Resources
Initial Publication Date: February 10, 2011
Week 1: From the Outside Looking In—Changing Our Perspective of Earth
- NASA's Earth Observatory Image of the Day is a great place to find interesting (and current) images, stories, and discoveries about climate and the environment that emerge from NASA research, including its satellite missions, in-the-field research, and climate models. You can browse images by date or topic. Click on individual images for details and related stories.
- Need more ideas about how NASA data might fit into your classroom? Check out these NASA Featured Research Articles that describe, in story format, uses of Earth observing data.
Week 2: Analyzing Change Over Time
- To learn more about using ImageJ, refer to the ImageJ Documentation pages.
- Here is the NASA Earth Observatory article where the Lake Mead image came from.
- NASA Earth Observatory Image of the Day - Lake Mead in Drought.
- NASA/Goddard News Story about Lake Mead.
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography news report about Lake Mead.
- Bureau of Reclamation Hoover Dam FAQs.
- Bureau of Reclamation Lake Mead FAQs.
- Bureau of Reclamation Historical Image Library.
- Bureau of Reclamation Lake Mead elevation data.
- Auto-updating graph of lake elevation data.
- Current U.S. Drought Monitor Report from the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
- For a more detailed investigation of drought, see the Earthlabs Drought Unit.
- Learn more about working with non-destructive overlays in ImageJ.
- Practice your skills with the Earth Exploration Toolbook investigation Annotating Change in Satellite Images.
- Download and explore more spatially calibrated images from the MODIS Image Gallery.
- Reinforce your understanding of scale and measurement with the Earth Exploration Toolbook investigation Measuring Distance and Area in Satellite Images.
- Image pairs from Earth Observatory
- Earth Observatory: World of Change: time series of images that demonstrate change over time.
Week 3: Eyes on the Ice
- Refer to the ImageJ documentation on stacks.
- Learn more about satellite remote sensing.
- Listen to Dr. Parkinson's podcast about uses for the Aqua satellite data.
- Read more about Dr. Parkinson's work on polar bears.
- Read a project Aqua biography about Dr. Claire Parkinson.
- Learn more about NASA's Aqua mission.
- View a video primer on Arctic sea ice by NASA Climate Scientist TomWagner, Arctic Sea Ice 101.
- Read All About Sea Ice from the National Snow And Ice Data Center
- Watch a NASA/GSFC animation of Arctic Monthly Average sea ice from 1979 to 2002.
- Read the NASA Earth Observatory article about Arctic sea ice minimum and maximum extents.
- Go to Whither Arctic Sea Ice, the Earth Exploration Toolbook investigation on which this activity was based.
- For more background on Dr. Claire Parkinson's research, see Claire's research.
- For more about the polar bear population situation, read the report: Are polar bear populations increasing?
- For more curriculum about Earth's cryosphere, look at EarthLabs Cryosphere Module.
Week 4: Using Satellite Data to Study the Ocean
- Click here for a full list of Giovanni's capabilities.
- Search The Giovanni-NEO Instructional Cookbook for step-by-step instructions showing how to use Giovanni and NEO to look at Earth's various regions and the atmospheric, oceanic, and land surface processes which affect them.
- SeaWiFS
- Orbview-2 satellite
- MODIS
- Aqua
- Giovanni User's Manual
- Help with Giovanni functions
- SeaWiFS information
- MODIS-Aqua and MODIS-Terra
Week 5: Monitoring Invasive Species
- Instructional Materials for AEJEE
- Getting started with GIS
- Download documentation for AEJEE
- Geospatial Technology Curriculum Page
- Instructional Materials for ArcGIS
- Zebra and Quagga Mussel background
- USDA National Invasive Species Information Center
- USDA Resource Library Database
- National Atlas of the United States - has all kinds of shapefiles and information
- Global Invasive Species database
- GIS aids in response to CA lake threatened by Pike
- Tamarix Information from the Desert Museum of Arizona (http://www.desertmuseum.org)
- Tamarix Invasion White Sands National Monument
- The Worst Weeds - database from Nature Conservancy
- More information about Invasives (http://www.desertmuseum.org)
- Illustrated Guide to Arizona Weeds
- GIS aids in response to CA lake threatened by Pike
- iMap Invasives - online mapping of invasives
Week 6: Following Rivers Through Time
- NASA study on Louisiana subsidence: Sensing the Swamp Beneath the Trees
- Alaska Satellite Facility Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC)
- RADARSAT-1
- NASA Earth Observatory Image of the Day: Mississippi Meanders
- NASA Earth Observatory Feature Article: LIDAR - In the Wake of the Storm
- NASA Earth Observatory Feature Article: Weighing Earth's Water from Space
- The Times-Picayune article: Last Chance
- Last Chance Series of Articles: Part 1 - Coastal Erosion
- Last Chance Series of Articles: Part 2 - Losing Ground
- Last Chance Series of Articles:Part 3 - Laying the Groundwork
- Animation of River Meanders forming: Meander and Floodplain Animation
- COSEE: Central Gulf of Mexico educational resource site COSEE Resource Site
- Louisiana Costal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force: LaCoast - Excellent source of satellite images, maps and animations
- TERRA Image of Mississippi Meanders TERRA satellite image of Mississippi Meanders
