Maps Made With Light Show the Way: The valley’s beauty makes it a magnet for newcomers, some of them Hollywood and Silicon Valley celebrities. In a bare-earth lidar image, with the land surface portrayed in detail, Stickney saw what no one knew existed: an active seismic fault with the potential to trigger a magnitude 6.5 to 7.5 earthquake. Such a quake would be “devastating,” said Stickney, director of the earthquake studies office at the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology. “A quake of that magnitude could rupture a dam, flood a nearby town, bring down buildings in Missoula, and destroy homes in the valley where 150,000 people now live.” “People have always thought the area was relatively immune to large earthquakes,” he said. No large quakes have ever been recorded there. “We knew the fault existed, but the best available evidence was that it was not active.” Image showing part of Montana's Bitterroot Valley in an overlay of both high-resolution lidar and satellite data. The Bitterroot River flood plain is in the center, and a scarp of the Bitterroot fault is left of center. Lidar imagery courtesy of Michael Stickney, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology By chance, better seismic evidence came along: a bare-earth lidar map. Lidar, which stands for “light detection and ranging,” is the 21st-century version of George Washington’s surveyor’s compass and chain. Unlike aerial photography, lidar shows not only vegetation and objects on the land’s surface, but the structures beneath. With lidar images, a forester can gauge the yield of a stand of trees. A solar power entrepreneur can estimate the energy reflectance of rooftops. A vehicle designer can improve fuel efficiency with technology that uses elevation data to determine when transmissions should upshift or downshift. A structural engineer can study an aging bridge for signs of potential failure. Missed Opportunities? Lidar mapping is usually done to meet specific needs: private companies conduct data-gathering flights and provide information to business and government clients. Clients’ requests and company practices determine what areas are mapped, how accurately and how often, and how data are analyzed, used, stored, and shared. The result is a crazy quilt that, in 2014, included high-quality lidar coverage of less than one-sixth of the lower 49 States and territories. Those discontinuities severely limit the usefulness of lidar maps to anyone except the original clients. The result is missed economic opportunities, along with chances to protect the American people from earthquakes, floods, landslides, and other hazards. The USGS is tackling the problem. The USGS’ National Geospatial Program is in year one of an 8-year program to create the first publicly available, national 3D elevation map using lidar. Called the 3D Elevation Program or 3DEP, it is a collaboration of Federal agencies, States, territories, local governments, and private industries. 3DEP is systematically collecting lidar data across the country and leveraging existing lidar surveys into a central collection. The program established data quality standards and is now acquiring new lidar data to fill crucial gaps. USGS map showing data collected in FY 2016 by the 3D Elevation Program. This map was updated on June 30, 2016. Radar-based technology (known as “ifsar”) used in Alaska, where weather conditions interfere with lidar flights.  3DEP is expected to produce a tremendous return on an investment of $1 billion over 8 years, with costs shared among the USGS and other Federal agencies, as well as State and local partners. A 2011 national assessment led by the USGS documented more than 600 business uses for 3DEP products. Some applications have the potential to spark new technologies and industries, with economic benefits ranging from $690 million to $13 billion per year. These benefits extend to all 50 States and Puerto Rico. A Pennsylvania utility company expects to save at least $67 million yearly by using lidar mapping to track trees’ encroachment on power lines. A major agricultural consulting firm estimates that lidar-based precision agriculture could save corn and wheat growers $50 million per year in the Red River Valley alone. The discovery of the Bitterroot fault might never have happened if scientists had been unable to share lidar data. Stickney explained that only a Federal initiative will ensure lidar data are available nationwide to help every State identify hazards, assess risks, and inform and protect citizens. Important finds are in the future as 3DEP completes the national lidar data coverage. “Every time we have gotten lidar data for Montana,” Stickney said, “we’ve made new discoveries.” GIF showing an aerial orthophoto of the area around the Pole Creek Fire in Oregon combined with a shaded relief image from lidar. Features that are impossible to identify from airborne imagery become very evident when using lidar. Aerial orthophoto source is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agriculture Imagery Program. Lidar source is USGS. Important finds are in the future as 3DEP completes the national lidar data coverage. “Every time we have gotten lidar data for Montana,” Stickney said, “we’ve made new discoveries.” For more information,  Read more stories about USGS science in action. Click here for the print version.   #mapping

Media Advisory: Mapping Beach Changes Caused by Recent Storms: This field work complements annual surveys over a larger area, from Santa Cruz to Moss Landing, that the USGS began in October 2014 to document the volume of sand moving along the coast. Conducting surveys over many years will ultimately provide a detailed picture of how our coastline reacts to changes in waves and sand input. The results can be incorporated into future scenarios of sea-level rise and climate change, contributing directly to Monterey Bay communities working on how to protect their coastlines. Targeted surveys of vulnerable and dynamic coastal zones such as the mouth of the San Lorenzo River and the Capitola area after large winter storms will enable scientists to know what happens and how the beaches change, and will aid the understanding of how big storm events, such as those occurring during El Niño years, shape and erode the coast. What: Media availability for interviews and photo opportunity: Scientific beach surveys by boat and personal watercraft. Who: Project lead Patrick Barnard and other scientists from the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center. When/Where: Friday, January 13, 9:30-10:30 a.m., at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River, on Santa Cruz Municipal Beach, California. RSVP to Patrick Barnard, 415-328-2087 Sandy coastlines are a valuable resource that protect man-made structures from waves, serve as habitat for important species, and provide a variety of recreational opportunities. Big storms that wreak havoc in the area may also do some good by helping streams carry much-needed sand to local beaches More information about this research is online.     