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. No warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS or the U.S. Government as to the accuracy and functioning of the commercial software programs cited in this Technical Announcement, and the U.S. Government shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the USGS National Map Topographic Data employing these software programs.


USGS TNM Topographic Data as viewed in AlpineQuest. (Larger image)	USGS TNM Topographic Data as viewed in OruxMaps. (Larger image)	Mobile Atlas Creator (MOBAC) about to create a USGS TNM Topographic "atlas" of various scales. (Larger image)

App-lifying USGS Earth Science Data Challenge Winners Announced

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EDT

Species range and distribution, taxonomic classification, and conservation status applications top the list of submitted Apps

Just in time for Earth Day, the U.S. Geological Survey is pleased to announce the winners of the "App-lifying USGS Earth Science Data" Challenge. The USGS invited developers, information scientists, biologists/ecologists, and scientific data visualization specialists to create applications for selected USGS datasets, presenting them in innovative and informative new ways.

The winner for Best Overall App is "TaxaViewer" by the rOpenSci group based out of California. TaxaViewer is a Web interface to a mashup of data from the USGS-sponsored Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), the Phylotastic taxonomic Name service, the Global Invasive Species Database, Phylomatic, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. TaxaViewer allows the user to view species-specific taxonomic data, invasive status, phylogenetic relationships, and species occurrence records.

The Popular Choice App award goes to the "Species Comparison Tool" by Kimberly Sparks of Raleigh, N.C., which allows users to explore the USGS Gap Analysis Program distribution and/or range of two species concurrently. In addition, the application's "swipe tool" provides the ability to make visual comparisons of the maps. The application also incorporates ITIS data and provides external links to NatureServe species information.

"These applications provide us and, more importantly, the public with easy-to-use tools for accessing and viewing taxonomic and biogeographic data," said Kevin Gallagher, USGS Associate Director of Core Science Systems. "The innovative and thoughtful ideas represented in these applications are great examples of how complex data can be made more accessible."

The Challenge was open for submissions from January 9, 2013, to April 1, 2013. Entries spanned a cross-section of topics including taxonomic classification, conservation status of species, the range and distribution of animals, and one innovative app integrating social media with species occurrence records.

"We were extremely impressed with the caliber of applications we received for this Challenge," said Cheryl Morris, Director of USGS Core Science Analytics and Synthesis (CSAS). "The hard work and innovation that went into these applications is evident in their popularity, usability, and goal of making USGS data more readily accessible to all users."

Winners were selected based on relevance to the USGS and CSAS missions, innovation in design, and overall ease of use of the application. Utilizing the Challege.gov platform, the general public chose the winner of the Popular Choice App award.

More information about the winning applications can be found at the CSAS Challenge site. All of the submissions can be accessed on the App-lifying USGS Earth Science Data Challenge site.

Learn more about USGS Core Science Analytics and Synthesis programs and activities.

Discovering Species - Just a Click Away

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 8:00:00 EDT

The USGS makes finding the locations (and more) of U.S. species a lot easier with the new digital resource - BISON

Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation or BISON is the only system of its kind; a unique, web-based Federal resource for finding species in the U. S. and territories. Its size is unprecedented, offering more than 100 million mapped records of nearly every living species nationwide and growing. And the vast majority of the records are specific locations, not just county or state records.

What’s more, BISON provides an "Area of Interest" search capability in which users can query by drawing the exact boundary around their area of interest, down to and including towns, villages, or even much smaller areas such as parks. For instance, New York City's Central Park has more than 100,000 "species occurrences" recorded in BISON, with each species noted in detail. Other BISON search options include querying the species by scientific or common name, year range, state, county, basis of record, or provider institution.

As for the results, BISON displays them in both an interactive map and a list format. Users can click on each species occurrence point to retrieve more information, such as the institution providing the data, the collector, the date collected, and whether it was from a collection or an observation. Further, occurrences can be dynamically visualized with more than 50 other layers of environmental information in the system. Extensive web services are also available for direct connections to other systems.

