Eyes on Earth
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Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we learn how a Collections strategy boost the value of the Landsat archive.
Eyes on Earth Episode 44 – Landsat Water Atlas
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Summary: Dr. Alan Belward has spent a lot of time thinking about the planet’s surface water. The former Landsat Science Team member uses satellite data to track changes to lakes, rivers, and streams, and recently published a book that uses Landsat data to tell some of those stories. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear about some of the surprising things Belward and his team learned about how surface water has changed since the early 1980s and about the value and importance of remote sensing to the study of this critical resource.
Guest: Dr. Alan Belward, European Commission Joint Research Centre
Host: Jane Lawson
Producer: John Hult
Release date: February 22, 2021
More on the Landsat Water Atlas:
- Atlas displays beauty, variety, and value of Landsat water images
- Global Surface Water Explorer
- Atlas of Global Surface Water Dynamics (pdf download)
Eyes on Earth Episode 43 – U.S.-Canada Water Use
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Summary: The St. Mary and Milk Rivers cross the U.S. and Canadian border and supply water to both countries. Managing that resource in the interest of both nations is a matter of international collaboration and cooperation, and Landsat data is helping offer objective information on water use. On today’s episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from Roy Sando of the USGS, who’s working with EROS experts and the International Joint Commission to turn Landsat-based evapotranspiration (ET) estimates into a tool for farmers and land managers on both sides of the border.
Guest: Roy Sando, USGS Montana Water Science Center
Host: Jane Lawson
Producer: John Hult
Release date: February 8, 2021
More on U.S.-Canada Water Use:
- Landsat will help U.S. and Canada Share River’s Water
- International Joint Commission - St. Mary and Milk Rivers
- International Joint Commission mandate
- Landsat-based evapotranspiration and water use mapping
Eyes on Earth Episode 42 – Rangelands of the U.S.
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Summary: The extensive rangelands across the Western United States are threatened by invasive grasses, climate change, and altered fire regimes that can disturb the landscape. The largely semi-arid lands are also important for the survival of species that need undisturbed sagebrush ecosystems to thrive. But most satellite-based land cover datasets don’t offer the kind of detail needed to track small but ecologically meaningful shifts in vegetation that can alter fire regimes and improve habitats. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear about how new EROS data products help fill in that gap.
Guest: Matt Rigge, Research Physical Scientist, USGS EROS Center
Host: John Hult
Producer: John Hult
Release date: January 25, 2021
More on Rangelands:
- Rangeland Mapping Tools Take Users Back in Time Across Western U.S.
- USGS-University of Montana Data Layer Plays Critical Role in Western Governors' New Toolkit for Invasive Grass Management
- Rangeland Back In Time products (downloads)
- Rangelands Back In Time products (interactive web viewer)
Eyes on Earth Episode 41 – Albedo
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Summary: Albedo—the amount of incoming solar radiation reflected into space from the Earth’s surface—is a key measurement for surface temperatures and plant productivity. It also factors into weather forecasting and climate modeling. Landsat Science Team member Dr. Crystal Schaaf works with graduate and postdoctoral students to measure albedo using satellite data from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, Dr. Schaaf talks about albedo’s importance and how satellites can be used to track changes to it over time.
Guest: Dr. Crystal Schaaf, University of Massachusetts-Boston
Host: Steve Young
Producer: John Hult
Release date: January 11, 2021
More on Albedo:
Eyes on Earth Episode 40 – Landsat Collection 2
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Summary: Landsat data is more useful today than at any other point in its nearly 50-year history. The USGS Collections strategy is a major reason why. Landsat Collections align and correct satellite acquisitions from 1972 through the present to make the data easier to work with through time. The USGS has now released Collection 2, an upgrade that improves geometric accuracy, improves interoperability with other satellite data sources, eases access to Landsat Level-2 science products, and makes Landsat data available in a cloud-friendly format for the first time. On this episode, we hear about what life was like for Landsat users before Collections, what it’s like now, and how Collection 2 will open doors for more innovative, expansive research.
