Category Archives: Imagery

Dear Teachers – Part 2: Exploring the Electromagnetic Spectrum

By Dear Teachers, Earth Observation Day, Education, Imagery, Lesson Plan, Observation, Remote Sensing, , , , , , , , , ,


Ready, set, go! As promised in our previous post we are going to do an overview of the recently published AmericaView lesson plans. The first lesson from the 2024 Earth Observation Day lesson series is, “Exploring the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS).”  This lesson is intended to be an introductory lesson to help give students a basic understanding of the electromagnetic spectrum, energy waves, and remote sensing. Students will gain background knowledge and learn vocabulary from this lesson to help them as they move through other lessons that are focused on specific disciplines. The lesson is broken into two sessions. 

The first session has 4 activities. First, an introductory video explaining electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, and visible light. Second, a reading activity called “Anatomy of an Electromagnetic Wave” to reinforce concepts from the video.  Third student examine two diagrams, one displaying energy waves across the EMS and a second diagram showing a timeline and introduction to the US Landsat Mission which has been tasked with collecting earth data across the EMS since 1972. The final activity is a physical activity using a jump rope to further demonstrate concepts of energy waves (frequency, wavelength, energy).  

The second session’s activities include a warm-up that is examining a satellite image to identify various features. Next there are two readings, “Wave behaviors,” which explores different vocabulary related to EMS waves, and “Visualization: from Energy to Image,” which explains how invisible EMS waves are converted into different forms of imagery. Next, students get to apply knowledge in “Exploring Remote Sensing Activity.” They will get to explore how different surfaces emit different light energy. Students will also get a chance to explore remote sensing using Google Earth. Finally, to wrap up this lesson, students will wrap up this session with a quiz style game or a printable quiz.

Here is the link to view the full lesson plan as a pdf: https://ckan.americaview.org/data/AmericaView/EOD/2024_eod_ems.pdf

Dear Teachers 2025 – A Review of AV Teaching Resources

By Announcement, Dear Teachers, Earth Observation Day, Education, Imagery, Landsat, Lesson Plan, Observation, Outreach, Remote Sensing, Resource, , , , , , , , ,
The backside of the 2024 Earth Observation Day Poster. It has 6 areas, Agriculture, Disaster, Forestry, Urban Use, Water, and Wildlife, explaining how remote sensing and Earth observation technologies are integral to these sectors within society.

Dear Teachers and Readers,

Did you know that in 2024 members the AmericaView Education and Outreach Team put together a series of lessons explaining how remote sensing and Earth observation technologies are integral to various sectors within society? These lessons are great! They are geared for middle and high school but can be adapted for your classroom. All six lessons follow a similar pattern: introduction, standards, warm-up (What’s going on in this picture?), a reading exercise, an online map exploration, a career exploration related to the topic, a quiz/assessment, and an online/printable game.

Over the next few months, we will be taking time on the blog to dig into these lessons. We hope you enjoy unpacking these lessons and learn more about earth observation and remote sensing. If you have any questions or suggestions for new lessons, feel free to email IowaView Coordinator, Amy Logan or leave a comment.

Happy 2025!
The IowaView Team

A New Iowa as Art Piece – Cautionary Waters

By AmericaView, Announcement, Education, Environmental Change, Imagery, Iowa as Art, IowaShots, Landsat, Observation, Remote Sensing, , , , , ,

Earlier this year, IowaView Staff member, Amy Logan, created a new piece of art for IowaView’s Iowa as Art Collection. The piece is called Cautionary Waters. It is based off an IowaView blog post, Change Over Time – Flooding on the Landscape (NW Iowa), a series of IowaShots images that were released in 2022. This piece revisits those images and includes new Landsat images from the 2023 drought and 2024 flood.

Cautionary Waters: Visons of the Past, Planning for the Future

How are we planning for the future in our communities? Cautionary Waters is a piece of artwork that asks us to think about this question.

The piece includes four Landsat satellite images of the same area of Northwest Iowa taken in 1990 (a normal year, upper left), 1993 (a year of memorable flooding in the Midwest, upper right), 2023 (a year of drought, lower left), and 2024 (another year of memorable flooding, lower right). White areas in these images are water. These two flood events were roughly 30 years apart.

The piece asks viewers to reflect: when we are planning, do we consider only typical conditions, or does our planning account for extremes, flood or drought as well?  Are we willing to allow development in the floodplain and take the loss when the flood comes, or perhaps make a harder choice to not develop there and lose out in the short-term?  Also, in cases when we choose to develop in lower elevation areas, what kinds of zoning and development are we allowing in these areas?