The San Lorenzo River flows full and muddy past the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.(Credit: Andrew Stevens, U.S. Geological Survey. Public domain.) USGS scientist Jackson Currie navigates a personal watercraft toward Santa Cruz Main Beach to record bathymetric data along a transect(Credit: Andrew Stevens, U.S. Geological Survey. Public domain.) USGS scientist, Alex Snyder gathers topographic data by walking beach transects northwest of Moss Landing, California to help researchers understand how Monterey Bay will respond to changing environmental conditions. (Credit: Andrew Stevens, U.S. Geological, Survey. Public domain.) USGS scientist using a sonar-equipped All-Terrane Vehical (ATV) to map beach profile after a storm in Northern California.(Credit: Patrick Barnard, U.S. Geological Survey. Public domain.) USGS scientist Tim Elfers navigates a personal watercraft toward Cowell Beach to record bathymetric data along a transect.(Credit: Andrew Stevens, U.S. Geological Survey. Public domain.) #mapping

EarthView–Rare Snow Falls at the Edge of Sahara Desert: EarthViews is a continuing series in which we share a USGS Image of the Week featuring the USGS/NASA Landsat program. From the artistry of Earth imagery to natural and human-caused land change over time, check back every Friday to finish your week with a visual flourish! This Landsat 7 image shows an area on the edge of the Sahara Desert in northwestern Africa after significant snow fell. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat program.(Public domain.) The EarthView: Rare Snow Falls at the Edge of Sahara Desert Description: In mid-December 2016, a rarity occurred on the edge of the Sahara Desert in northwest Africa. It snowed. Landsat 7’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor captured the image that shows the white covering on the caramel-colored landscape southwest of the Algerian community of Ain Sefra, a town sometimes referred to as “the gateway to the desert.” All the snow except that at the highest elevations melted soon after, a fact Landsat 8 confirmed when it passed overhead on December 27. This Landsat 8 image shows the same area a few days later after most of the snow has melted. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat program.(Public domain.) Ain Sefra’s last snowfall occurred on February 18, 1979. While snow does collect in Africa at higher elevations—Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania has long been crowned by a cap of snow and ice—snow on the edge of the Sahara Desert seldom falls. The average summertime temperature at Ain Sefra is 99 degrees Fahrenheit. Though winter temperatures are known to drop into the 30s, snow is as rare as the cool temperatures given that just a few centimeters of precipitation fall there annually. Hungry for some science, but you don’t have time for a full-course research plate? Then check out USGS Science Snippets, our snack-sized science series that focuses on the fun, weird, and fascinating stories of USGS science. #mapping

EarthView–A Landsat Mosaic for Indiana’s Bicentennial: EarthViews is a continuing series in which we share a USGS Image of the Week featuring the USGS/NASA Landsat program. From the artistry of Earth imagery to natural and human-caused land change over time, check back every Friday to finish your week with a visual flourish! This Landsat mosaic was made of multiple images of Indiana stitched together. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) The EarthView: A Landsat Mosaic for Indiana’s Bicentennial Description: Throughout 2016, Indiana has been celebrating its 200th anniversary of statehood. Joining the Union on December 11, 1816, as the 19th state, Indiana was the second state admitted from what was once known as the Northwest Territory. This satellite mosaic of the Hoosier State was created from several Landsat scenes stitched together to create one seamless image. Data from the National Elevation Dataset (NED) is also incorporated into the image. The names of major cities and county boundaries have been added. The Landsat images used for this mosaic were from summer months, so it shows the state at the height of the growing season. Since farmland makes up about 70% of the state’s land, much of the state appears green. By contrast, urban areas appear in shades of lavender. The large spot in the middle of the state marks the location of Indiana’s capital and largest city, Indianapolis. The Wabash River, the official state river, flows west across the northern part of the state and turns south to form part of the border with Illinois. Poster-sized images of all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico, are available for download at no charge at http://eros.usgs.gov/imagegallery/landsat-state-mosaics. Hungry for some science, but you don’t have time for a full-course research plate? Then check out USGS Science Snippets, our snack-sized science series that focuses on the fun, weird, and fascinating stories of USGS science. #mapping