Guest: Dr. Chris Barnes, USGS contractor for the Landsat International Cooperator Network; Dr. Chris Barber, USGS research physical scientist with Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP)
Host: John Hult
Producer: John Hult
Release date: December 14, 2020
More on Landsat Collection 2:
- Every Pixel in its Place: How Collections Unlock the Potential of the Landsat Archive
- EROS Releases Collection 2, Boosting Cloud Access, Accuracy, Value of Landsat Archive
- Landsat Collection 2 product information pages
Eyes on Earth Episode 39 – Brazil’s Water Use
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Summary: Brazil is a fascinating study in water use. Brazil uses roughly 70 percent of the water consumed in the world today, and its herds of cattle, pigs and poultry are among the largest in the world. Water management teams from that country’s National Water Agency have worked in recent years with researchers from the USGS EROS Center to learn how to map, and therefore more effectively manage, the South American country’s water resources. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from the Brazilian water experts and one of their collaborators at EROS.
Guest: Sérgio Ayrimoraes and Thiago Fontenelle, Brazilian National Water Agency; Mac Friedrichs, Contractor, USGS EROS
Host: Steve Young
Producer: John Hult
Release date: November 30, 2020
More on Brazilian Water Use:
- About the Brazilian National Water Agency (English)
- Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) Brazil appv
- SSEBop Brazil Report
- Brazilians Work with EROS Staff to Map, Monitor Agricultural Irrigation
Eyes on Earth Episode 38 – Time Series Analysis with Landsat
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Summary: In the past, remote sensing scientists looked for change on the Earth’s surface primarily by comparing one Landsat image to another. Today, open access to Landsat data, high-performance and cloud computing capabilities and sophisticated algorithms can be used to scan the entirety of the archive for change, enabling researchers to learn more about how the landscape shifts over time. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, Landsat Science Team member Dr. Curtis Woodcock shares his thoughts on time series analysis, the future of remote sensing and his hopes for the Landsat program.
Guest: Dr. Curtis Woodcock, Boston University
Host: Steve Young
Producer: John Hult
Release date: November 16, 2020
More on the Curtis Woodcock and Time Series Analysis:
- GLanCE: Global Land Cover mapping and Estimation
- Dr. Curtis Woodcock – Boston University Staff Profile
- USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment and Projection (LCMAP)
- Landsat Analysis Ready Data
Eyes on Earth Episode 37 – Insuring West Africa’s Crops
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Summary: The Green Revolution leaned on fertilizers, drought-resistant seeds and other modern innovations to boost agricultural production across much of the planet in the second half of the 20th Century. But many of those innovations never reached West Africa, partially because the lack of social safety nets and crop insurance made such investments too risky. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear about a new product called index insurance that could help encourage yield-boosting investments by small holder farmers in West Africa, and how EROS data might be used to refine and improve the product.
Guest: Chris Funk, USGS EROS, Sari Lucille Blakeley and Greg Husak, University of California-Santa Barbara
Host: John Hult
Producer: John Hult
Release date: November 2, 2020
More on the FEWS NET/Index Insurance:
- Satellite Data Show Promise as Guide for West African Crop Insurance
- Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET)
- USGS Early Warning
- International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI)
-
EROS in Action – Landsat Data Offers Relief to West African Farmers
Eyes on Earth Episode 36 - International Charter Turns 20
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Summary: When a disaster like a hurricane, flood or major wildfire hits a remote part of the world, the International Charter Space and Natural Disasters springs into action. The Charter’s members collect and distribute satellite-derived data that documents the damage, as well as derived products like as fire perimeter or structural damage maps – all at no cost to national emergency management agencies. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we learn about the Charter and EROS’ involvement on the occasion of the collaborative organization’s 20th Anniversary.
Guest: Mike Budde, USGS
Host: Tom Adamson
Producer: John Hult
Release date: October 19, 2020
More on the International Charter:
- International Charter Space and Major Disasters website
- Technological disasters monitoring on a large scale
- Disaster Management Training at EROS Prepares Volunteers for Duty
Eyes on Earth Episode 35 - Watching the Water Supply with OpenET
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Summary: Evapotranspiration is the process by which water transpires from the leaves and stems of plants and evaporates from the Earth’s surface. ET is an important metric for managing water use, but data availability has long been an issue. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk about OpenET, a bold initiative whose goal is to improve water management by making that water consumption data more easily accessible to 17 western states. A consortium of agencies and organizations is working together to create a “one-stop shop” where users can access remotely sensed water consumption models on a single web-based platform.
