Category Archives: Imagery

What does social distancing look like? – A View from Space

By Article, COVID-19, Imagery, Observation, , , ,

A couple weeks ago Bloomberg News posted an interesting article (click here to read the article) showing how the stay at home orders are effecting areas around the world using high resolution satellite imagery. Below is an example showing Venice, Italy on October 20, 2019 compared to March 18, 2020 after the residents were asked to stay at home. It is interesting to compare the water clarity and traffic.

Venice, Italy: Notice the change in water traffic and water clarity after the Italy began ordering residents to stay at home. Source: Bloomberg.com

The article highlights numerous sites around the globe including: Wuhan, China (before shutdown / after shutdown); Mecca in Saudia Arabia; Venice, Italy; Epcot Center in Florida, USA; Tianjin, China; and Miami Beach, Florida, USA.

Resource: What It Looks Like From Space When Everything Stops, Eric Roston, March 24, 2020, Bloomberg.com

Loess Hills: Iowa Landforms Revealed

By Education, Imagery, IowaLandformsRevealed, Outreach, , , ,

Obscured from view by vegetation and built structures, Iowa’s often subtle landforms are revealed through a LiDAR-derived bare earth digital elevation model in a Geographic Information System. Geological and human made features can be seen in this series of LiDAR color hillshade maps from across the State.

Loess

Deep deposits of wind-blown silt define the Loess Hills region of western Iowa. Intricate drainage networks and agricultural terraces are visible in this map from along the West Nishnabotna River near Hamburg.

Click on image to explore.
This image is of part of the Loess Hills in southwest Iowa.

Algona Moraine: Iowa Landforms Revealed

By Imagery, IowaLandformsRevealed, Outreach, , , ,

Obscured from view by vegetation and built structures, Iowa’s often subtle landforms are revealed through a LiDAR-derived bare earth digital elevation model in a Geographic Information System. Geological and human made features can be seen in this series of LiDAR color hillshade maps from across the State.

Algona

The elevated curved features in this map are glacial moraines deposited during the most recent period of glaciation in north-central Iowa. The largest in this view is called the Algona Moraine.

The Algona Moraine is located in north central Iowa.

    Oneota River Valley: Iowa Landforms Revealed

    By Imagery, IowaLandformsRevealed, Outreach, , , ,

    Obscured from view by vegetation and built structures, Iowa’s often subtle landforms are revealed through a LiDAR-derived bare earth digital elevation model in a Geographic Information System. Geological and human made features can be seen in this series of LiDAR color hillshade maps from across the State.

    Oneota

    Originally called the Oneota, the central river feature in this map is the Upper Iowa River. The well-defined drainage features are characteristic of the Driftless area of northeast Iowa.

    Click on the image to explore in detail.
    The Oneota River Valley is located in northeastern Iowa.

    Paha Ridges: Iowa Landforms Revealed

    By Imagery, IowaLandformsRevealed, Outreach, ,

    Obscured from view by vegetation and built structures, Iowa’s often subtle landforms are revealed through a LiDAR-derived bare earth digital elevation model in a Geographic Information System. Geological and human made features can be seen in this series of LiDAR color hillshade maps from across the State.

    Paha

    The elevated linear ridges in this map are erosional geological features called Paha and are found primarily in east-central Iowa along major river valleys.

    The Paha ridges are found in east-central Iowa.

    Introducing Iowa Landforms Revealed

    By Imagery, IowaLandformsRevealed, Outreach, , , ,

    This spring, Gregg Hadish of USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service and staff member of ISU GIS Facility put together a series of images called Iowa Landforms Revealed. The project looks at Iowa geological features using LiDAR. Gregg also used interesting color ramps to give these images an artistic component, inspired by the USGS Earth as Art project. The initial project includes a series of 4 images which debuted at the Iowa Technology And Geospatial (ITAG) Conference in West Des Moines, Iowa, this summer. We will be highlighting each image over the next several weeks as a special series feature on the IowaView blog. Please feel free to leave comments or suggestion for future landforms for us to explore.

    Happy Earth Observation Day!

    By Earth Observation Day, Education, Event, Imagery, Landsat, Outreach, Uncategorized

    Gregg Hadish gave a great presentation about the Iowa Geographic Map Server to celebrate Earth Observation Day.  It was a hands-on demonstration of the Iowa Geographic Map Server ArcGIS App which meant participants could follow along as he explained the various features and functions of the map server. Gregg also showed participants how to leverage map server layers within their own ArcGIS Online organizational accounts and basics for creating their own apps. 

    Thank you, Gregg for a great demo! 

    Here are some pictures from our Earth Observation Day event.

    Checking out the new statewide 1 ft color infrared imagery in the web app.

    Gregg giving an introduction to the Iowa Geographic Map Server.

    Showing a historical layer – 1880s Andreas Atlas.

    Start Your Future Here – Part II

    By Event, Humanitarian Mapping, Imagery, Outreach, USGS

    This post will describe the second workshop the ISU GIS Facility and IowaView hosted as part of the 2017 Iowa 4-H State Conference, “Start Your Future Here.”  The second workshop, “Start Your Open Street Map Adventure Here,” gave students a brief introduction to GIS and remote sensing as well as a short discussion of open street map and its interface. Then 4-Hers were asked to practice using the mapping interface through the TeachOSM application.  The group started by mapping a small northwest Iowa town, George.  As you will see from the screen shots, the 4-Hers made significant progress for this community, mapping over 400 buildings.  Comparing the before and after pictures, notice the large number of buildings added in the central and northeast parts of town.

    George, Iowa – Before 4-H Workshop

    George, Iowa – After 4-H workshop 6/29/2017

    For the second activity, students worked on a project sponsored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS)’s Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP) to help map communities near active volcanoes.  the 4-Hers mapped roads, buildings, and rivers in several small communities near Mt. Galeras in Columbia as part of their emergency preparedness. According to project description, “Galeras is an active Andean stratovolcano that is located in the Narino department, near Pasto (population: 450,000 Colombians). Galeras is the most active volcano in Colombia and is known for regular eruptions, the most recent occurring in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2010.” The students did a great job mapping with both projects. Between the two projects over 500 nodes were created and over 3,000 nodes were created. Hopefully these activities will lead to future mapping interest.

    Earth Week 2017: Story Maps

    By Earth Day 2017, Imagery, Outreach, , , ,

    Another way to connect with our world this Earth Week is to experience an ESRI Story Map.  Story maps use maps, map animations, photographs, sounds, and video to tell compelling stories on all sorts of topics.  The lastest maps on the Story Map website are beautiful and interactive applications for storytelling.  

    This month’s featured Story Map is called Embattled Borderlands.  It begins by asking the question, “Will the border wall strike a fatal blow to one of the most imperiled wild regions in North America?”  It tells the story of the US-Mexico border, taking participants to various locations along the border. The Story Map explains the unique ecosystems and creatures located along the border and how creating an intensified artificial barrier in this region could potentially impact these areas. There are also a series of vignettes about how human intervention has already had a negative impact on the land.  This Story Map is filled with brilliant photography.

    To experience this Story Map for yourself visit: https://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2017/embattled-borderlands/index.html