Long days, fresh ideas, and new connections: USGS scientists sharing science at the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists also broaden their scientific horizons, get ideas for new projects, and plant the seeds for collaborations that might change the way we think about the Earth. Pedestrians cross 4th Street outside the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco while traffic waits at a stoplight. In the foreground are street banners for the AGU Fall Meeting. In the background is the Moscone Convention Center - West building. (Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) For the 2016 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, our scientists plan to give over 400 presentations to the largest gathering of Earth scientists in the world. The talks and posters span a wide range of topics, from reducing greenhouse gases by restoring wetlands, to extreme El Niño beach erosion in California, to earthquake early warning systems, including a late-breaking session on Oklahoma’s largest recorded earthquake. USGS scientists have attended this conference for nearly 50 years, presenting keynote addresses, organizing sessions, and contributing scientific findings. New scientists gain valuable exposure and expand their professional networks. Side meetings with colleagues save travel time and money better spent on research. While our scientists are gearing up for this year’s meeting, we look back to the 2015 AGU Fall Meeting, attended by 24,000 scientists from around the world, including several hundred from USGS. Looking down on a large room crowded with people checking out AGU Fall Meeting posters on long rows of boards. (Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) These USGS scientists choose to spend long days far from home because they want to share their science, and for many other reasons. “The rest of the scientific community just really values our presence and our contributions at these conferences,” said USGS hydrologist Chris Magirl. USGS scientists Halley Kimball (left) and Chris Magirl conduct a bathymetric survey of the Cedar River in western Washington.(Credit: Christiana Czuba, USGS. Public domain.) Sharing science with 24,000 people USGS scientists gave more than 500 formal presentations at the 2015 AGU Fall Meeting. Conference topics ranged from atmospheric processes to volcanology; sessions started early Sunday morning and ran through Friday evening. Here are some perspectives from our scientists who participated in last year’s meeting. How do you tell people what to expect from a creeping disaster? That was the subject of a poster by Christina Neal, a volcanologist and scientist-in-charge at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) on the island of Hawai’i. For nine months, lava flows threatened Pāhoa Village and the only road serving thousands of people. “The USGS scientists were personally talking to emergency managers and talking to residents whose homes were threatened by this lava flow,” said Neal. “I've heard from so many people that the way HVO scientists were able to [communicate], both in writing and in front of large public community meetings, went a long way in helping people cope with this extended, slow motion disaster.” Benjamin Jones is a USGS research geographer working in Anchorage, Alaska. A tundra fire had burned roughly 400 square miles (1,000 square kilometers), including an area covered by detailed LIDAR elevation data gathered before and after the blaze. Jones and his colleagues discovered that one third of the permafrost in the burned area had melted and collapsed, because the fire incinerated vegetation and soil that insulated the permafrost. USGS research geographer Ben Jones is dressed warmly as he stands next to portable core-drilling device in a snow-covered area. (Credit: USGS. Public domain.) “This was basically the first study that demonstrated the potential impact of tundra fires on cold permafrost terrain in the Arctic,” he said about his popular poster. “[I was] just constantly talking for five and a half, six hours,” said Jones. Many presentations at the conference covered the powerful Nepal earthquake of April 25, 2015. Susan Hough, a USGS geophysicist and seismologist in Pasadena, California, helped arrange one session on short notice for the December conference. Susan Hough, a USGS geophysicist and seismologist, climbs a metal ladder going to the roof of a building. Below her and in the background are other people, forest, and fog. (Credit: USGS. Public domain.) “Everyone had been aware that Nepal was going to be hit by magnitude 8-ish earthquakes,” Hough said. “There was a lot of concern for the damage and the death toll that would be caused by an earthquake like that.” “The question is ‘why wasn’t the damage even worse?’” said Hough. “It’s something that people are going to be working on for a long time.” Conference organizers also invited Hough to give an “Ignite” talk one evening on the how the earthquake defied expectations. “It’s kind of like a poor man’s TED talk,” Hough said. “And you’re supposed to give this bang-up, gee-whiz science talk in five minutes. Like speed dating.” Her presentation ended around 8:30 pm, capping another long day at the conference. Long, full days With thousands of presentations to choose from, and tens of thousands of potential collaborators to meet, everyone attending the AGU Fall Meeting has a unique schedule. For most scientists, the days are a non-stop blur of giving talks and attending talks, cruising the poster aisles, and talking shop over quickly eaten meals. USGS scientists pack as much as they can into each day and evening. Attendees at the AGU Fall Meeting take a break for morning refreshments. A crowd of people in a large room with snacks and drinks on tables in the foreground. (Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) Chris Magirl, a USGS hydrologist and research manager stationed in Tucson, Arizona, described one day at the conference. “I woke up, went over to the diner, and got an omelet. I got to Moscone [Convention Center] about 8:30, and saw Jim O’Connor’s talk on sediment transport and sediment load. Many colleagues and friends were giving talks throughout that session. I gave a talk at 11:20. We went out and got some lunch, and then headed back to a poster session in the afternoon. It wrapped up at 5:00. Then a couple of colleagues and I got some dinner and talked science at a Thai place. I got back to the hotel room around 8:00 or 9:00 to get some rest before doing it all over again the next day.” USGS geologist and Mendenhall post-doctoral fellow Jessica Ball commuted to the conference by train. USGS geologist and Mendenhall post-doctoral fellow Jessica Ball wears a safety vest and gloves while sitting on the bumper of an SUV filled with scientific instruments. (Credit: USGS. Public domain.) “Got up very early. Worked on the notes for my presentation while I was on the train. Walked in here and immediately started going to hydrothermal sessions. Then I met up with a few colleagues for lunch and went to posters in the afternoon. Spent a lot of time talking about people’s research at their posters. Zipped by the Exhibit Hall when I needed a break from