Guests: Robyn Grimm, Environmental Defense Fund, Forrest Melton, NASA/Cal State University-Monterey Bay, Justin Huntington, Desert Research Institute, Gabriel Senay, USGS EROS
Host: Steve Young
Producer: John Hult
Release date: October 5, 2020
More on OpenET:
- Agencies Announce Bold Initiative to Fill Water Management Data Gap in Western U.S.
- OpenET website
- Eyes on Earth Episode 17 – Evapotranspiration
Eyes on Earth Episode 34 - Open Training Data
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Summary: Today, the world is awash in remotely sensed data. Satellites launched by countries and commercial companies circle the planet collecting data every day. Accessing data from multiple agencies and platforms and turning it into useful analysis can be a daunting and complex endeavor, however. On today’s episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from the founder of the non-profit Radiant Earth Foundation, which works to connect the global development community with the remote sensing data and machine learning tools it needs to tackle social, economic and environmental issues. One major initiative involves opening access to satellite-based training data, such as crop classifications, land cover and the like, and connecting users to cloud computing resources that help users search for trends and changes across space and time.
Guest: Anne Hale Miglarese, Founding CEO of Radiant Earth Foundation
Host: Steve Young
Producer: John Hult
Release date: September 21, 2020
More on Radiant Earth:
- Earth observation data in the age of machine learning
- How Earth observations, cloud computing, and machine learning enables global development solutions
- Enhancing Earth observations solutions in agriculture with machine learning
- Government satellite data and its role in advancing global development
Eyes on Earth Episode 33 - Global Land Change
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Summary: Mapping land cover across the United States using Landsat satellite data is a difficult, time-intensive job, but there are jobs far larger. Matt Hansen, a Maryland-based professor and member of the Landsat Science Team focuses his efforts on mapping land cover and change on a global scale. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from Matt on how he and his team use the Landsat archive to map change at such a wide scale.
Guest: Matt Hansen, Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park
Host: Steve Young
Producer: John Hult
Release date: September 8, 2020
More on Global Land Change:
- Global Forest Watch
- Global Land Analysis and Discovery
- High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change
Eyes on Earth Episode 32 - Lunar Calibration
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Summary: Calibration teams at the USGS EROS Center use a variety of methods to make sure the data collected by Landsat satellites are an accurate representation of the Earth’s surface. They’re constantly comparing new imagery to old, tweaking algorithms to correct issues that might emerge, and using unchanging Earth surface sites and on-the-ground readings to check for consistency. Since the launch of Landsat 8, they’ve come to rely on another unchanging landscape to check for quality: the lunar surface. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear how it’s done.
Guest: Cody Anderson, USGS EROS Cal-Val Center of Excellence Project Manager
Host: Tom Adamson
Producer: John Hult
Release date: August 24, 2020
More on Calibration:
- Landsat Looks to the Moon
- Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager Radiometric Calibration and Stability
- EROS Cal/Val Center of Excellence (ECCOE) Test Sites Catalog
Eyes on Earth Episode 31 - Landsat 7 Operations
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Summary: Just recently, in mid-July, the flight operations team charged with keeping the Landsat 7 satellite running smoothly achieved a major milestone. They have gone 8 straight years now without an operator error. Considering that the team is operating a machine that costs hundreds of millions of dollars and flies at more than 17,000 miles per hour, avoiding any kind or operator error for 8 years is a reason to celebrate. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from the supervisor of the team behind the incredible flight operations run.
Guests: Guy Thayer, Aerospace Corporation
Host: Steve Young
Producer: John Hult
Release date: August 10, 2020
More on Landsat 7 Flight Operations:
- Landsat 7 Hits Milestone
- USGS, NASA Officials Cut Ribbon on New Landsat 7 Flight Operations Center
- Science Team Tackles Question of Landsat 7’s Future
Eyes on Earth Episode 30 - Remapping LANDFIRE
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Summary: In the days before LANDFIRE, fire scientists often struggled to find the vegetation and fuels data they needed to map the path of fires, keep firefighters safe, and to model fire recovery. The dizzying array of data points found in the map layers of the LANDFIRE product suite—from hundreds of vegetation classes to tree canopy height and bulk to fuel potential and beyond—became indispensable upon its release in 2005. Since then, it’s also proven its worth to land managers, ecologists, biologists, carbon modelers and others, and has been cited in over 1,000 papers. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from a non-profit LANDFIRE partner about the multi-agency federal program’s value, and about recent efforts to remap the United States to improve the product.
