Tools and Data

This EET chapter uses ESRI's ArcGIS Server technology which is an web mapping tool that uses many of the tools and functions accessed through more traditional desktop geographic information systems (GIS) like My World GIS (see EET Chapter Detecting El Nino in Sea Surface Temperature Data) and ESRI's Arcmap

The advantage of this browser-based application is that there is no software or data to download or install. This specific activity, Watershed Dynamics is part of National Geographic's FieldScope project which includes projects on the Chesapeake Bay, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and land use impacts on streams within national parks of the National Capital Region.

Other examples of web mapping can be found at ESRI"s Web Mapping Links

ESRI

Educational pricing is available to all qualified institutions. Please contact area representative for pricing information.
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ArcGIS Server Resource Center

National Geographic FieldScope is a web-based mapping, analysis, and collaboration tool designed to support geographic investigations and engage students as citizen scientists investigating real-world issues - both in the classroom and in outdoor education settings. FieldScope enhances student scientific investigations by providing rich geographic context - through maps, mapping activities, and a rich community where student fieldwork and data is integrated with that of peers and professionals, adding analysis opportunities and meaning to student investigations.

NG FieldScope

• uses cutting-edge technology to make interactive mapping and geospatial data analysis tools accessible to students via the web in an intuitive package that is free and does not require software installation.
• enables students and classrooms to upload their own field data - including quantitative measurements, field notes, and media, such as photos - and to see it in relation to data from peers and professional scientists.
• fosters collaborative sharing and analysis of data among the FieldScope community and beyond.

National Geographic is partnering with groups - across a range of scientific disciplines - that are interested in exploring how FieldScope can better support student geographic learning and outdoor investigations.

National Geographic Society

The FieldScope web-GIS is available for free for use in educational settings.

These sites provide 32-km gridded data for a comprehensive range of atmospheric and hydrological parameters for North America including temperature, wind, pressure, and precipitation. The data is interpolated to provide continuous spatial coverage. As such, this data can be used to evaluate both the water and energy budget for regional-scale questions.

This regional reanalysis provides long-term, consistent atmospheric and hydrologic data for North America. By incorporating regional models into global ones and improving data assimilation methods, more detailed inquiry into the energy and water budget can be preformed than traditional methods that use global reanalyses.

Reanalyses are amalgamations of multiple raw and processed datasets. They provide a way for a fair comparison of regional or global data with continuous coverage over a standardized spatial and temporal resolution. The complete dataset is available in GRIB format. A large subset of the output parameters are also available in netCDF format for 1979-2007.

North America: Canada, United States, Mexico in 32 km raster grid at the highest resolution

1979-present in 3-hour increments at the highest resolution

National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)