talking, and then went to the blogging and social media forums.” That evening, Ball attended three receptions, including one for early career female scientists, before catching a late train home. New ideas and collaborations Nearly every day, USGS scientists at the AGU Fall Meeting learned new things, generated fresh ideas, and planted seeds for future work. Benjamin Jones talked with scientists planning an international project to study coastlines influenced by permafrost. He also learned about structure from motion, a technique for making detailed elevation maps from air photos. “That’s probably my one take-home,” said Jones. “I should look into that more.” Susan Hough chatted with an oil industry scientist about induced earthquakes in Texas. “It’s got me thinking it might be worth stepping back from Oklahoma and looking at Texas and Arkansas,” she said. One talk surprised Jessica Ball during a session she helped organize. “They figured out that a whole bunch of lava domes had formed on this undersea volcano in something like a matter of days or weeks,” she said. “I didn’t realize that you could have lava domes that are underwater, and that they can form that quickly.” Despite being a well-known blogger and Twitter user, Ball doesn’t believe that apps are the only answer. “I don’t think you make good connections and really form collaborations unless it’s in person. Humans work better with other humans. They don’t work quite as well through technology.” Why attend AGU? Working long days away from home, after wading through a thicket of meeting and travel approvals, would not qualify as fun for most people. Yet USGS scientists return to the AGU Fall Meeting year after year. Ball said the 2014 conference was the most exciting. She was part of a round table for early career scientists that included Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, acting USGS director Suzette Kimball, and Carol Finn, AGU’s president. “I got to have this amazing opportunity to sit down with these three women and talk about my science, why it was important, and where it fit into [the Department of the] Interior’s mission,” said Ball. For Benjamin Jones, working in the 49th state can be a little isolating. The AGU Fall Meeting is “a good venue to get together with other people and other USGS scientists, and talk about some of our research and potential future plans,” he said. “I like to branch out and go see a talk or two that I don’t really know anything about,” said Jones, “with the hopes that it’ll give me a new way of thinking about something I’m working on.” Christina Neal attended the conference to learn the latest science and meet the top scientists in many different fields. “It feels good to be around all of your peers hearing the best of your peers,” said Neal. She saved travel time and money, too. Neal spent a day before the conference at the USGS office in Sacramento, California, meeting with human resources staff to plan future hires. Chris Magirl found other sources of inspiration. “You have a deep appreciation of how ubiquitous and well-respected the USGS is,” he said. “It's hard to walk down a poster aisle and not see a USGS logo on one, or two, or three posters.” “We really have a fantastic presence, and a fantastic reputation that's been established by wonderful scientists,” said Magirl. “That’s a proud thing to be part of.” Looking down on the large poster hall at the AGU Fall Meeting. Many rows of posters on boards with people reading and walking. (Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) Hard work and a lot of fun: The USGS booth at the AGU Fall Meeting It’s a lot more work than you might imagine. Liz Colvard has run the US Geological Survey (USGS) exhibit booth at the annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting for more than a decade. A program and information specialist with the USGS Office of Communications and Publishing in Menlo Park, California, Colvard starts preparing for next year’s booth a couple of weeks after the previous meeting wraps up. Colvard sat down for a short interview just after opening the booth on the last day of the 2015 meeting in San Francisco. The interview was edited for length and clarity. Liz Colvard (left) and Kristin Ludwig staff the USGS booth at the 2015 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco. The booth has tables with handouts, vertical panels with displays, and a video screen.(Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) What can people find at the USGS booth? The meat of our content is in the handouts and in the people that staff it and answer questions. Most people who come to AGU are already fairly familiar with USGS. There’s a huge focus on new publications that are of interest to this audience, so I’ve got a lot of new publications on display, and we’re giving away copies, or else telling them how to find them online. There are just a few informational handouts that we know people are going to ask [about] every year. You have a video rolling silently in the background. What’s playing? When people are walking past your booth, you’ve got about 5 seconds to catch their attention. I ask [USGS video producer] Steve Wessells to put together a highlight video. Sometimes you’ll see people glance at the video and then do a double take because something has caught their eye. People very rarely stand there and watch [the whole thing]. What kinds of questions do you get? These are generally professional scientists with pretty straightforward questions. They need to find some information and they don’t know where to find it. Or they need to make some kind of professional connection with the USGS and they don't know who to contact, or how to navigate a website. I’d say about 40 to 50 percent of our questions are about employment. How many visitors did you get this year? The first night, the icebreaker session, was a feeding frenzy. As many as three to five hundred people came to the booth. We gave away 150 copies of one map within the first hour or so. How do you staff the booth? We always try to have at least one information specialist in the booth. Here at AGU it’s usually either me or Jan Nelson from EROS [Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.] Then we recruit about two scientists to help handle all the people. Often we get science questions that they can answer and we can’t. The scientists in the booth are volunteers? Yes, I send out a call about a week or two before the conference and ask for volunteers [from USGS scientists already attending AGU]. I usually get all the people I need. How do you prepare for AGU? It’s a very detail-oriented job, and I am a very detail-oriented person. I think spreadsheets are gifts from the gods. Beginning in January, I keep track of all the new publications that come out of USGS.  