Guests: Randy Swaty, The Nature Conservancy
Host: John Hult
Producer: John Hult
Release date: July 27, 2020
More on LANDFIRE:
- LANDFIRE
- LANDFIRE Remap
- LANDFIRE Named 2017 ‘Environmental Dream Team’
- LANDFIRE Proves Critical to First Nationwide Tool on Wildfire Risk to Communities
Eyes on Earth Episode 29 - Tracking Landscape Change with LCMAP
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Summary: The U.S. Geological Survey took a bold step toward documenting change across the landscape with the launch of the first Landsat satellite in 1972. Since then, it’s collected nearly five decades of imagery. But it takes more than just imagery to understand change. It takes time, effort—and serious computing horsepower. The USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) initiative aims to use the full Landsat record to track change in long-term landscape conditions. In this episode, we hear about LCMAP and what its 33-year product suite can tell us about change in the U.S.
Guests: Jesslyn Brown and Jennifer Rover, Research Geographers, USGS EROS
Host: John Hult
Producer: John Hult
Release date: July 13, 2020
More on LCMAP:
- USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) website
- LCMAP Web Viewer
- From Concept to Reality, USGS Land Change, Monitoring, Assessment and Projection Pushes Boundaries in Service of Science
- LCMAP Change Stories
Eyes on Earth Episode 28 - Peer Reviews
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Summary: Remote sensing is not an especially venerable scientific discipline, at least in comparison to fields like biology, chemistry or medicine. From its beginnings with aerial photography in the 1920s through the initial stages of satellite-based land imaging in the early 1970s, few peer-reviewed publications were available for scientists to share their ideas and improve their methods. The rise of rigorous peer review in the 1970s through publications like Remote Sensing of Environment (RSE) helped advance the discipline, with leaders such as RSE’s longtime editor Marvin Bauer serving as guides and gatekeepers as space-based remote sensing moved from emergent technology to a critical component of our understanding of Earth.
Guests: Marv Bauer, Editor Emeritus, Remote Sensing of Environment
Host: Steve Young
Producer: John Hult
Release date: June 29, 2020
More on Marvin Bauer, peer reviews and remote sensing:
- Remote Sensing of Environment
- Landsat Agriculture & Forestry Pioneer Honored with Pecora Award
- Marvin Bauer Bio
Eyes on Earth Episode 27 – Australian Wildfires
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Summary: The continent of Australia experienced some of the most devastating wildfires in its history in late 2019 and early 2020. Remote sensing scientists in Australia, who collaborate closely with EROS, relied on satellites like Landsat to help assess and monitor the damage. In this episode, we hear from one of our Australian partners on the value of satellite imagery before, during, and after a wildfire, and we explore how cross-hemisphere partnerships improve our understanding of disasters around the globe.
Guests: Simon Oliver, Geoscience Australia, Steve Labahn, USGS
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: June 15, 2020
More on Australia, wildfires, and international partnerships:
- Satellite Imagery Shows Stunning Spread of Australian Fires
- Landsat in Action — Open Data in Australia with Adam Lewis
- International Cooperators Find Value, Collaboration in Joining Landsat Network
Eyes on Earth Episode 26 – Satellite Constellations
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Summary: Between them, Landsats 7 and 8 image the entire land surface of Earth every eight days. The USGS orbiters are just two of many Earth observing satellites flying at the same altitude and collecting data at the same time of day. Other “constellations” of satellites gather other kinds of data, traveling one after the other like cars on a train to collect information that can be used independently or combined to produce models that help us understand the health and well-being of the planet. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we learn about those satellites, the value they provide, and how their operators work together to insure the smooth and safe collection of scientific information.
Guests: Jim Lacasse, USGS
Host: Steve Young
Producer: John Hult
Release date: June 1, 2020
More on Landsat and satellite constellations:
- USGS Hosting Constellation Mission Operations Working Group in Sioux Falls
- USGS Landsat Missions
- NASA Earth Observing System
Eyes on Earth Episode 25 - Rising Seas
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Summary: Sea levels are rising globally. In some places, it is rising more than others, threatening communities and people as storm surges reach further inland and inundate more land. Landsat satellites used with other Earth-observing platforms enable EROS scientists to model the elevation of coastal shores, giving decision makers valuable information to use in preparing for the rising seas. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk to one of the scientists about the utility of EROS’ elevation models.