"The USGS is proud to announce this monumental resource", said Kevin Gallagher, Associate Director, Core Science Systems," and this is a testament to the power of combining the efforts of hundreds of thousands of professional and citizen scientists into a resource that uses Big Data and Open Data principles to deliver biodiversity information for sustaining the Nation's environmental capital".

"BISON is destined to become an indispensable toolkit to manage species occurrence data to support scientific, educational, and policy-making activities in the US", Dr. Erick Mata, Executive Director of the Encyclopedia of Life explained. "This is highly complementary and synergistic with EOL's efforts to raise awareness and understanding of living nature."

"With BISON, the USGS takes a big step toward making biodiversity data held within Federal agencies easier to find and use", added Mary Klein, President & CEO of NatureServe. "I am enthusiastic about future opportunities to work with USGS to increase collaboration among Federal, state and private data holders."

USGS Core Science Systems Mission Area, which developed the resource, expects that BISON users will be broad-based and include land managers, researchers, refuge managers, citizen scientists, agriculture professionals, fisheries managers, water resource managers, educators, and more.

Land managers, for instance, might be looking for a piece of land to purchase for conservation—but first they want to know what species have been documented for that parcel. BISON will tell them after only a few mouse clicks.

BISON serves as the U.S. Node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and will form an integral part of EcoINFORMA, the information delivery strategy in "Sustaining Environmental Capital: Protecting Society and the Economy," a recent report by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

"BISON responds directly to a key need PCAST pointed out in 'Sustaining Environmental Capital' - to make Federal environmental data available, inter-operable, and usable to the public," said PCAST member Rosina Bierbaum, "We look forward to this 'biodiversity' hub being supplemented by complementary ecological data hubs by other Federal partners, to further the goal of helping communities across the Nation make increasingly wise planning and management decisions."

BISON already includes millions of points from the Federal investment in biodiversity research. It is formally cooperating with other Federal agencies to greatly expand the delivery of federally funded biodiversity data for the greatest possible good. Hundreds of thousands of citizen and professional scientists have collected the data in BISON. Non-governmental organizations, state and local governments, universities, and many others are also participating in this enormous undertaking.

The USGS has built and maintains BISON, which is hosted on the massive Federal computing infrastructure at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

To learn more, visit: http://bison.usgs.ornl.gov or contact the USGS BISON Team at BISON@usgs.gov.

The USGS Core Science Analytics and Synthesis program within Core Science Systems is home to BISON and focuses on innovative ways to manage and deliver scientific data and information. The program implements and promotes standards and best practices to enable efficient, data-driven science for decision-making that supports a rapid response to emerging natural resource issues. One of the ways this is accomplished is by developing national data products that increase our understanding of the Earth’s natural systems.

Crowd-Sourcing the Nation: Using Volunteers for Enhanced Data Collection

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Mon, 1 Apr 2013 18:41:01 EDT

The USGS is expanding the involvement of volunteers to enhance data collection about structures for The National Map.

This program, known as The National Map Corps, focuses on encouraging citizens to collect data relating to structures by both adding new features and/or correcting existing data within The National Map database. These structures can include schools, hospitals, post offices, police stations and other important public places.

Collaborative pilot projects in Colorado were recently used to test the concept of crowd-sourcing. While the project is on-going, early indications point to positive results and show the success of using TNMC volunteers to enhance data sets.

Over a trial period of ten months, 143 volunteers collected, improved, or deleted data on more than 6,400 structures in Colorado. The volunteers’ actions were accurate and exceeded USGS quality standards. In the Colorado pilot project the volunteer-collected data showed an improvement of approximately 25 percent in both location and attribute accuracy for existing data points. Completeness, or the extent to which all appropriate features were identified and recorded, was nearly perfect.

The significant results of the Colorado pilot have led to a phased, nation-wide expansion of the crowd-sourcing /volunteer project. The states in the first expansion of TNMC are: Arkansas, Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, West Virginia

After an evaluation of the quality and procedures of the first group of states, the second set will be made available. Ultimately, by the end of 2013, the third batch of states will complete the expansion of the program.