Then about three to four months before the conference I’ll start reviewing that and seeing which publications might be good to have in the booth. AGU is mostly about hazards, water, and satellite imagery. Mapping is always of interest to everybody. I create a handout listing all the new and featured products that we have in the booth with our [web addresses] so somebody can just take that piece of paper. I made a special employment handout this time. Every year I keep track of how many copies of everything we give out, so I know next year how many I need. It’s a lot of work. If all of our information is available online, why do we need a booth? Sure, it’s all online, but who’s ever going to know it’s there, or where to find it? Even I discover things about our website that I don’t even know existed. Do you have to do a lot of work to set up the booth? We came in on Sunday and we set up the booth for about five hours. Then we came in on Monday and spent another three hours finishing up. There’s a real science to laying out an exhibit, because people tend to only see what's flat on the table. You want to put all the most important information flat on the table and then the less important information up on the racks. Jan Nelson (left) and Liz Colvard staff the USGS booth at the 2015 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco. Peter Haeussler is shown on the video screen. The booth has a table with handouts and vertical panels with displays.(Credit: Rex Sanders, USGS. Public domain.) Every morning I come in one to two hours before the conference starts. I get our computers set up and I clean up from the previous day. The USGS booth is right across from NASA’s very large booth. What’s that like? I very deliberately picked a space facing NASA because they are the hub of all activity in the exhibit hall. Our booth gets so much more business when we’re right by NASA than when we’re down on one of the aisles. Do you enjoy this? I love it! I enjoy chatting with people and having that face-to-face interaction with the public. Sometimes people are so excited with the information that you’ve given them. People love the USGS. It makes you feel good about your job. Anything else people should know about our booth? Most of the scientists who volunteer to work in our booth, when they leave, they say things like, "That was a lot of fun, I didn’t realize," or, "I've learned so much about the USGS doing this." I don’t think our scientists realize what a great opportunity it is for them when they work in the booth, how much they learn and get out of it, and how rewarding it can be for them. #mapping

EarthView–Saudi Wheat Experiment Relied on Fossil Water: EarthViews is a continuing series in which we share a USGS Image of the Week featuring the USGS/NASA Landsat program. From the artistry of Earth imagery to natural and human-caused land change over time, check back every Friday to finish your week with a visual flourish! This Landsat 8 image, taken on February 21, 2016, of the deserts of Saudi Arabia show conditions after agriculture began. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) The EarthView: Saudi Wheat Experiment Relied on Fossil Water Description: In the mid-1980s, Saudi Arabia embarked on an ambitious agricultural plan to grow crops in its desert areas using ancient fossil water deep beneath the sand, and installed center-pivot irrigation systems in the barren Wadi As-Sirhan basin in the northwest part of the country. The water, which was once used to grow fruit, vegetables and wheat, was buried deep underground for thousands of years. These Landsat images show the remarkable transformation of desert sand in 1986 into green, circular fields—some as large as 1 kilometer across—by 2016. This Landsat 5 image, taken on February 2, 1986, of the deserts of Saudi Arabia show conditions before agriculture began. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) The drawback with center-pivot irrigation lies in the fact that water in these aquifers is not recharged. Rainfall here only averages 100 to 200 millimeters per year, making groundwater in the area a nonrenewable resource. Hydrologists predict it will only be feasible to pump the groundwater for another 50 years, so domestic wheat production will be phased out. Local farmers are being encouraged to engage in alternative sustainable agricultural activities, such as greenhouse farming using advance drip irrigation techniques, to produce fruits and vegetables. Future Landsat data acquisitions will be useful in monitoring and seeing how the changes in farming techniques affect the landscape. Hungry for some science, but you don’t have time for a full-course research plate? Then check out USGS Science Snippets, our snack-sized science series that focuses on the fun, weird, and fascinating stories of USGS science. #mapping

EarthView–Wildfires Scorch Pampas Region of Argentina: EarthViews is a continuing series in which we share a USGS Image of the Week featuring the USGS/NASA Landsat program. From the artistry of Earth imagery to natural and human-caused land change over time, check back every Friday to finish your week with a visual flourish! This Landsat 8 view of the Pampas region of Argentina, taken on December 22, 2016, shows initial fire scars. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) The EarthView: Wildfires Scorch Pampas Region of Argentina Description: Since mid-December 2016, roughly two dozen wildfires in the Pampas region of Argentina have consumed almost 2.5 million acres while unleashing giant plumes of dense smoke above the rural landscapes. Likely caused by thunderstorms that followed a stretch of severe drought in the winter and spring of 2016, the first fires started southwest of the city of Bahía Blanca. A scene from Landsat 8’s Operational Land Imager (OLI) on December 22, 2016, shows smaller red burn scars from those initial blazes—an area of approximately 100,000 acres. This followup Landsat 8 view of the Pampas region of Argentina, taken on January 7, 2017, shows significantly increased fire scars. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) Despite rain in the final days of December, a handful of hot spots persisted, and the fires spread. When it passed overhead on January 7, 2017, OLI captured dramatic imagery of large red burn scars across the landscape of Argentina’s central province of La Pampa, and its southern province of Rio Negro. On January 5, 2017, the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters,” of which USGS is a member, granted Argentina’s request for Charter members’ available satellite data to help in rapidly assessing the extent of damage and determining a disaster response. Hungry for some science, but you don’t have time for a full-course research plate? Then check out USGS Science Snippets, our snack-sized science series that focuses on the fun, weird, and fascinating stories of USGS science. #mapping