Guests: Dean Gesch, USGS
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: May 18, 2020
More on coastal elevation and remote sensing:
- Advances in Topobathymetric Mapping, Models, and Applications
- Creating a Coastal National Elevation Database (CoNED) for Science and Conservation Applications
- One-meter Topobathymetric Digital Elevation Model for Majuro Atoll, 1944 to 2016
Eyes on Earth Episode 24 - Wildfire Risk to Communities
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Summary: The U.S. has plenty of data on wildfire risk. There are local and regional risk assessments, complex datasets like LANDFIRE and tracking tools like the EROS Fire Danger Monitor, as well as a host of resources and research projects devoted to the subject. But much of that information is steeped in the language of fire science and difficult to comprehend for those outside it. In this episode, we hear from Frank Fay of the USDA Forest Service, who describes a new website that represents the first national tool on wildfire risk designed with communities and the general public in mind. The tool was built with data from the LANDFIRE program and numerous other sources, and offers a window into fire risk for every community in the U.S.
Guests: Frank Fay, USDA Forest Service
Host: John Hult
Producer: John Hult
Release date: May 4, 2020
More on wildfire risk:
- Wildfire Risk to Communities
- LANDFIRE Proves Critical to First Nationwide Tool on Wildfire Risk to Communities
- LANDFIRE home page
Eyes on Earth Episode 23 – Ecosystem Monitoring
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Landsat satellites offer a wealth of information to scientists studying ecosystem health and recovery. Data products derived from Landsat open even more areas of inquiry. Landsat Burned Area products, for example, can help researchers identify previously unknown fires that took place from 1984 through the present. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk to one of the scientists behind that product about Landsat’s role in monitoring ecosystem health and recovery.
Guests: Dr. Melanie Vanderhoof, USGS
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: April 20, 2020
More on Landsat Level-3 products and ecosystem monitoring:
- Level-3 Burned Area Product Saves Preprocessing Time, Answers Fire Questions
- Landsat Burned Area
- Level-3 Products Provide Land Cover Gold in Landsat Data Mining
Eyes on Earth Episode 22 - Meet the Mendenhall Fellow
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Summary: The Mendenhall Program offers a range of two-year post-doctoral research fellowships within the U.S. Geological Survey. Heather Tollerud took advantage of the program in 2015 to study drought and land cover at the USGS EROS Center, and has since become a key player in the Center’s innovative Land Change Monitoring, Assessment and Projection (LCMAP) initiative. In this episode, we hear how Dr. Tollerud went from studying the harsh playas of northwestern Nevada to leading research and development for a national-scale project at the USGS. We also hear about a current Mendenhall fellowship opportunity that’s seeking a postdoctoral researcher to join the LCMAP team.
Guests: Heather Tollerud, Research Physical Scientist, USGS EROS
Host: John Hult
Producer: John Hult
Release date: April 14, 2020
More on LCMAP and the Mendenhall Research Fellowship Program:
- USGS Land Change, Monitoring, Assessment and Projection
- USGS Mendenhall Fellowship Program
- LCMAP Promises New Insight on Land Surface Change
Eyes on Earth Episode 21 - Forests of Ghana
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Summary: In the West African nation of Ghana, tropical forests are more than landscape. They are woven into language, custom, and culture. They are also the source of timber for home heating and industry, as well as barriers to agricultural production. Those are just a few of the reasons why deforestation has come alongside the nation’s rapid population growth. In this episode, an EROS scientist and Ghana native talks about how Landsat satellites help track deforestation and offer guidance on forest regrowth.
Guests: Francis Dwomoh, EROS contractor and remote sensing scientist
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: April 6, 2020
More on Remote Sensing and Deforestation:
- Unique Mapping Tool Brings Unprecedented Look at Land Cover Change in West Africa
- EROS in Action - Landscapes of West Africa with Gray Tappan
- Landscapes of West Africa: A window on a changing world
Eyes on Earth Episode 20 – Mapping Alaska’s Permafrost
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Summary: The Arctic is changing at a more rapid rate than the rest of the planet. Some of the most significant changes are tied to the thawing of near-surface permafrost, the layers of frozen soil containing vast stocks of stored carbon. Scientists at EROS have used remote sensing tools to map the extent of near-surface permafrost in Alaska, offering a baseline for further research as change continues to ripple through the state.