"The response by volunteers in Colorado exceeded our expectations both in terms of the number of volunteers and the quality of the data they collected”, said Kari Craun, the Director of the USGS National Geospatial Technical Operations Center. “The Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) community represents a fantastic, untapped resource to assist USGS in maintaining data that are part of The National Map.”

While some familiarity with the area that a volunteer chooses is helpful, one doesn’t have to live near a particular place to contribute. The tools on TNMC website, along with ancillary information available on the Internet, are generally sufficient to edit a distant area.

There have been several instances of crowd-sourced geographic information making significant contributions to research and databases in government, private sector, and non-profit organizations. The goal of the TNMC is to provide data for the nation’s primary federal mapping agency in its effort to provide accurate and authoritative spatial data via the web-based National Map.

The citizen geographers/cartographers who participate in this program will make a significant addition to the USGS’s ability to provide accurate information to the public. Data collected by volunteers become part of TNM Structures dataset which is available to users free of charge.

Without a network of volunteers, the desired information would not be collected this year and the existing data would not be updated. TNMC volunteers perform important work that otherwise will not be accomplished in the foreseeable future.

Becoming a volunteer for TNMC is easy; go to the National Map Corps website to learn more and to sign up as a volunteer. If you have access to the Internet and are willing to dedicate some time to editing map data, we hope you will consider participating!

Tool Estimates Streamflow for Pennsylvania Waterways

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 7:51:22 EDT

Editors: The BaSE tool and supporting documentation can be found online.

NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. -- Water resource managers can now estimate daily baseline streamflows in a matter of minutes for any location along Pennsylvania's waterways. The Baseline Streamflow Estimator, called "BaSE," provides users with estimated daily mean streamflow, minimally altered by human activities, for locations on Pennsylvania streams that don’t have streamgages. Pennsylvania is one of the first states in the nation to have such a tool.

"BaSE provides water-resource managers with nearly 50 years of daily mean streamflow for ungaged sites in a matter of minutes that they can use for their projects. These daily values can then be used to generate a number of streamflow statistics that may be needed for decision making," said Marla Stuckey, USGS hydrologist and project lead in Pennsylvania.

Water-resource managers use daily mean streamflow to evaluate withdrawal, allocation, and wastewater permit applications and to assess the health of the Commonwealth's streams. Historically, it has been difficult, costly, and time intensive to estimate daily mean streamflow for stream locations that were not gaged, or monitored. Now, BaSE allows users to estimate daily mean streamflow values and daily hydrographs by entering a few basic basin characteristics in an easy-to-use tool. The output is a summary spreadsheet, containing information about the location of interest, including daily mean streamflow for every day from 1960 to 2008.

BaSE relies on a methodology that uses flow-duration curves, which illustrate the percentage of time, or probability, that a flow value in a stream will equal or exceed a particular value. Flow-duration curves are generated for reference streamgage locations with monitored streamflow and the curves are transferred to ungaged locations to estimate daily mean streamflow.

BaSE chooses the most appropriate reference streamgage for the ungaged location and applies newly developed regression equations to convert the transferred flow duration curve to streamflow at the ungaged location.

A USGS Scientific Investigations Report describing BaSE can be found online.

Interior Prepares to Conduct Landsat 8 Scientific Programs After Successful Launch of Latest Earth-Observing Satellite

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:00:00 EDT

Secretary Salazar Says Interior-NASA Partnership Provides Model for New Strategy to Strengthen Science Education and Careers

VANDENBERG AFB, CA – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today joined NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science Anne Castle, United States Geological Survey (USGS) Director Dr. Marcia McNutt and other Interior and NASA officials to launch the nation's newest Earth-observing satellite into space.

Launched by NASA from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the satellite is expected to transmit images and data about the Earth within 100 days. Landsat data from more than 3 million current and archived images of Earth – available free of charge through the Interior Department’s USGS – have spurred extensive research and innovations, ranging from scientific investigations around the globe to the development of applications like Google Earth.

"Landsat has been delivering invaluable scientific information about our planet for more than forty years," said Salazar. "It's an honor to be a part of today's launch to ensure that this critical data will continue to help us better understand our natural resources and help people like water managers, farmers, and resource managers make informed decisions."

