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Narrator: United States taxpayers pay $775-million dollars each year to fight wildfires on public land.
The knowledge, ability, and skills to predict fire danger...move firefighters and equipment to places where they're needed...and understand the conditions and tendencies of fires...is a graphic example of an effective use of taxpayers' money.
The ability to do these things requires repeated land surface observations over entire growing seasons. And for these observations to be useful, they must be plotted on maps.
A cost-effective way to make these observations and to map them is by using satellite technology. Since the early 1970's, instruments on satellites have recorded the land surface each time they circled the earth. More than two decades of earth observations enable people to build a historical record of things like the type, distribution, and condition of fire-fuels. Records such as these can then be compared with maps to track environmental change over time.
As our environment changes and pressure builds on conflicting ways to use the land, the need for newer and more sophisticated maps and images continues to grow. The job of the U.S. Geological Survey, the world's premier earth science organization, and specifically its national mapping program, becomes more challenging.
The national mapping program's earth resources observation systems data center -- EROS, for short -- leads the USGS in storing, researching, and distributing timely data for predicting fire danger as well as many other programs and activities that rely on data on land surface conditions.
Satellite data are only one of many forms of information the USGS gathers and uses for various earth science needs.
Since Leonardo da Vinci laid the foundation for modern cartography with his drawings of Italian cities, technology has spurred the development of this science. Aerial photos and space images have increased its accuracy. New information systems, where data are linked to geographic locations, increase the amount of data people can manipulate and visualize.
Most of the earth's surface is mapped, but the landscape continues to change. As a result, the need for new maps grows. The earth changes both naturally and because of human activity. Just as the earth changes, so have the methods the USGS uses to record the tracks of people and nature.
Map information has been necessary to develop America's economy and resources. The USGS, as the government's principal civilian mapping agency, produces geographic information in graphic and computer forms.
Accuracy has always been a concern for USGS cartographers. While it remains a high priority, keeping up with change is key to many USGS customers today...because the earth is changing fast.The earth continues to change naturally through events such as hurricanes, fire, drought, floods, and volcanic eruptions. Now, in addition to natural processes, the earth is changed by people.
As a major field center of the USGS, EROS has a small group of scientists who investigate these changes. They work in disciplines such as geology, water, and mapping, to produce unbiased information for decision-makers.
Geographic information systems use sophisticated software to produce maps and other geographic models. These systems help USGS scientist's display and study earth science problems.
Geographic information systems require tremendous amounts of data tied to geographic locations over time. USGS scientists get some of these data from satellites.
Remotely sensed information -- data acquired from a distance -- comes from sensors carried on satellites and aircraft.
Earth system monitoring requires USGS scientists to use repeat coverage from every available source. These data are combined with those from other agencies to save money and build the best data sets for many, diverse uses.
The department of the interior leads a national land cover mapping program gathering information that describes the land at many scales. This program is possible because of the vision and cooperation of several government agencies.
This national approach to characterizing the land surface uses the USGS national mapping program's traditional stock in trade -- elevation data -- along with many other types of data to study ecosystems and the earth as a whole.
The program pools both data and money to build monitoring tools at low cost. Pooling data saves money by building discrete data bases for exploring a changing planet.
After years of building data bases that help the USGS and earth scientists worldwide explore and monitor a changing planet, change itself has become the focus of much of the work of EROS.
In sum, the USGS EROS data center is a steward of data for monitoring the earth through four important activities: developing computer information systems, managing earth observation data, investigating global environmental land issues, and producing remotely sensed global data sets.
Federal law requires the USGS EROS data center to manage a national archive of remotely sensed land data. EROS stores and distributes data on the conditions of the land surface -- data often unavailable from any other source.
A byte is a single character of data and the unit in which computer storage capacity is measured. The EROS archive now holds about 40 terabytes of data. One terabyte equals slightly more than one trillion bytes. A new generation of satellites will supply the EROS archive with volumes of data many times greater that we receive today.
Archiving the data and conducting research into their uses are government functions. Often these functions result in opportunities for private industry. For example, many private companies contract to perform image processing work made possible by USGS and EROS pioneers.
The USGS and EROS also work with companies in private industry who expand people's knowledge of the earth's resources. Our relationships with these companies benefit taxpayers by offering federal earth science agencies valuable support.
For instance, satellite remote sensing systems today also are being launched and operated by many foreign countries. Soon, the USGS and EROS expect that earth observing satellites will be launched by commercial firms. The USGS and EROS are committed to forming alliances with satellite operators worldwide to ensure that data are preserved and available to scientists and other users.
The USGS tradition of making earth science data and services available to the greatest possible number of users has positioned EROS to be a key part of NASA's mission to planet earth program. A recent 65-thousand-square-foot addition to the data center supports NASA's Earth Observing System program and other satellite data. The building addition, highly trained people, and increased volumes of data will help EROS and other people explore our changing planet.
EROS was established near Sioux Falls to develop advanced computer information systems; manage earth observation data; investigate global land issues; and produce remotely sensed data sets.
While America's information needs have changed, the mission of the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS data center remains steadfast. EROS is a steward of earth science information for exploring a changing planet.
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