Guests: Bruce Wylie, Research Physical Scientist at the USGS EROS Center; Neal Pastick, scientist and contractor to the USGS EROS Center
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: March 23, 2020
More on Remote Sensing and Permafrost:
- Distribution of near-surface permafrost in Alaska: Estimates of present and future conditions
- EROS Aids in Surveys of Greenhouse Gas-emitting Arctic Lakes
- New Study Provides the First Comprehensive, Long-term Look at Alaska’s Changing Ecosystems
Episode 19 – 100 Million Downloads
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Summary: For decades, each Landsat image had a price tag – a hefty one at times, ranging from $400 to as much as $4,000. That all changed in 2008 with the enactment of an open data policy that made the entire Landsat archive available for download at no cost to the user. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk with one of the architects of that policy, as well as an EROS data manager who saw the post-2008 spike in Landsat data use in real time. The 100 millionth Landsat scene was recently downloaded from the EROS archive, marking a major milestone for a policy shift that opened the door to previously impossible wide-scale research projects and generated billions of dollars in returns worldwide.
Guests: Barb Ryan, former Secretariat-Director for the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and former Associate Director of Geography for USGS; Kristi Kline, Project Manager for the Landsat Archive.
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: March 13, 2020
More on 100 Million Downloads:
- A Landsat Milestone: One Hundred Million Downloads
- March 11, 2020 - Landsat Downloads Top 100 Million!
- Free, Open Landsat Data Unleashed the Power of Remote Sensing a Decade Ago
Episode 18 – Landsat's International Partners
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Summary: Across the planet, in rural settings on uncluttered landscapes, there are satellite antennas receiving data directly from Landsat satellites as they pass 438 miles overhead at more than 17,000 miles per hour. It happens multiple times a day, in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, South Korea, and elsewhere. The International Cooperators network has 20 ground stations in 14 countries. In this episode, we hear from three of our international partners on the value satellite data brings to their countries.
Guests: Vincent Rooke, Geosciences Australia; Chung Hum Yu, National Disaster Management Research Institute of South Korea; Dr. Paida Mangara, School for Geography, Archeology and Environmental Studies, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: March 9, 2020
More on International Cooperators:
- International Cooperators Find Value, Collaboration in Joining Landsat Network
- Indigenous Artwork Celebrates USGS, Geoscience Australia Landsat Partnership
- International Cooperators Honored with Permanent EROS Lobby Display
Episode 17 – Evapotranspiration
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Summary: It’s easy enough to measure rainfall, and nearly as easy to measure streamflow. Calculating the efficiency of water use through the metric of evapotranspiration (ET) – evaporation off the Earth’s surface and transpiration from the leaves of plants – is a far trickier proposal. In this episode, we hear how scientists use satellites like Landsat to measure ET, and how those measurements help guide water management decisions in the U.S. and around the world.
Guests: Gabriel Senay, Research Physical Scientist, EROS
Host: John Hult
Producer: John Hult
Release date: Feb. 24, 2020
More on Evapotranspiration:
- Water Consumption Work at EROS Important Asset to Colorado River Concerns
- Brazilians Work with EROS Staff to Map, Monitor Agricultural Irrigation
- EROS Evapotranspiration Model Key Part of Upper Rio Grande Basin Study
- Senay, EROS Helping to Solve Riddle of Water Use in Upper Klamath Basin
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Episode 16 – Predictive Modeling
Summary: Land cover and land use across the United States are the culmination of a complex web of interwoven factors: Climate, landscape types, and economic factors among them. Remotely-sensed data from satellites like Landsat and a variety of other sources are useful for documenting and monitoring land cover and land use. When used alongside other data sources, however, remote sensing data can offer a glimpse at future land use under a range of scenarios.
Guests: Terry Sohl, Research Physical Scientist, EROS
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: Feb. 10, 2020
More on Land Cover Projections:
Episode 15 – Burn Severity Mapping
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Summary: Scientists at EROS have spent years refining their approach to mapping burn severity using remotely-sensed data from satellites like Landsat, but Landsat comes with limitations. Landsat data cannot see the vegetation below a thick tree canopy, for example. In this episode, we learn about a project in South Dakota’s Black Hills that seeks to leverage 3D data gathered using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to improve burn mapping and help land managers.