"Landsat is a centerpiece of NASA's Earth Science program, and today's successful launch will extend the longest continuous data record of Earth's surface as seen from space," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "This data is a key tool for monitoring climate change and has led to the improvement of human and biodiversity health, energy and water management, urban planning, disaster recovery and agriculture monitoring – all resulting in incalculable benefits to the U.S. and world economy."

The Landsat program is a joint partnership between NASA and the USGS. NASA develops the remote-sensing instruments and spacecraft, launches satellites, and validates their performance. The USGS then assumes ownership and operation of the satellites, in addition to managing ground-data reception, archiving, product generation, and distribution. The result is a long-term, impartial register of natural and human-induced changes on the global landscape.

"Seeing the world from a birds-eye view has been a primal desire since the earliest days of our civilization, in order to gain a better understand of how the world operates," said Interior Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Anne Castle. "In an era of rapid world population growth, climate change, and increased competition for natural resources, we can't afford not to have the long-term, objective perspective that Landsat's eyes on the Earth provide."

From a distance of more than 400 miles above the earth surface, a single Landsat scene can record the condition of hundreds of thousands of acres of grassland, agricultural crops, or forests. Each Landsat image gives a view as broad as 12,000 square miles per scene while describing land cover in units the size of a baseball diamond.

The Landsat program also offers substantial economic benefits, including an estimated $100 million per year in management of water for irrigated agriculture in western states.

Federal, state and local agencies rely on Landsat as a data source on wildfires, consumptive water use, land cover change, crop conditions, rangeland status and wildlife habitat. Landsat images can show where vegetation is thriving and where it is stressed, where droughts are occurring, where wildland fire is a danger, and where erosion has altered coastlines or river course.

"Over the last 40 years, students, land managers, scientists, relief workers, water managers, and ordinary citizens from nearly 200 nations have come to rely on Landsat as the authoritative source of unbiased information on changes in our planet's solid surface," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "The launch of Landsat 8, in the nick of time as Landsat 5 is decommissioned and Landsat 7 is experiencing continued hardware failures, allows us to continue to provide this vital information to the world."

Salazar today also released a new strategy to strengthen and inspire education and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Interior's STEM strategic plan is designed to provide a five-year framework for engaging the American public—particularly youth underrepresented in STEM fields—to become scientifically literate stewards of our natural and cultural resources while building a future workforce that fully represents the diversity of America for the 21^st century.

"We need to make sure that there's a next generation of cutting edge scientists to design and run Landsat 9, 10, 11 and beyond," said Salazar. "This new plan will pave the way for our youth to choose the innovative and technical careers that are increasingly needed in federal service and in managing increasingly complex natural and cultural resource challenges."

STEM careers can be found at all of Interior's nine agencies including not only USGS—the nation's premier science agency in various disciplines—but also the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and others.

Interior employs nearly 15,000 scientists and engineers, many of whom will be retiring in the coming decade. By emphasizing fields of study in STEM, the Department is better positioned to fill in these critical gaps.

Over the next five years, Interior plans to engage more partners in science education, to better coordinate access to the Department's educational resources, to engage students and other citizens in place-based learning and service opportunities, and to strengthen career training and workforce development.

The five-year STEM plan is available online.

Reminder - Abstracts for the 2013 TMN UC and CDI Workshop Due Soon

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Fri, 8 Feb 2013 10:40:27 EDT

Calling for abstracts in support of the The National Map Users Conference and the USGS Community for Data Integration Workshop.

The joint 2013 The National Map Users Conference and Community for Data Integration Workshop will be held on May 20 – 24, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The event will bring together scientists, partners, managers, and data users to share relevant accomplishments and progress through presentations, workshops, training, posters, and informal gatherings.

Invited guests and representatives from the Department of the Interior (DOI), USGS, and other organizations will provide perspectives on goals, strategic direction, science needs, and training on geospatial science and related activities.

