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To
inform environmental advocates about the benefits of remote sensing,
and to make them aware of SkyTruth’s capabilities and services, we
provide education and training pertaining to the fields of remote
sensing and digital mapping. These ongoing outreach activities are
conducted primarily by staff operating from the Sheperdstown, West Virginia
office.
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Remote
sensing – pictures
of the earth taken from orbiting satellites or aircraft, and other measurements
of the land, vegetation, water and atmosphere – is an important
technology for communicating the effect of
human interaction with the environment.
Advocates and managers can use
remote sensing to study urban sprawl, deforestation, oil and gas production,
and mining; quantify impacts that have occurred over time in response
to human activities and climate change; monitor industrial, resource-extraction,
and fishing operations; and ensure compliance with environmental laws
and regulations. The area of concern can range from highly local (a mountaintop
removal mine) to global (cumulative loss of boreal forests), from nearby
(a new subdivision) to far-flung (trawling on deep-ocean seamounts).
At
the national level, several federal agencies are providing basic image
data and a few
types of “value-added” products to the public, increasingly via
the Internet. The main providers include:
- NASA– operates
the Earth Observing System of satellite-based remote sensing instruments,
special photography and radar imagery missions of the Space Shuttle,
and maintains a huge library of historical digital and film images
as part of its Earth Science
Enterprise. Collaborates with universities and commercial industry
on various projects to promote the use of RS data, particularly
through programs administered by Goddard
Space Flight Center and Stennis
Space Center. Sponsors the Landsat Pathfinder project with
large universities.
- NOAA – operates
and distributes data from national weather satellites; Coastal
Services Center conducts environmental projects using RS/GIS
in coastal regions, often in collaboration with State and local
governments.
- USGS -
The primary distribution site for aerial photography, satellite
imagery, topographic data, and many other types of spatial data
collected and maintained by the federal government. An on-line
interface allows data search, ordering, and in some cases direct
download. USGS also produces some environmental value-added products,
including digital
land use and land cover data for North America in cooperation
with the Environmental Protection Agency.
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More information on GIS systems is being developed
that will be useful to existing clients of SkyTruth and potential
partners in need of substantial GIS solutions. For now we have
provided information to get you started in exploring existing resources.
Government
agencies at many levels are active users and providers of GIS-compatible
spatial data, and occasionally pursue projects of interest to environmental
NGOs (studies of urban sprawl, loss of agricultural or forested lands, and
non-point source pollution, for example) at the municipal and State level.
Some states, such as California, have well-staffed GIS groups that routinely
use remote sensing data for such projects. Many states are establishing spatial
data clearinghouses to make GIS data, arerial photographs, and even satellite
imagery available to the public. Even at the county level GIS use has, in more
and more localities (for example, Fairfax County, Virginia), become sophisticated
and routine.
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RESOURCES ON THE WEB