Guests: Birgit Peterson, Geographer and Senior Scientist, EROS; Gail Schmidt, Software Engineer, EROS contractor
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: Jan. 27, 2020
More on Burn Severity:
- EROS Fire Scientists Look at Potential Use of Lidar for Operational Burn Mapping
- USGS, EROS Offer Insights to National Fire Strategy Discussion
- Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity
- LANDFIRE
Episode 14 – Space Debris
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Summary: Sixty years of manned and unmanned space flight have left a cosmic junkyard circling the planet. In 2017, the U.S. government reported that it logged 308,984 close calls with space junk and issued 655 emergency-reportable alerts to satellite operators. In this episode, we learn about that debris, its potential dangers, and how Landsat flight operators keep their satellites out of harm’s way.
Guest: Doug Daniels, Principal Systems Engineer with the Aerospace Corporation
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: Jan. 13, 2020
More on Space Junk:
- Eyes on Earth Episode 6 – Satellites 101
- Space Debris Remains Ongoing Concern for Landsat, Other Satellites
- Space Debris and Human Spacecraft (NASA)
Episode 13 – Land Use
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Summary: Scientists at EROS use tools like Landsat to produce land cover maps, which tell us if landscapes are rural or urban, cropped or forested, wetland or shrubland. Those maps help scientists at EROS and around the U.S. study the impact of changes in land use on not just landscapes, but on ecosystems, patterns of resource use, wildlife habitat, and much more. In this episode, we learn about the basics of land use and land cover study research from Geographer Roger Auch.
Guest: Roger Auch, Research Geographer
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: Dec. 30, 2019
More on Poster Session topics:
- USGS Land Cover Trends
- Consequences of Land Use and Land Cover Change (publication)
- Land Cover Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) Validation Data Captures Impact of U.S. Economic Downturn
Episode 12 – Plant Health via Satellite (NDVI)
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Summary: A farmer at the foot of a corn stalk can tell how well the plant is faring. That same farmer might survey his entire field for crop health. But assessing the health of crops or forests at regional, national, and international scales requires remote sensing, most often via satellite. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk to Jesslyn Brown about the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a tool that uses the broader electromagnetic spectrum to estimate plant health.
Guests: Jesslyn Brown, Research Physical Scientist
Host: John Hult
Producers: John Hult
Release date: Dec. 16, 2019
More on Poster Session topics:
- Image of the Week – Unplanted Acres in South Dakota
- Landsat Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
- Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS) Vegetation Indices
- How to use AppEEARS (YouTube)
- How to use AppEEARS (E-Learning website)
Episode 11 – EROS Fall Poster Session
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Summary: Each fall, EROS invites its staff scientists and area graduate students to visit for a noontime poster session. The poster sessions offer a change for those researchers to present their results to their peers and get feedback from their fellow scientists. For this episode, we’ll hear about research into biofuels, cloud-friendly Landsat data, shrubland mapping and satellite-based fire monitoring.
Guests: Dr. Sanath Kumar Sathyachandran, Matthew Rigge, Renee Pischke, contractors to USGS EROS; Logan Megard, South Dakota State University
Host: John Hult
Producers: Brian Hauge, John Hult
Release date: Dec. 5, 2019
More on Poster Session topics:
- Prototype Downscaling Algorithm for MODIS Satellite 1 km Daytime Active Fire Detections
- Validating a Landsat Time-Series of Fractional Component Cover Across Western US Rangelands
- Landsat Collection 2
Episode 10 – Landsat and Water Quality
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Summary: We tend to associate Landsat satellites with what we see on solid Earth, but they can also tell us much about the health of our inland and coastal ecosystems. Landsat can be used to monitor harmful algal blooms, for example. Eyes on Earth guest Dr. Nima Pahlevan, a Landsat Science Team member, is part of a research team that tracks algal blooms worldwide using Landsat data.
Guest: Dr. Nima Pahlevan, Landsat Science Team
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: Dec. 2, 2019
More on Landsat and Aquatic Health:
- Global Study Finds Algal Blooms Intensifying in Freshwater Lakes Worldwide
- Publication: Widespread global increase in intense lake phytoplankton blooms since the 1980s
- Inland Lakes, Rivers and Streams research at EROS
Episode 9 – Famine Early Warning
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Summary: Nearly 85 million people around the world are currently considered “food insecure,” and that figure continues to grow. Remote sensing technology enables scientists to feed data into the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), which in turn can issue alerts that guide the distribution of humanitarian aid. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from an EROS climate scientist who works with the Network to predict drought and famine.
