Articles

Over 600 Maps Added to South Dakota Digital Archives

Caitlin Dempsey

The South Dakota State Historical Society has made over 600 maps available online with the South Dakota Digital Archives.

Study Discovers That This Methane Depleting Atmospheric Molecule Can Recycle Itself

Katarina Samurović

The hydroxyl radical’s reactivity has earned it the nickname “air detergent” - because of the way it effectively breaks down other gasses in the atmosphere, especially methane.

Review | The Longest Line on the Map

G.T. Dempsey

This book tells the story of how and why the Pan-American Highway was conceived and, poignantly, the why of a stubborn gap that remains unconnected.

Measuring the Neutrino Tomography of Earth

Katarina Samurović

In November of 2018, an international team of physicists managed to measure Earth’s mass by using neutrino tomography and the data captured by the South Pole’s IceCube Neutrino Observatory.

Using GIS to Analyze Pedestrian Accessibility

Mark Altaweel

GIS tools to compute pedestrian accessibility are not just available to governments, academics, or companies, but are also free and open source.

Before There Were Drones: Using Pigeons for Aerial Photography

Caitlin Dempsey

Back before drones became a cheap and easy way to acquire aerial imagery, a German inventor proposed using pigeons to capture photographs of the earth from above.

Land use map from CARETS Final Report, 1979.

GIS From the Past: CARETS

Caitlin Dempsey

In the early 1970s, a joint pilot project between NASA and the USGS sought to test out the feasibility of integrating data from Landsat and high-altitude aircraft sensors into a regional land use database.

Evelyn Lord Pruitt, 1918–2000

Who Coined the Term ‘Remote Sensing’?

Caitlin Dempsey

While the origins of remote sensing can be traced to World War II's use of radar, sonar, and thermal detection technologies, the use of the term 'remote sensing' wasn't coined until the late 1950s.

Geospatial Climate Models Show How Fire Seasons Are Changing

Mark Altaweel

Changing technologies, including new satellite systems, and better climate and fire modeling, including the integration of these tools and data capture methods, will likely mean improved fire modeling in the future.

Virga. Photo: White Sands National Monument, NPS.

What is Negative Rainfall?

Katarina Samurović

Negative rain(fall) occurs when a particular area experiences more atmospheric evaporation than water downpour over a period of time.

Figure: Gao & Kupfer, 2018

Defining Biogeographic Regions

Geo Contributor

A recent paper published in Applied Geography explored ways to improve the determination of biogeographic regions using clustering techniques.

Antarctica is Losing Ice Six Times Faster Than 40 Years Ago

Caitlin Dempsey

Researchers analyzed ice mass between 1979 and 2017 in Antarctica and found a sixfold increase in yearly ice mass loss.  

Water vapor imagery of the eastern Pacific Ocean from the GOES 11 satellite, showing a large atmospheric river aimed across California. Image from United States Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey. (Captured December 20, 2010).

Atmospheric Rivers

Caitlin Dempsey

Atmospheric Rivers are trails of moisture in the atmosphere composed of condensed water vapor.

Tracking the Carbon Cycle in North America: 2018 Report

Mark Altaweel

In November 2018, the United States Carbon Cycle Science Program released a report, entitled Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR-2), about the nature of the carbon cycle in North America, covering Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Tracking Ocean Currents With Seabirds

Caitlin Dempsey

A group of researchers wanted to test if drifting seabirds could offer a novel way of collecting data about sea current velocity and direction.

What is the Oldest Surviving Aerial Photograph?

Caitlin Dempsey

The oldest surviving aerial photograph was taken on October 13, 1860 by James Wallace Black over the city of Boston.

Ground Movement in Norway

Caitlin Dempsey

Data from InSAR Norway has helped the  Geological Survey of Norway learn where there are areas of significant ground movement in both natural and urban areas of Norway.  

Mapping Where Norway is Moving

Caitlin Dempsey

Norway is using Copernicus Sentinel-1 data to detect ground movement across the country.

Mapping Out Ammonia Hotspots With Satellite Data

Caitlin Dempsey

Researchers recently used satellite data to create a high resolution map of ammonia hotspots around the world.  

How Much of the Earth is Covered by Clouds?

Caitlin Dempsey

Exactly how much of the world is covered in clouds?

Changes in Countries and Capital

Caitlin Dempsey

Listed here are more recently formed countries and capitals that have moved and well as some geography news items about some countries.

What Does Ultima Thule Mean?

Caitlin Dempsey

Ultima thule is Latin and has been used over to the centuries to refer to an area of the world that is the most distant and inaccessible.  

Screenshot showing the interface in QGIS to apply the new custom map projection, go to Project --> Properties.

How To Use the Equal Earth Projection With QGIS on the Mac

Caitlin Dempsey

Here are a few short steps to set up the Equal Earth map projection in QGIS.

Mapping Coral Reefs

Mark Altaweel

Scientists have been developing better ways to fuse data from different satellite systems and data capture, while also developing classification algorithms to better map coral reefs.

Leaf map of Amsterdam, Nils Westergard

Hand Cut Paper Map of Amsterdam in the Shape of a Leaf

Caitlin Dempsey

Street artist Nils Westergard created this intricate map of the streets of Amsterdam in the form of a leaf cut out from paper with an X-Acto knife.

PACE: NASA’s Earth Observation Satellite to Launch in 2022

Caitlin Dempsey

NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem) is a planned earth observation satellite with an anticipated launch in 2022.