Please consider participating by submitting an abstract that addresses one of the Conference or Workshop session themes. Abstracts should address (1) experiences based on use of The National Map data theme or application and (2) data integration issues, planning, and execution in support of science, including products and tools to help users find, get, and use data for conducting interdisciplinary studies.

Abstract Instructions and Schedule

Abstracts must be submitted through this online form NO LATER THAN February 22, 2013.
Authors will be notified of acceptance by April 1, 2013.
Abstracts are limited to 400 words or less.

Submit today, and we hope to see you in Denver. Questions?

2013 Gannett Award

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:57:11 EDT

Calling for nominations to honor outstanding accomplishments to the topographic mapping mission of the USGS

If you have ever used a topographic map to find your way around a remote part of the country, or if you've ever noticed how geographic names reflect the history of the land and the culture of its inhabitants, you’ll appreciate the pioneering work of Henry Gannett. Gannett, an early American geographer, is often considered to be the father of topographic mapping in the United States.

To commemorate Gannett’s varied contributions to and passions for our nation's geography and cartography, the U.S. Geological Survey is accepting nominations for the 2013 Henry Gannett Award.

Eligibility: Any individual or group of individuals working as a team, contractors, citizen groups, youth, and private sector entities, non-government organizations, and representatives of Federal, State, local and tribal governments whose contributions advance the USGS’ National Geospatial Program (NGP) objectives and programs are eligible to receive this award. This award may be given to any combination of entities that meet the award criteria.

Nomination Process: Each nomination package will be submitted in electronic form through the award website and include justification and related nomination information. Nominations are due February 26, 2013. The award will be presented at The National Map Users Conference and Community for Data Integration Workshop and Training during an award ceremony in May 2013.

"This award commemorates the USGS' first Chief Geographer from 1882-1914 and his (Gannett's) tremendous contributions to topographic mapping in the United States," said Mark DeMulder, the Director of the NGP. "This is a unique opportunity to honor significant contributions to an individual or group of individuals that have furthered USGS topographic mapping of the Nation."

For complete award information, nomination guidelines and history about the Gannett awards, visit the USGS Henry Gannett website.

App-lifying and Enhancing USGS Earth Science Data

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Wed, 9 Jan 2013 10:00:00 EDT

Calling all app developers, the USGS wants you

USGS scientists are looking for your help in addressing some of today's most perplexing scientific challenges, such as climate change and biodiversity loss. To do so requires a partnership between the best and the brightest in Government and the public to guide research and identify solutions.

The vehicle to achieve this is Challenge.gov, the contest platform administered by the General Services Administration. Challenge.gov is aimed at facilitating creative applications for government agencies to address a range of societal issues more effectively.

The USGS is seeking help via this platform from many of the Nation's premier application developers and data visualization specialists in developing new visualizations and applications for datasets.

"The USGS has produced several key biogeography datasets that are integral to understanding the natural world. We need to maximize their impact by combining them with other national datasets. By accessing and visualizing these datasets in new ways, the public can help USGS scientists tackle many of our Nation's scientific challenges," said Kevin Gallagher, USGS Associate Director of Core Science Systems.

"We know there are extremely talented people out there who will be able to devise new ways to expand the reach and/or capabilities of our data," said Cheryl Morris, Director of USGS Core Science Analytics and Synthesis. "We're eager to see what folks come up with."

USGS datasets for the contest consist of a range of earth science data types, including:

several million biological occurrence records (terrestrial and marine);
thousands of metadata records related to research studies, ecosystems, and species;
vegetation and land cover data for the United States, including detailed vegetation maps for the National Parks; and
authoritative taxonomic nomenclature for plants and animals of North America and the world.

Collectively, these datasets are key to a better understanding of many scientific challenges we face globally. Identifying new, innovative ways to represent, apply, and make these data available is a high priority.

Submissions will be judged on their relevance to today's scientific challenges, innovative use of the datasets, and overall ease of use of the application. Prizes will be awarded to the best overall app, the best student app, and the people's choice.

Submissions will be accepted from January 9, 2013, to April 1, 2013. Winners will be announced on April 26, 2013 and will be invited to present at the USGS The National Map Users Conference/Community for Data Integration Workshop (May 21-24, 2013, in Denver, Colo.), where their applications will be demonstrated to USGS scientists and program managers.