Week 7: Investigating Earthquake Activity
- John Snow site at UCLA
- John Snow: The London Cholera Epidemic of 1854
- Cholera AEJEE and ArcGIS activity in the Diseases section of these lessons from JMU
- Transcript from Live Web Chat: Earthquakes - How, Where and Why? with Margaret Glasscoe
- QuakeSim Project Website
- DESDynI (Deformation, Ecosystem Structure and Dynamics of Ice) Project Website
- USGS Earthquakes
- Earthquake data
- Solid earth working group home page
- NASA earthquake research
- Discovery Channel Worldviewer
- Flash Animations to Use in Class
- NY Times Interactive, before and after: Haiti
- IRIS educational resources, great animations
- Great site for images of volcanoes
- Mineral Sciences Homepage
- SERC teaching GeoSciences Resources
Week 8: Monitoring Fires
- Aspen Fire, Arizona: Image of the Day at NASA's Earth Observatory
- Aspen and Helen 2 Fires, Tucson, Arizona: Image of the Day at NASA's Earth Observatory
- Visible Earth: Fires in Arizona and New Mexico in NASA's Visible Earth collection
- Fires in Arizona and New Mexico at NASA's Earth Observatory
- Arizona and New Mexico Fire Images at NASA's Earth Observatory
- Dr. Steve Chien
- NASA Satellites Eye Forest Fires
- Aqua Project Science
- Terra the EOS flagship
- MODIS Rapid Response System
- Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment (ASE)
- Earth Observing-1
- 60 Minutes Program "Age of Megafires" viewable online. Shows the results of the Aspen Fire Age of Megafires
- Wildland Fire Graphics and information from CBS News Wildland Fire
- Bruce Coffland Presentation: Multispectral Scanners for Wildland Fire Assessment (Acrobat (PDF) 4.5MB Mar30 10)
- NASA Earth Observatory Feature Article: NASA Demonstrates New Technology for Monitoring Fires from Space
- NASA Earth Observatory Feature Article: Fire Alarms from Orbit
- NASA Earth Observatory Feature Article: Burn Recovery in Yellowstone
- NASA Earth Observatory Image of the Day: Yellowstone Recovers from 1988 Fires
- Read more about this NASA partnership at NASA Satellites Eye Forest Fires
- Read more about NASA's role in the management of the 1988 fires, summarized from Yellowstone Science web pages and The Fires of '88 by Ross W. Simpson.
- View an animation of the fire progression from NASA.
- To learn more read the articles about the Arnica fire from September 24th and October 12th, 2009 listed below:
- NASA Earth Observatory Story: Arnica Fire
- NASA Earth Observatory Story: Arnica Fire Oct
- Wildland Fire in Yellowstone on the web.
- View pictures of the major facilities at Yellowstone National Park during the fire. Included are the features: Grant Village Campground, Madison Junction, Old Faithful Lodge and the East and North Entrances.Pictures of 1988 fires in PDF (Acrobat (PDF) 5.1MB Apr2 10)
Week 9: Googling Around
- Navigating in Google Earth
- Google Earth User Guide
- Dr. Leroy Chiao, PhD Astronaut: includes biographical information, image gallery, video clips, and more
- Expedition 10 Earth Observation Photos
- Theme Magazine interview with Leroy Chiao
- Shooting for the Heart: Astronaut Finds Passion for Photography in Space
- Excalibur Almaz
- Google Earth User Guide
- Earth from Space: A dataset of selected astronaut-acquired images of Earth (including a clickable map)
- The Gateway to Astronaut Photography from Earth: hosts the best and most complete online collection of astronaut photographs of the Earth
- Google Earth User Guide: Tours
Week 10: Exploring Precipitation Patterns
- Using GPS devices with Google Earth
- Google Earth Guide to KML
- Satellite imagery of Icelandic volcano ash plume
- Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Maps and imagery
- Short movie showing TRMM
- Global Precipitation Measurement
- TRMM background
- NASA Earth Observatory Feature Article: Urban Rain
- TRMM observed flooding rains in U.S. northeast
- KML/KMZ examples for NASA imagery data
- Additional TRMM KMZ data
- Heavy Rain Brings Flooding to the Midwest
- National Weather Data in KML/KMZ formats
Week 11: Using Satellite Data to Investigate Deforestation
- Color Models
- How Color Film Works
- Digital Cameras and Bayer Patterns
- Color film
- AVIRIS
- NASA Earth Observatory - Tierras Bajas Deforestation
- NASA Earth Observatory Feature Article: Tropical Deforestation
- NASA Article: Tropical Deforestation Affects Rainfall in the U.S. and Around the Globe
- NASA Article: NASA Funded Studies Suggest Strategies for Reducing Deforestation Carbon Emissions
- CNN Video: Deforestation in the Rainforest
- FAO's State of the World's Forests Report
- NASA Earth Observatory Feature Article: Stealing Rain from the Rainforest
- The Landsat Program
- USGS Landsat Global Visualization Viewer
- USGS EarthExplorer
- Landsat Band Combinations
- Interpreting Landsat Band Combinations
Week 12: Comparing Geospatial Tools
- [link https://neo.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 'NASA Earth Observations' new]
- ImageJ Documentation
- NASA MODIS instrument site
- NASA Oceanography
- NASA Earth Observatory Feature Article: Ocean & Climate
- JPL's Our Ocean Portal
- Aquarius Mission page
- About TOPP
- Whalenet - Source of the data in this activity
- Sea Turtle Tracking Projects at the Caribbean Conservation Corporation
- NOAA Fisheries Olive Ridley Turtle Page
- US Fish and Wildlife Olive Ridley Turtle Page
- Argos Transmitters Protecting Biodiversity
- Tracking of Pacific Pelagics
- Arkive Videos and Images about Olive Ridley Turtles