Articles

Map showing Rhode Island. Areas in red have a high GEMI index.

How to use ArcGIS Pro and Landsat 8 Imagery to Calculate Chlorophyll Index and Global Environmental Monitoring Index

Jeff Oppong

Learn to create a chlorophyll index using Landsat 8 imagery in ArcGIS Pro with this step-by-step GIS tutorial.

Screenshot from a GIS software program showing an aerial image with geospatial data overlays for Missouri.

Finding GIS Data and Using QGIS to Map Caves

Geo Contributor

Dackery Geiman outlines the challenges he encountered finding geospatial data about caves and using QGIS to map cave density in Missouri.

Elevation map with shades of green.

GIS in Land Use Planning and Surveying

Geo Contributor

Michael Parks explains how he used GIS data and imagery to develop geospatial analysis and maps to recommend potential base camp sites.

A detailed map showing a shaded relief area and a popup with attribute data about a fly fishing shop.

Using GIS to Map Fly Fishing Destinations

Geo Contributor

William Bakemeyer describes how he used QGIS and open source data to create a fly fishing map.

A shaded orange map showing areas of the United States with higher than normal carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Remote Sensing for Carbon Offsetting

Mark Altaweel

Remote sensing and geospatial technologies are being harnessed for carbon offsetting efforts.

Two images - one from 2013 and one from 2021 showing changes in orange in the coastline of an area.

QGIS from a Graduate Student’s Perspective

Geo Contributor

Kent Campbell writes about how he has come to view the benefits of using QGIS as a graduate student.

Map showing the six New England states in red and the red of the states in grey for the continental United States.

Which States are Part of New England?

Caitlin Dempsey

New England is a geographic region in the northeastern tip of the United States that contains six states.

The Map Myth of Here Be Dragons: The Facts and Fictions of Mapmakers

Caitlin Dempsey

What lies at the edge of the known world? Cartographers over the ages have used different ways of showing the unknown.

Top is an aerial of a section of Long Island City and bottom is a city map of the same section from 1879. The historical map has muted pinks and greens for the different areas and show streets and the river.

Lost Underground Rivers

Mark Altaweel

Cities like London and New York City have a long history of paving over rivers.

Planisphere Celeste Meridionale, 1705

Notable Cartographers and Their Maps

Caitlin Dempsey

Notable cartographers have shaped our understanding of the world with their maps, offering remarkable contributions throughout history.

A remote sensing image showing surface temperatures across a section of Paris. The hottest temperatures are in red and the coolest temperatures are in green.

Mapping Heat Vulnerability from Satellite Data

Mark Altaweel

Satellites are being used to measure heat not only on urban heat islands, but also on farms and other locations where rising temperatures are having an impact.

Satellite image of Northern Europe at night.

Earth at Night

Caitlin Dempsey

Nighttime lighting is when the effect of humans on the environment is especially pronounced.

An artistic rendition of a satellite collecting data from a strip of land and ocean.

Mapping the Earth’s Freshwater Bodies

Mark Altaweel

Over 95% of the world's lakes, rivers, and freshwater reservoirs will be measured by a new satellite mission called Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT).

A screenshot showing a transparent green polygon on top of a purple polygon with a dark grey 3D geographic background.

Crowdsourcing Archaeological Data with Participatory GIS

Geo Contributor

People with little or no training in archaeology or geographic computing systems can build GIS data using Humap's Placemaker.

Screenshot from an online app called Suncalc with a satellite image of a lake with sun and shadow measurements in yellow overlaid.

Using Open Source Geospatial Data in Journalism

Mark Altaweel

Geospatial data such as satellite imagery can be used by journalists to verify news stories.

Map showing the Isthmus of Panama with the land areas in yellow and the ocean in blue.

Visual Geography: the Shape of Land Near the Oceans

Caitlin Dempsey

A visual dictionary of geography words that describe the shapes of land near ocean water.

A simple map of the world showing average lake evaporation rate around the world with a shading scale from blue and green for low evaporation and orange and red for high rates of evaporation.

The Global Evaporation of Lakes

Mark Altaweel

Researchers used satellite imagery and modeling to calculate the evaporation volume across over 1.42 million natural and artificial lakes.

Side by side comparison of screenshots of a data layer with a simple red outline and black labels as seen in ArcGIS Online and QGIS.

How to Add Data from ArcGIS Online to QGIS

Caitlin Dempsey

Adding data from an ArGIS Online Map Service or Feature Service into a QGIS map project is fairly easy and quick in most instances.

Natural color Landsat scene showing a brown landscape covered by small clouds that dot the landscape.

Landsat: Longest Running Earth Imagery Program

Caitlin Dempsey

With satellites in orbit since 1972, the Landsat program is the longest running Earth observation program.

A landscape view of tallgrass prairie in Kansas with a strip of blue sky and some light clouds.

Tallgrass Prairie

Katarina Samurović

The American Tallgrass prairie was once one of the largest and most diverse continuous ecosystems on the planet.

Map centered on North Carolina showing the three physiographic provinces.

Geography of North Carolina

Marques Hayes

Explore the diverse geography of North Carolina.

Gray clouds hang in the sky over vegetation dotting the surface of the dune field. Bits of pink clouds appear below the gray and a hint of a rainbow appears in the sky.

Biogeography Definitions

Caitlin Dempsey

Here are some common terms in biogeography, a field of geography that studies the distribution of species.

A Roundup of Geospatial Podcasts

Caitlin Dempsey

Here's a list of GIS / geospatial podcasts you can listen to.

Shaded relief map showing the location of the Lena Delta above the Arctic Circle.

The Largest Delta in the Arctic

Caitlin Dempsey

The Lena Delta is a significant wildlife refuge and the largest delta in the Arctic.

To understand where north, south, east, and west are, first point your left arm towards the sun in the morning.

Understanding Direction Based on the Sun

Caitlin Dempsey

This lesson plan introduces the concept of direction to young children by using the location of the Sun in order to understand where east, west, north, and south are located.

Satellite imagery over the Gulf of Mexico showing oil slicks in the water.

Mapping Oil Slicks With Satellite Imagery

Mark Altaweel

Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite data has been used in a study to map oil slicks.