To learn more, visit: http://applifyingusgsdata.challenge.gov

The USGS Core Science Analytics and Synthesis program focuses on innovative ways to manage and deliver scientific data and information. The program implements and promotes standards and best practices to enable efficient, data-driven science for decision-making that supports a rapid response to emerging natural resource issues. One of the ways this is accomplished is by developing national data products that increase our understanding of the Earth’s natural systems.

Learn more about the USGS Core Science Analytics and Synthesis programs and activities.

Software Offers Tool to Evaluate Wildlife Fatalities at Wind-Power Facilities

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:15:00 EDT

CORVALLIS, Ore.— Resource managers now have a user-friendly tool to estimate wildlife fatalities at wind-power facilities, thanks to software and a user's guide released today by the U.S. Geological Survey. The software combines counts of animal carcasses and detection-rate information to estimate the number of fatalities and to provide measures of uncertainty of these estimates to help managers address concerns about the potential environmental effects of this rapidly expanding industry.

Bird and bat fatalities at some wind-power facilities have led to recommendations and sometimes requirements from state and federal regulators that facility managers monitor wildlife fatalities as a condition for facility development and operation. Usually this monitoring involves searching for carcasses beneath and near turbines.

Unfortunately, simple counts of dead animals do not reflect actual fatality because carcasses are detected at varying rates. Carcasses may be removed by scavenging animals before monitors are able to include them in count information. Some species are inherently easier to detect than others; for example, an eagle is much easier to find than is a hummingbird. Furthermore, carcasses can be obscured by vegetation or fall in steep terrain that is difficult or impossible to search.

In 2010, USGS scientist Manuela Huso published an approach to estimating fatality that accounts for variable detection rates among carcasses. The tool being released today, that Huso and collaborators Nick Som and Lew Ladd of EcoStats, LLC subsequently developed, provides a bridge between the highly technical details of her original publication to the needs of consultants and field managers conducting wildlife monitoring.

"Accurate and unbiased estimates are critical to our understanding of the effects of wind-power facilities on wildlife," Huso said. "They are necessary to compare techniques currently available to managers to reduce fatalities, to assess cumulative effects on wildlife populations, and to develop predictions of potential fatality prior to a facility's construction. Even more important are measures of the uncertainty associated with estimates of fatality, which this software also provides."

This software has its limitations, however. A different set of statistical tools is needed to evaluate fatality of a particular species for which few individuals are expected to be killed but for which accurate estimates of fatality are critical, e.g. rare or endangered species. Huso said the USGS is working to develop these tools as well. Once these tools are available USGS will release them to the public.

The publication is Huso, M.M., Som, N., Ladd, L., 2012, Fatality Estimator User's Guide: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 729.

Project to Support Future Global Food Security Enhanced by Major NASA Grant

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:23:44 EDT

A $3.5 million dollar, 5-year grant from the NASA program: Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs), was recently awarded to a U.S. Geological Survey led, multi-agency team of scientists studying future global food security.

The proposal, "Global Cropland Area Database (GCAD30) through Landsat and MODIS Data Fusion for the Years 2010 and 1990 and Its Dynamics Over Four Decades using AVHRR and MODIS", was one of 27 awardees, and was developed as a product from a USGS-supported John Wesley Powell Center for Earth System Science Analysis and Synthesis Working Group, Global Croplands and Their Water Use for Food Security in the 21^st Century.

"The trends in land use to feed a growing global population derived from this landmark effort will inform critical studies in planetary sustainability, such as the availability of fresh water and fertile soil, and the effects of increasingly intense cultivation on essential carbon and nitrogen cycles," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "It is through the unbiased eye of these satellites that we see how a myriad of independent local decisions can sum up to major global impact."

The main goal of this project is to produce consistent and unbiased estimates of global agricultural cropland areas, types, watering method, and intensities using multi-sensor Earth Observation Data from satellites and mature cropland mapping algorithms. The project will create a Global Cropland Area Database, consisting of four distinct products. The series will include cropland extent\area, crop type, irrigated versus rainfed crops, and cropping intensity.

