Category Archives: Outreach

Happy Earth Day 2022: Enjoy NASA’s Pathways to New Discoveries

This year NASA’s Earth Day poster is features a series of QR codes which provide an array of information on a number of their missions, programs, and activities. We have provided a key below explaining each of the numbered QR codes along with the link to each code (click on the name to follow the link.)

  1. Artemis
  2. Landsat 9
  3. Climate Time Machine
  4. Climate Quizzes
  5. Images of Change
  6. Eyes on Earth
  7. Benefits from Space
  8. Rising Tides
  9. Snack Time with NASA
  10. Benefits on Earth
  11. GLOBE Observer
  12. NASA Earth Day
  13. Earth from Afar
  14. Earth Science
  15. Live views from Space
  16. NASA Aeronautics
  17. 2022 Earth Day Poster

Announcing the Golden Jubilee of the Landsat Mission

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first Landsat satellite (July 23, 1972). To celebrate fifty years of earth observation, IowaView will be posting various images and gif documenting Landsat in Iowa and around the world. Check back regularly for new images and articles. #TimeLapseTuesday #ThrowbackThursday

A Calendar Full of Exciting, Engaging April Events

Happy Earth Month! This month is full of lots of exciting and engaging events for you to participate in. Here are some coming up soon:

What: VIRTUAL EVENT: ASPRS GeoBytes Webinar: A History of the Landsat Program presented by Ellie Leydsman McGinty This is going to be a fantastic opportunity to learn about some of the stories behind how the Landsat program became what it is today and some of the people that made it happen. 
When: 4/8/22 @ 12pm-1pm (Eastern)
Registration (free): https://my.asprs.org/ASPRSMember/Events/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=GB20220408&WebsiteKey=9126ee3f-e9e1-43bd-a00c-0cfa63182579

What: VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON EVENT Virginia Tech Office of GIS and Remote Sensing Research Symposium
We have an exceptional panel of speakers on hand this year representing Duke University, NASA (Emerita), and Virginia Tech.  Another highlight of the Symposium, is the student poster session  & web map app showcase with over 35 undergraduate and graduate student posters on full display! 
When: 4/8/22 @ 12pm-3:30pm (Eastern)
Registration (free): https://virginiatech.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_n0l1pRCTTSWgDeP7Jwx47Q

What: VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON EVENT Iowa Technology and Education Connection (ITEC) Conference
ITEC is hosting the annual conference on April 13-14. Join fellow Iowa educators at the state’s premier Tech Ed event! IowaView staff will be presenting on April 14 at 1:15 -2:05pm – Spreading the Mapping Bug: Sharing Geospatial Resources, Ready-to-Go Curriculum, and Mapping Activities for Teachers to Use Tomorrow and Integrate into Their Lessons. Great for student engagement. Many of these materials align with core standards and resources include interactive maps and apps available immediately.
When: 4/14/22 @ 1:15-2:05pm
Registration: https://www.itec-ia.org/conference-registration-details/

What: VIRTUAL EVENT GeoTech Center – Earth Observation Day

When: 4/20/22 @ 11am-4:45pm (Eastern)
Registration (free): https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/02d5fc3ded704f958fb1aa96d9e125bf

For even more events check out the IowaView Jobs and Other Opportunities Page.

World Water Day 2022 – Viewing Water from Space

Poster Front

Happy World Water Day!

Enjoy this water themed poster “Water Today and for the Future” from the AmericaView’s Earth Observation Day Team. This poster contains the creative game experience to help bring understanding to how water resources in America are used and managed for future use. You can download the poster and you can play the game online on Tabletopia. The poster is available in Spanish.

Ladies of Landsat – Many Pathways to becoming Remote Sensing Scientists

The Ladies of Landsat have shared some great USGS case study videos showcasing the paths women and girls can take to become remote sensing scientists. Three scientists stories are highlighted: Jill Deines, Africa Ixmucane Flores-Anderson, and Nikki Tulley. Read more and enjoy their stories below:

Africa Ixmucane Flores-Anderson: Using Landsat to Connect Pace to Village – Africa was inspired to help her local community in Guatemala by mapping water quality with Landsat and is now at monitoring deforestation.

Jill Deines: Using Landsat to Map Agriculture Yields and Irrigation Use – Dr. Jill Deines was was drawn to the bird’s eye view of agriculture plots growing up in the Midwest. Now she uses Landsat to monitor water resources and crop yield.