EarthView–Marree Man Geoglyph in Australia Does Reappearing Act: EarthViews is a continuing series in which we share a USGS Image of the Week featuring the USGS/NASA Landsat program. From the artistry of Earth imagery to natural and human-caused land change over time, check back every Friday to finish your week with a visual flourish! This Landsat 8 image, taken in November of 2016, shows the Australian outback after the Marree Man was re-etched. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) The EarthView: Marree Man Geoglyph in Australia Does Reappearing Act Description: In June 1998, a pilot discovered a strange sight in the Australian outback that wasn’t there before—a huge outline of what appeared to be an Aboriginal man throwing either a boomerang or a stick. It turned out to be a geoglyph, which is a design on the ground typically made of natural elements and best viewed from above. This geoglyph was distinctive and large enough to be clearly visible in Landsat images. This Landsat 5 image, taken in May of 1998, shows the Australian outback before the Marree Man was created. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) Its origin remains a mystery, as no credible source has claimed responsibility. Over the years, the “Marree Man” faded because of rain and wind. In July 2000, Landsat 7 shows an outline with far fewer details. This Landsat 5 image, taken in June of 1998, shows the Australian outback with the Marree Man. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) In August 2016, the Marree Man was re-etched. A grader and GPS were used to re-create the outline, and this time the geoglyph is expected to last longer. The lines created are wind grooves that will trap water, so over time the outline should turn green. This Landsat 7 image, taken in July of 2000, shows the Marree Man faded from weathering. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) Now clearly visible again in the November 2016 Landsat 8 image, Marree Man is among the biggest geoglyphs on Earth. It stretches 3.5 kilometers from the tip of his stick to his toes. From an airplane, a person would need to be at around 3,000 feet to view it in its entirety. Hungry for some science, but you don’t have time for a full-course research plate? Then check out USGS Science Snippets, our snack-sized science series that focuses on the fun, weird, and fascinating stories of USGS science. #mapping

EarthView–Expansion at the Port of Rotterdam: EarthViews is a continuing series in which we share a USGS Image of the Week featuring the USGS/NASA Landsat program. From the artistry of Earth imagery to natural and human-caused land change over time, check back every Friday to finish your week with a visual flourish! This Landsat 7 view of Rotterdam harbor, taken on September 28, 2001, predates the beginning of the Maasvlakte 2 port expansion project. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) The EarthView: Expansion at the Port of Rotterdam Description: A large infrastructure project has changed the shape of the coastline of the Netherlands while increasing the cargo capacity at Europe’s largest port. This pair of Landsat images spanning 15 years shows the Maasvlakte 2 project, which is an expansion of the Port of Rotterdam. The port provides accessibility for the transportation of cargo from Rotterdam to the rest of Europe. Land building at Maasvlakte 2 began in 2008. About 230 million cubic meters of sand were dredged from the North Sea to create about 5,000 acres of new land. In addition, 7 million metric tons of stone were used to construct new seawalls. In this Landsat 8 view of Rotterdam Harbor, taken on September 13, 2016, the completed Maasvlakte 2 project can be seen, which added about 5,000 acres of new land to the port. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) Commercial cargo operations at the new Maasvlakte 2 facility began in December 2014. Its terminals currently can hold 2.7 million individual 20-foot shipping containers. There is more space for terminals to be built on the new land once demand increases, which would increase the port’s cargo handling capacity even more. The expansion of land resulted in some loss of permanently flooded sandbanks that affected the availability of food for some protected bird species, such as the common scoter, the sandwich tern, and the common tern. However, this loss was compensated for by establishing a protected seabed area south of the Maasvlakte 2 in the Voordelta. Also, three bird resting areas in the seabed were established where boat traffic is restricted. Landsat can help monitor this coast to ensure the positive impact of these protected areas as compensation for the land expansion. Hungry for some science, but you don’t have time for a full-course research plate? Then check out USGS Science Snippets, our snack-sized science series that focuses on the fun, weird, and fascinating stories of USGS science. #mapping

