Key Earth Science Links
Remote Sensing and Satellite Images
KyFromAbove, Kentucky's Elevation Data & Aerial Photography Program. The KyFromAbove initiative is focused on building and maintaining a current basemap for the Commonwealth that can meet the needs of its users at the state, federal, local, and regional level. A common basemap, including current color leaf-off aerial photography and elevation data (LiDAR), reduces the cost of developing GIS applications, promotes data sharing, and add efficiencies to many state agency business processes. All basemap data acquired through this effort is being made available in the public domain.
Terra Server, Microsoft. TerraServer subscriptions allow you to view & purchase satellite images in download or print format.
Color Landform Atlas of the United States. John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. This site lets you select any state in the United states. For each state there are various map options including a shaded color relief map, a shaded color relief map with county boundaries, a black and white shaded relief map, detailed maps of areas within the state, a satellite image, historic maps, and a post-script map. These maps are wonderful tools for illustrating geography or physiography within each state. Landforms and the manner in which landforms change across each state are wonderfully shown in shaded relief. Links are also provided to other web sites to provide more information and facts about the state chosen.
The Remote Sensing Tutorial, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA. This site is an on-line tutorial about the role space science and technology play in monitoring the Earth's surface. The tutorial is divided into sections including an Introduction, Image Processing, Geologic Applications I and II, Vegetation Applications, Urban Applications, a Flight Across the U.S., Regional Studies, Radar and Microwave Remote Sensing, the Warm Earth, Aerial Photography, Earth's Surface in 3-D, Humans in Space, Collecting Data at the Surface, Water, GIS, Earth's Systems Science, Remote Sensing-Megageomorphology, Impact Cratering, Planetary Remote Sensing and Remote Sensing in the Future. Although designed for college (and useful at pre-college) levels it provides hundreds of images and explanations that could be used in 8-12 classrooms.
The Remote Sensing Core Curriculum, American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. This Joint ASPRS-NASA site provides the resources to support a state-of-the-practice educational experience. The RSCC is primarily geared towards university level education but some lessons may be suitable for K-12 efforts.
Earth Observing System (EOS), NASA. EOS is the Earth Observing System, in which satellites are used to monitor changes in climate on Earth from Space. The Educational part of this site provides free posters (one set per teacher) of Cloud Radiative Effects, Global Ice and Sea Level Changes, Impact of Volcanoes, Vegetation and Hydrology Changes, Ozone Depletion, Ocean Processes, and the Greenhouse Effect, and has slide sets (digital on-line) related to each of these topics. Each slide has a short discussion about what the slide is showing. Great for on-line lectures. There are also links to educational products related to climate change.
Earth Resources Observation System (EROS), U.S. Geological Survey. This site provides access to the USGS's Data Center Archives, the world's largest collection of aerial photos, as well as access to various types of digital data including, satellite imagery, cartographic, elevation, land-use, climate, hydrological, and soils. There is a search engine for finding specific topics or maps. Most of the products are for sale, but under the heading product examples are hundreds of images of the types of data USGS provides.
Tapestry of Time and Terrain, U.S. Geological Survey. 2000. A great site for visualizing the connection between bedrock geology and physiography (landscapes) and also for illustrating the distribution of rocks of different ages around the United States. The map on the front page is a combination of a 3-D shaded relief map and a geologic map. The Two Maps option shows each map separately and then merges them together using a Quicktime® plug-in. The Description of Features Option lets you zoom in on selected physiographic regions shown on the map and provides specific information about those regions. The Rock of Ages option shows the legend (explanation) for the geologic map (classified by intervals of geologic time). You can choose a time period to see where rocks of that age are exposed at the surface in the United States. There is a short description of the rocks and fossils from that time period, and a series of options for zooming in on specific regions. The web preview is also available on CD from the USGS for a low cost.