Nikki Tulley: Speaking a New Language of Landsat – Nikki grew up in the Navajo Nation without running water in her household. As PhD student at University of Arizona and Indigenous scientist, she uses Landsat to track drought conditions in her home community.

It’s time to Spread the word about the Iowa Map Contest!

The Iowa Map Contest is open. This year we would like to give out all our prize money. If you know students in grade 4-12 or teachers encourage them to participate. For contest details, visit: https://sites.google.com/site/iowamapcontest/.

Here’s a link to the poster pdf: https://www.iowaView.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Iowa_map-contest-poster_smaller-compressed-1.pdf.

Have you met Lindsey the GIS Professional?

A few years back, Tyler Danielson, a GIS professional at Bolton and Menk, Inc. wrote a book called Lindsey the GIS Professional to help describe working with a geographic information system (GIS). In the book, Lindsey explains the information needed to create a map and how to collect it. Then she shows how to take that information to make a map of her favorite park. It gives readers a good introduction to the basics of GIS. Click here to read the book online: https://www.bolton-menk.com/books/lindsey/Lindsey.html.

Since the publication of the book, there have been several other companion resources produced. They can be found at www.LindseyLovesMaps.com:

  1. At Home Activities – a maze, dot connect, data collection activity, analyzing data activity, drawing maps, and map coloring pages.
  2. Making Maps with Lindsey – guides students through mapping their own data: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1aedae2683d740ad9736752ab5768ef7
  3. Teacher Resources – This includes a teacher guide and shows how the book, Lindsey the GIS Professional matches up with English, Social Studies and Science standards.

The coolest thing is that this story is based off of a real LINDSEY!

from https://learn.arcgis.com/en/esripress/lindsey/

Dear Teachers: A New Year, A New You!

As we begin this new year you may want to challenge yourself with a new skill. Esri has a 6-week program, Learn ArcGIS Educator Program for New Users, available to give you an introduction to many of the core applications available for the classroom. Each week you will spend time watching videos related to the topic, take notes, share you thoughts using Flipgrid and discussion boards. For more information and resources visit the Learn ArcGIS Educator Program Hub: https://learn-arcgis-educator-program-new-user-learngis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/welcome.

Iowa/Utah Geospatial Exchange: IGIC Lunch and Learn

December 2021 IGIC Lunch & Learn: Iowa/Utah Geospatial Exchange

This presentation will provide an introduction to the Iowa Geospatial Conference Exchange, a program to encourage sharing of GIS programs, data, and knowledge between state organizations. Amy Logan and Penny Vossler have returned from geospatial exchange in Utah with examples of Utah’s geographic resources and strengths, some great ideas from their conference, new friends, and great photos to share.

For more information: https://www.iowagic.org/event/december-2021-igic-lunch-learn-iowa-utah-geospatial-exchange/

Here is a link to the recording (12/15/2021): https://iastate.webex.com/iastate/ldr.php?RCID=3c87c93211016276d525d62cadc6e4dd

Aerial Photo Dates Layer: A Helpful Tip for Getting the Most of ISU Orthoserver

The Iowa Orthoserver (also known as the Iowa Geographic Map Server) has a variety of resources available to enhance and serve users. Today we are highlighting the Aerial Photo Dates layer. This layer allows users to determine the date of a particular image.

Here are the basic steps to using the Aerial Photo Dates layer in the Iowa Geographic Map Server ArcGIS Web App:

  1. Open the Iowa Geographic Map Server ArcGIS Web App.
  2. Select the first icon – Choose Map Layers (looks like 3 stacked sheets of paper.)
  3. Scroll down to the Iowa – Aerial Photo Dates layer and then check the box to turn it on.
  4. Expand the menu by clicking the tiny gray arrow to the left of the check box.
  5. Now turn on whichever year of flight date you wish to use (the orange areas symbolize the flight paths and within them will appear the flight dates.)
  6. *Please note* for some of the older imagery years (example 1930s, 1950s, etc.), you need to be zoomed in for the flight dates to appear. Zoom into an area of interest, the flight patterns and dates will be shown.

The statewide 2021 NAIP flight date layer is not yet available. This will be released when the layer is available. If you would like information regarding specific areas for the 2021 flight, please contact Amy Logan.