EarthView–As Glaciers Worldwide Are Retreating, One Defies the Trend: EarthViews is a continuing series in which we share a USGS Image of the Week featuring the USGS/NASA Landsat program. From the artistry of Earth imagery to natural and human-caused land change over time, check back every Friday to finish your week with a visual flourish! In this Landsat 8 image of the Southern Patagonia Icefield in Chile, taken October 22, 2016, Pio XI glacier can be seen having advanced in both directions. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat(Public domain.) The EarthView: As Glaciers Worldwide Are Retreating, One Defies the Trend Description: Many glaciers around the world are losing ice mass and retreating. One such area is the Southern Patagonia Icefield (SPI) in Chile. However, one glacier in the SPI is actually defying the worldwide trend. The Pio XI Glacier is advancing, and based on scientific studies, there is no clear reason why. Pio XI flows from the SPI toward the west then splits into two fronts. From 1998 to 2014, the southern front advanced 593 meters. The northern front, which flows into Lake Greve, advanced 107 meters in the same time period. This pair of Landsat images shows that all of the other glaciers that flow down from the SPI into Lake Greve are retreating. In this Landsat 5 image of the Southern Patagonia Icefield in Chile, taken October 4, 1986, Pio XI glacier can be seen bordering Lake Greve. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat(Public domain.) The complex behavior of glaciers involves more than just measuring where the ice ends. Scientists theorize that something is happening inside or beneath Pio XI to make it advance, rather than an external factor like climate. The glacier flows from a wide accumulation area into a narrow outlet, and the depth of the lakes it flows into, along with the speed of the glacier’s flow, may also be factors. Whatever the cause, glaciers continue to be closely monitored, and in the remote region of the SPI, that monitoring needs to be done with remote sensing. Landsat offers several observations per year in these areas and will help scientists understand the glacier’s future behavior. Hungry for some science, but you don’t have time for a full-course research plate? Then check out USGS Science Snippets, our snack-sized science series that focuses on the fun, weird, and fascinating stories of USGS science. #mapping

EarthView–Landsat Chronicles Deforestation in Colombia: EarthViews is a continuing series in which we share a USGS Image of the Week featuring the USGS/NASA Landsat program. From the artistry of Earth imagery to natural and human-caused land change over time, check back every Friday to finish your week with a visual flourish! This Landsat 8 image, taken on March 11, 2016, shows significant deforestation in Colombia. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) The EarthView: Landsat Chronicles Deforestation in Colombia Description: Deforestation has long been a fact of life in the Amazon, Andean, and Caribbean regions of Colombia, South America, something that Landsat satellite data have thoroughly chronicled through the years. Landsat images used by Colombia.s Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) determined that total forest land cover in the country has dropped from 56.8 percent in 1990 to 52.6 percent by 2012, or almost 5 million hectares. This Landsat 4 image, taken on December 22, 1989, shows the forests of Colombia. Credit: USGS/NASA Landsat Program. (Public domain.) Driven by logging, mining, and conversion to agricultural uses, Colombia lost 140,356 hectares of forest cover in 2014 alone, according to IDEAM, and 120,934 hectares in 2013. These scenes from Landsat 4 in 1989 and Landsat 8 in 2016 reveal the dramatic change over time. Dark green depicts rain forest in both images. The pink, yellow, and lighter green indicate the removal of healthy forest. Colombia has committed to zero net deforestation in the Amazon by 2020, to allow no overall loss of forest area or forest quality while allowing some flexibility to meet local needs. Satellite images, including those from Landsat, will continue to be an important component in monitoring this goal. Hungry for some science, but you don’t have time for a full-course research plate? Then check out USGS Science Snippets, our snack-sized science series that focuses on the fun, weird, and fascinating stories of USGS science. #mapping

USGS Support to the Department of the Defense - U.S. Northern Command: In 2003, USGS partnered with USNORTHCOM to establish a liaison between the two organizations to facilitate science support in the event of a major natural disaster.  The USGS liaison coordinates requests for science information and expertise, and general civil support and humanitarian assistance activities.  This science support enables USNORTHCOM to perform critical national defense and civil support missions, as well as understand the impacts of natural disasters. Prompted by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on American soil, the USNORTHCOM mission is to deter, prevent and defeat threats and aggression aimed at the United States, its territories, and interests, drawing on the full capabilities of all U.S. military services, including the National Guard and Coast Guard. USNORTHCOM’s geographic area of responsibility includes the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida, and portions of the Caribbean region to include The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lakefront Airport, LA - A member of the 514th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and two New Orleans Paramedics move a patient on a stretcher to a Canadian C-17 Globemaster III, at the Lakefront Airport in New Orleans, LA, Aug.31, 2008. Members of the 514th are evacuating civilians out of New Orleans prior to Hurricane Gustav making landfall.  (Credit: Tech. Sgt. Sean M.Worrell, U.S. Air Force . Public domain.) USNORTHCOM’s mission also includes domestic disaster relief operations that occur during fires, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes when an emergency exceeds the capabilities of local, state and federal agencies. In most cases, support will be limited, localized and specific. When the scope of the disaster is reduced and civilian agencies can again assume full control and management without military assistance, USNORTHCOM will exit. To respond to disasters of such magnitude, USNORTHCOM needs access to the best available science, tools and technologies to assess the extent of damage, as well as evaluate additional impacts and to identify areas where future disasters could impact life and property. The USGS is uniquely poised to provide this science to monitor, assess, and conduct targeted research on a wide range of natural hazards to provide the information needed to enhance preparedness, response, and resilience.  The following products, programs and coordination are a few examples of the support provided by the USGS to USNORTHCOM.   