"The data and products will make a significant contribution towards addressing global water and food security in the 21^st century, taking into consideration complexities of ballooning populations, greater nutritional demands from the expanding economies, and virtual water and food trade of modern, globally inter-linked economies," said Dr. Prasad Thenkabail, the project's principal investigator.

"We are thrilled to see this kind of product from the USGS Powell Center; it is a shining example of how multidisciplinary synthesis efforts can advance the state of the science," said Jill Baron, Powell Center Co-Director.

Team members are listed on the Current Projects site.

National Geologic Map Database Gets a Face Lift

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 8:00:00 EDT

The U.S. Geological Survey and the Association of American State Geologists (AASG) partner to launch a redesigned database of standardized geoscience information, the National Geologic Map Database (NGMDB).

In concert with the inaugural, multi-agency Geologic Map Day, the USGS and AASG are pleased to release a significantly updated infrastructure and a new "look" to the NGMDB. For example, the MapView features a visually compelling new interface that uses the latest technology to portray the Nation’s geologic maps published by the USGS, the state geological surveys, and many others. These maps, available from the NGMDB in several popular and easy to use formats, can be viewed in detail and downloaded from the various publishers.

"Students, resource professionals, government managers, and anyone else who needs easy access to large amounts of geologic information that is authoritative, quality controlled, and accurately georeferenced are going to appreciate the new map viewer for geoscience information," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "We are grateful to the enduring partnership with our colleagues at the many State geological surveys which has enabled coordinated data delivery to the public at large."

This online resource, mandated by Congress as a State-Federal partnership, is the result of a 17-year joint venture. The mandate is to provide rapid access for resource managers, scientists, and the general public to well-documented and standardized geoscience information that can be used to support research, understanding, and decisions on a wide breadth of societal needs. With this redesign, the NGMDB further enhances its ability to fulfill that mission.

For more information, visit The National Geologic Map Database website.

USGS Inducted into the 2012 URISA GIS Hall of Fame

OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing) — Mon, 1 Oct 2012 13:18:57 EDT

Owing to 50 years of cutting-edge developments and significant contributions in advancing the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and geospatial sciences, the U.S. Geological Survey has been selected to enter the Urban and Regional Information System Association GIS Hall of Fame.

The USGS is a major contributor and driver to GIS progress across the government and the private sector. USGS geospatial technologies, long term datasets, research, innovations, information, and publications, all made available at no cost to the public through the USGS Store, have enabled advancements of science techniques and methods.

These innovations have been and still are invaluable to the science community, and provide data for decision makers and the public around the world. The agency's early involvement in GIS development revolutionized the natural science research by facilitating multi-discipline data sharing and analysis especially in the areas of natural hazards (fire, earthquakes, floods, landslides, and droughts), water quality and quantity, and ecosystem development.

"The USGS is honored to join the ranks of other notable organizations who have previously been inducted into the URISA GIS Hall of Fame and who share our philosophy that supporting GIS is important because it is for the public good," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "In a world where increasingly complex problems require increasingly sophisticated solutions for organizing multi-disciplinary spatial information, advancing the frontiers of GIS facilitates advancing the frontiers of science."

The formal induction will occur October 3, 2012, during the URISA GIS-Pro Conference in Portland, Ore. URISA established the GIS Hall of Fame in 2005 to recognize and honor the most esteemed leaders in the geospatial community and this year's Conference is highlighting its 50^th annual meeting. Mark DeMulder, Director of the USGS National Geospatial Program will speak at the ceremony and receive the award on behalf of the bureau.

"The USGS is thrilled to be receiving this award from URISA", said DeMulder, "and is immensely proud of the many employees who have pioneered the applications of GIS in the programs we carry out on behalf of the U.S. Department of the Interior and the citizens of our Nation."

Other awardees inducted into the 2012 URISA GIS Hall of Fame include: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Natural Resources Canada; Statistics Canada; and the U.S. Census Bureau.

The formal nomination statement and other award details are available on the URISA Award website.