The piece is currently on display as part of the “Do Justice” art exhibit at Harvest Vineyard Church, in Ames, Iowa, which runs through the end of January 2025. After that the piece is available for loan on a first come, first serve basis. If interested in displaying the piece or other Iowa as Art pieces, please contact, Amy Logan, IowaView State Coordinator for additional details.

Day 5 GAW: Have you discovered the Iowa Geographic Map Server?

By Education, Geography Awareness Week, Imagery, Iowa Geographic Map Server, Observation, Remote Sensing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Iowa Geographic Map Server is a gem of historical and contemporary statewide aerial imagery for Iowa from the 1930s to 2021. It also has many other statewide layers including:

  • elevation maps (LiDAR and USGS topographic maps),
  • historical maps (General Land Office survey maps from 1800s, Andreas Atlas, historic topography),
  • land cover maps (historical and contemporary)
  • geology (landforms and bedrock)

Here’s your challenge: Zoom into your city or a place of significance to you and discover how it has changed over the years, look at how the land cover changed, challenge yourself to find as many changes as you can.

Interested in learning more about the Iowa Geographic Map Server? Watch Gregg Hadish’s recent presentation, “Accessing Iowa Map Services in GIS and Web Applications,” for the Iowa Geographic Information Council September 2023 Lunch and Learn professional development series.

Photos from ISU GIS Day 2022

By Activity, Education, Event, IGIC, Imagery, Iowa Geographic Map Server, Landsat, Landsat Golden Jubilee, Map, Remote Sensing, , , , , , , , , , ,

Celebrating 30 years of GIS at ISU today on GIS Day! We also celebrated the 50th anniversary of Landsat and were able to hand out playing cards, refreshments, posters, and other educational materials. This was a great opportunity for our staff in the GIS facility to share the work that they are doing, and teach others about GIS.

Fall Equinox in Northeast Iowa – #Landsat50

By Earth Observation Day, Imagery, Landsat, Landsat Golden Jubilee, Phenology, Remote Sensing, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy Fall! Observe the changes across the landscape in seasonal images in Northeast Iowa. Snow, forest, farmland. Can you notice the areas of coniferous trees versus deciduous trees and where there is seasonal farmland compared to pasture areas? Also notice the changes along the Mississippi and Upper Iowa Rivers. Enjoy the changing seasons!

Winter Equinox – 12/13/2021 – Landsat 8 – Bands 5,4,3
Spring Equinox – 03/27/2022- Landsat 9 – Bands 5,4,3
Summer Solstice – 06/23/2022 – Landsat 8 – Band 5,4,3
Fall Equinox – 09/19/2022 – Landsat 9 – Bands 5,4,3

This year we are celebrating 50 years of the Landsat earth observing satellite mission. Landsat data helps us observe changes in our communities and environment over time.

Disaster at Lake Delhi – #Landsat50

By #Time Lapse Tuesday, Environmental Change, Imagery, Landsat, Landsat Golden Jubilee, Outreach, Remote Sensing, USGS, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Well, it’s Water Wednesday. Today’s Landsat highlight is a time lapse video (2007-2017) showing the effect of a 2010 dam breach on the water level of Lake Delhi located in Delaware County in eastern Iowa. Notice the dramatic decrease in water and the exposure of large sandbars and the refilling of the lake as the dam is restored.

This year we are celebrating 50 years of the Landsat earth observing satellite mission. Landsat data helps us observe changes in our communities and environment over time.

Change Over Time – Flooding on the Landscape (NW Iowa)

By Education, Environmental Change, Imagery, Landsat Golden Jubilee, Observation, Remote Sensing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Use sliders to compare images.

Today’s image shows an area in northwest Iowa between Spencer (Clay County) and Emmetsburg (Palo Alto County). The two images on the left are showing water levels in 1990 (typical year) and 2022 (recovering from a drought) compared to 1993 (heavy flooding) and 2008 (flooding). Notice the swollen streambanks and flooding along water bodies in the right images.

7/6/1990 – Landsat 5
06/21/1993 – Landsat 5
06/29/2022 – Landsat 9
06/14/2008 – Landsat 5

This year we are celebrating 50 years of the Landsat earth observing satellite mission. Landsat data helps us observe changes in our communities and environment over time.