Situational Awareness and Exercise Support: The USGS provides USNORTHCOM with a wide range of information products to support situational awareness and support exercises and planning. For example, the USGS Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system provides fatality and economic loss impact estimates following significant earthquakes worldwide. These alerts are sent to a variety of recipients including the White House, State Department, USAID, and USNORTHCOM. PAGER is built on the USGS ShakeMap, which provides a near-real-time visualization of shaking intensity following significant earthquakes. The ShakeMap products are used by federal, state, and local organizations, both public and private, for post-earthquake response and recovery, public and scientific information, as well as for preparedness exercises and disaster planning. FEMA Region 10 Exercise Specialist Gala Gulacsik presents the Priority Core Capability survey results for the Cascadia Rising 2016 Exercise.(Credit: Dan Bass , FEMA. Public domain.) This past summer, USNORTHCOM and USGS managers and scientists participated in the FEMA-led Cascadia Rising exercise.  Aimed at simulating perhaps the most dangerous disaster scenario that emergency management and public safety officials in the Pacific Northwest could face, the scenario presented a hypothetical magnitude-9 earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone with a resulting tsunami where all levels of government simulated response and mitigation operations. USGS provided on-site support to USNORTHCOM and other participating agencies by providing PAGER and ShakeMap products as well as science support briefings.   National Geospatial Program The USGS supports the Nation through the availability of standard geospatial products from The National Map (TNM).  The National Geospatial Program maintains TNM layers and makes them available to the public and our partners through TNM viewer and download platform.  One key TNM product that now supports USNORTHCOM and other DOD partners during a natural disaster is the USGS topographic map or US Topo.  Hard copy US Topo maps are made available through a partnership with the Defense Logistics Agency.  This new capability enables immediate requests and delivery of this USGS resource to the impacted area.   A digital terrain model derived from high resolution lidar (top) shows the vegetation removed revealing the underlying volcanic geology, including: lahar (volcanic mudflow) deposits, debris avalanche collapse deposits, and a welded ash flow that was deposited at very high temperature. The bottom aerial image shows the same area without vegetation and tree canopy removed. (Credit: Dave Ramsey, USGS. Public domain.) The National Geospatial Program facilitates the coordination and collection of enhanced elevation data through the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP). The primary goal of 3DEP is to systematically collect elevation data in the form of high-quality light detection and ranging (lidar) data over the conterminous United States, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IfSAR) data is collected over Alaska. The science supported by lidar provides information and modeling data that is used in numerous hazards-related products including the major areas of concern for USNORTHCOM, which are floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and landslides. Lidar has the ability to penetrate tree canopies, allowing scientists to view the bare earth.  This technology and resulting data has proven to be a significant resource in the planning, mitigation and response to hazard events where these disasters could impact life and property. The National Geospatial Program also provides the Disaster Coordination Preparedness and Response Web Map application for all major disasters. This application combines standard mapping products with partner agency data to support situational awareness and resource management prior to and during a natural disaster.  The September 28, 2016, Hurricane Matthew event is a recent example of a disaster supported by the web map. These web map applications are used internally and also shared with partner agencies to assist in the coordination, management and response to a disaster event.   Aerial oblique photo of flooding in southeast U.S. taken in Octrober 2016 after Hurricane Matthew. These images and associated data can be found on the USGS - National Map Disaster Coordination Preparedness & Response - Hurricane Matthew 2016 website.  (Public domain.) Additional Support The International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’ is a mechanism that provides satellite information in support of worldwide disaster relief. The USGS is an active participant, drawing on government and commercial data sources to support Charter needs. Extensive USGS historical and current satellite data have proven useful to disaster management agencies, international relief organizations, and the science community at large. The USGS can facilitate the activation of the Charter for disaster support and also provides archive for Charter data through the Hazards Data Distribution System (HDDS) so that USNORTHCOM and other partners can access the data. HDDS is an event-based interface that provides a single point-of-entry for access to remotely sensed imagery and other geospatial datasets and science products as they become available during a natural disaster response.  Lastly, the USGS supports USNORTHCOM’s Humanitarian Assistance (HA) Program to promote and educate partner nations, improving their ability to prepare for and respond to a natural disaster, thus improving the security of the United States.  The USGS has a history of collaboration with USNORTHCOM HA projects including participation in civil protection meetings at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, CO., science support for early warning flood hazard projects on the Mexico/US border, a Bahamian Government GIS workshop, a seismic monitoring knowledge exchange, and a USGS landslide knowledge exchange.    The USGS is proud to offer world-class science capabilities to support the Department of Defense both domestically and abroad. As the sole science agency for the Department of the Interior, USGS will continue to provide "science for a changing world," matching its talent and knowledge to the progress of science and technology, while enhancing preparedness, response, and resiliency in the face of increasing natural disasters.     #mapping