How an Instagram Feed, Next Generation Satellite Imagery and Open-Access Data Are Changing the Way We See the Planet

EarthzineOriginal

Daily Overview creator Ben Grant, using images from DigitalGlobe, hopes to foster a sense of stewardship for the planet.åÊ Even the most casual Instagram viewer scrolling throughåÊimages is likely to stop when a Daily Overview appears on the screen. Daily Overview images beg examination, a second look to determine what exactly is happening in the photo. That second look is … Read More

Stepping into the SWOS Portal: How Coordination of Data Can Help Protect the World’s Vanishing Wetlands

EarthzineGEO/GEOSS News, Original, Socioeconomic Benefits 2016

The Earth has lost more than half of its wetland extent since 1900. The satellite-based Wetland Observation Service (SWOS) is working to provide a data portal that will have real-world impacts, helping to track wetland degradation, identify pollution sources, and assess restoration strategies. Above: Landsat satellite image examples of the Sabkhat al Jabbulin in Syria, produced in the frame of … Read More

GIS Free-For-All

EarthzineOriginal, Socioeconomic Benefits 2016, Themed Articles

Using free and open source GIS programs and data platforms can eliminate costs associated with data processing, making Earth Observation data more profitable for all. Clyde A. Brooke purchased 140 acres of land in Hancock, Mississippi, in 1952 to begin a timber operation, and what began as a humble operation has grown to more than 4,000 acres today. The Brookewood … Read More

Investigating Groundwater in Montana Informs State Water Policy Decisions

Earthzine2016 Monthly Focus Topics, Original

The Ground Water Investigation Program at the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology seeks to provide answers to communities about the status of local groundwater. This article was updated on March 1st, 2016. As in many western states, officials in Montana have long been concerned with water. Montana’s landmass is the size of Japan, and the hydrogeology of the state … Read More

AtlantOS: Who Will Know the Ocean?

Osha Gray DavidsonOriginal

A new effort is getting underway to monitor and understand one of the least explored regions on Earth: the Atlantic Ocean, from pole-to-pole and from the surface waters to the bottom of the deepest trenches. Ocean researchers have learned much since the American biologist Rachel Carson observed in 1937: “Who has known the ocean? Neither you nor I.”  But, says … Read More