Guest: Chris Funk, USGS EROS Research Geographer
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: Nov. 18, 2019
More on FEWS NET:
- Famine Early Warning Systems Network (home)
- Early Warning and Environmental Monitoring (EROS)
- EROS Center News - Improved Forecasting Tools Offer Early Warning for Drought
Episode 8 – Assessing America’s Cropland
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Summary: Every year, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) uses data from satellites like Landsat to estimate crop types and crop yields in the United States. The result is the Cropland Data Layer (CDL), which offers an annual look at more than 100 crop categories across the country. In this episode, Dave Johnson with NASS discusses how Landsat can identify different crops, providing a valuable economic tool for agriculture.
Guest: Dave Johnson, USDA Senior Geographer with NASS
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: Nov. 6, 2019
More on satellite-based cropland data:
Episode 7 – Training Iraqi Scientists
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Summary: EROS scientists track water availability and crop health around the world to help governments and non-profits manage resources and stave off food shortages. But EROS also teaches international scientists to track those resources themselves. In this episode, we hear about a recent training session at EROS for Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources.
Guest: Saud Amer, USGS Water Resources Specialist
Host: John Hult
Producer: John Hult
Release date: Nov. 4, 2019
More on International Training:
- Visiting Scientists Will Bring EROS Water Monitoring Tools, Practices Home to Iraq
- USGS Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Data Portal - Iraq
- Brazilians Work with EROS Staff to Map, Monitor Agricultural Irrigation
Episode 6 - Satellites 101
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Summary: How much does an Earth observation satellite weigh? How are they launched? How fast does it travel? Does Landsat have a gas tank? In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we answer some of the basic questions surrounding the satellites that define the EROS mission.
Guest: Doug Daniels, Principal Systems Engineer with the Aerospace Corporation
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: Oct. 21, 2019
More on Satellites:
Episode 5 - Declassified Data at EROS
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Summary: There’s a lot more than Landsat in the EROS Archive. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from a professor who’s mined satellite data collected during once-classified military missions to peer into the history of land use in Eastern Europe during the height of the Cold War.
Guest: Volker Radeloff, professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: Oct. 7, 2019
More on EROS Declassified Data:
- EROS Declassified Satellite Imagery - 1
- EROS Declassified Satellite Imagery - 2
- EROS Declassified Satellite Imagery – 3
- EROS’ Declassified Film Repository Reveals Land Use Changes After Calamities
Episode 4 - Cataloging Earth Observation Satellites
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Summary: Earth observation used to be the province of a handful of countries with satellite technology. Today, hundreds of satellites are built all over the world and launched every year. This episode of Eyes on Earth talks about the explosive growth in the civilian and commercial remote sensing and EROS’ role in it.
Guest: Jon Christopherson, contractor to the USGS EROS Center
Host: John Hult
Producer: John Hult
Release date: Sept. 23, 2019
More on the history of EROS:
- EROS Cal/Val Center of Excellence (ECCOE)
- Joint Agency Commerical Imagery Evaluation
- 2019 Land Remote Sensing Compendium
Episode 3 - National Land Cover Database
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Summary: Sorting Landsat data into an accurate and reliable record of land cover in the United States is one of the most important jobs at EROS. This episode explores the what, how, and why of the National Land Cover Database (NLCD).
Guest: Collin Homer, NLCD Program Director
Host: John Hult
Producer: John Hult
Release date: Sept. 9, 2019
More on NLCD:
- Multi-Resolution Land Use Consortium website
- NLCD Viewer
- New Land Cover Maps Depict 15 Years of Change Across America
Episode 2 - Chernobyl
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Summary: When an accident occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant's No. 4 reactor in Ukraine on April 26, 1986, Landsat satellites were among the first to capture visual evidence of its widespread impact. The disaster focused the world's attention on the value of remote sensing.
Guest: John Dwyer, EROS Science Branch Chief
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: Sept. 9, 2019
More on Chernobyl and remote sensing:
Episode 1 - Intro to EROS
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Summary: A rundown of the history of the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, the Landsat program, and the Center's role in the observation and study of landscape change worldwide.
Guest: Dr. Thomas Loveland, former Chief Scientist
Host: Steve Young
Producer: Brian Hauge
Release date: Sept. 9, 2019
More on the history of EROS: