Category Archives: Outreach

Earth Week 2017: Adopt the Planet

By Article, Earth Day 2017, Education, Outreach, , , ,

Happy Earth Week! This year NASA has created unique opportunity just in time for Earth Day for interested participants to “Adopt the Planet.”  There are 64,000 locations available from adoption.    

Credit: NASA https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-celebrates-earth-day-by-letting-us-all-adopttheplanet

When you visit the website you can fill in your name and then receive a certificate with your adopted patch of Earth.  The adoption certificate gives you specific coordinates of your location on our globe as well as satellite data layers relevant to your piece of Earth.  You can use WorldView, NASA’s web-based satellite viewing application, to explore your adopted point over time and with different layers.   

I received a point on the coast of Antarctica.  It was cool to explore a part of our planet that I don’t normally think about on a daily basis. With the WorldView application I was able to see how it changes over the seasons from solid ice to open ocean. WorldView even has the ability to animate these observations.

This outreach event allows us the appreciate our planet from space and helps us learn about some of the space instruments that are continuously monitoring and circling our planet.

Credit: NASA https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-celebrates-earth-day-by-letting-us-all-adopttheplanet

Iowa BMP Mapping Project data now available!

By Article, Outreach, , , ,

The ISU GIS Facility recently rolled out a new website (http://www.gis.iastate.edu/gisf/projects/conservation-practices) that allows users to download completed data sets from the Iowa BMP Mapping Project. Each file geodatabase contains 6 mapped conservation practices: contour buffer strips, grassed waterways, stripcropping, pond dams, terraces, and WASCOB (water and sediment control basins.) The website also allows visitors to preview the data available in the file geodatabases by downloading a pdf.  Please use this valuable resource.

An example of the pdf output

 

Have you visited Earth as Art yet?

By Earth as Art, Education, Event, Imagery, Landsat, Outreach

Don’t miss your chance. This is a unique opportunity to see a melding of art, science, geography, and technology here in the Ames community.  Come see some great art.  

Kids and adults can stop in to make a color wheel or model of a Landsat satellite or search the images to complete the scavenger hunt.  The exhibit is running through Sunday, February 26, 2017.

Hours:
Thursday 4-7 pm; Friday 2-5 pm; Saturday 11 am -5 pm
Sunday Feb 19 & 26, 2-5 pm

Read more about the exhibit HERE.

Earth as Art Exhibit opens!

By Article, Earth as Art, Education, Event, Imagery, Landsat, Outreach, USGS

The opening reception for the Earth as Art exhibit is on February, 2, 5-8pm. Several younger visitors were in attendance.  They created model satellites, color wheels, and searched the gallery to complete the scavenger hunt.  There was gallery talk at 6:30 pm by Brent Yantis, the LouisianaView director and the exhibit collection curator, he explained how the images were selected and shared some of his favorite images with us. 

There was a reception of crudites and cheese as well as a King Cake that was brought from Louisiana. The King Cake tasted like a cross between a glazed doughnut and a cinnamon roll, filled with chocolate and cream filling. LouisianaView and IowaView are part of the larger AmericaView, nationwide consortium for remote sensing education, research, and geospatial applications.

Please join us – Thursday, February 2, 2017

By Earth as Art, Education, Event, Imagery, Landsat, Outreach

IowaView and ISU GIS Facility will be hosting an art exhibit in the Design on Main gallery in February.  It will be a unique exhibit that is a fusion of art and science – we hope that the exhibit will inspire viewers with beautiful images from around our planet and also provide a platform for education (satellite imagery, geography, earth science, physics, and art.)

The opening reception for the exhibit is on February, 2, 5-8pm. We are planning to have a gallery talk at 6:30pm by Brent Yantis, the AmericaView collection curator as well as refreshments. AmericaView is a nationwide consortium for remote sensing education, research, and geospatial applications. For additional details visit our Earth as Art exhibit page.

Don’t Forget to Register to do something Awesome (OSM)!

By Event, Imagery, Landsat, MLK Jr. Day, Outreach, Uncategorized



JOIN US THIS MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017 FOR the 3rd annual OSM MAPPING PARTY in Durham Center 206.

This is a fun service project.  Come meet some new people, do some good (mapping) and eat pizza!

MLK Jr. Day OSM Mapping Party Monday January, 16, 2017 from 10 am to 1pm, Durham 206 –

Please RSVP: iowamapgive@gmail.com.
Click here for more information.

Earth as Art Exhibition – February 2-26, 2017

By Earth as Art, Imagery, Landsat, Outreach

The ISU GIS Facility is bringing an art exhibit to Ames! Earth as Art features beautiful Landsat prints selected from the four Earth as Art collections. We are also producing some k-12 educational activities for our younger gallery visitors to enjoy. The opening reception for the exhibit is on February, 2.  We are planning to have a gallery talk by the AmericaView collection curator as well as refreshments. Gallery hours are: Thursday: 4 to 7; Friday: 2 to 5; Saturday 11 to 5.  We are also interested in scheduling additional hours by appointment, please contact amylogan@iastate.edu for more information.

We hope to see you there!

 

How will you be celebrating this Martin Luther King Jr. Day?

By Education, Event, Humanitarian Mapping, MLK Jr. Day, Outreach,

“Life’s most persistent and urgent questions is: what are you doing for others?”

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The ISU GIS Facility would like to invite you to spend part of your day with us.  

The ISU GIS Facility, in cooperation with IowaView, will be hosting a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Event on January 16th, 2017 in Durham 206. The event will take place from 10am to 1pm.  Attendees will participate in a worldwide volunteer effort called Open Street Map – (OSM), a crowd-sourced map of the world that is open source, free and available for any use. OSM provides online web mapping tools for users to map roads, buildings, water bodies and features of interest using satellite imagery as a base.

Past projects have worked with humanitarian groups like the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders using OSM to coordinate mapping in areas with a critical need for new maps, past projects have included areas in western Africa fighting Ebola, hurricane affected areas in the Philippines or other emergencies or disasters around the world.

*No previous experience is necessary to participate – anyone can join us!*

If you are interested in participating in the ISU OSM Mapping Party, or have questions, please send an email to iowamapgive@gmail.com or visit https://www.iowaview.org/isu-osm-mapping-party-details/.

 

Save the date: Earth as Art Exhibit – February 2017

By Education, Event, Outreach, USGS, , , , ,

 

LouisianaView is loaning us their Earth as Art art exhibit for the month of February.  We are working to create a fun and educational art exhibit for all.  You will not want to miss this exciting event.  For a preview, visit Earth as Art online: http://eros.usgs.gov/imagegallery/earth-art-4.

earth-as-art-laview2

 

IowaView hosts a Successful Earth Observation Day!

By Activity, Earth Observation Day, Education, Outreach, , ,

We had a fun and informative Earth Observation Day.  Here are some highlights and pictures:

earth-observation-day-10_11_2016
  • There were 24 attendees.1011161113_resized
  • We had 15 mappers, who helped build a better basemap in for areas in Botswana.  Volunteers mapped dozens of roads and over 500 buildings during our mini-mapathon (45 mins)!  earth-observation-day-10_11_2016-botswana
  • Dr. Brian Hornbuckle shared with us about his research observing the earth with microwave satellites and ground sensors. If your are interested in learning more about the SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) satellite, NASA has a free webinar series (5 hour-long sessions) available through their Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET program).   img_7742