ESA Science Office

Advanced Technology in the Ecological Sciences (ATES) is a project of ESA's Sustainable Biosphere Initiative project office. The goal of the ATES project is to increase participation within the environmental scientific community in the identification of specific technological needs and to encourage the use and development of technologies that aid in ecological research. Access to information and education are key components to this project. We are actively incorporating ESA resources such as annual meetings and the webpage to provide information to ESA members:

• A discussion session on the technologies and satellite sensors that are presently available and those scheduled to come on line is being organized for the 1998 annual meeting in Baltimore.
• A one-day workshop on Introduction to Global Positioning Systems and a Q&A Discussion Session on the potential use of spatial technology in ecological research were held at the 1997 annual meeting in Albuquerque.
• A spatial technology information resources guide that provides websites and references to information about available technologies, data, venders and user services is available on the ESA webpage.

* This resource guide is a work in progress. Your feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Please send comments to rhonda@esa.org

GIS-Geographic Information Systems

Sometimes referred to as Spatial Information Systems, are computerized environments whereby specific functions are used to manipulate data from many different fields for integration into a usable form for a specific user.

GPS-Global Positioning Systems

Developed by the United States Government, a space-based set of satellites generate electronic signals which are used to precisely and accurately pinpoint a location on the earth's surface.

Remote Sensing

Using techniques evolved from photogrammetry, aerial or space photograph images are used to collect data about the earth's features without direct contact with the surface.

Recommended Reading on Spatial Technology:

1). Environmental Information Management and Analysis: Ecosystem to Global Scales

By William K. Michener, James W. Brunt and Susan G. Stafford

Taylor and Francis Incorporated 1994. ISBN 0 7484 0123 7 (cased)

2). Geographic Information Systems - A Guide to the Technology

By John C. Antenucci, Kay Brown, Peter L. Croswell and Michael J. Kevany with Hugh

Archer. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1991. ISBN 0 442 00756 6

3). Introductory Digital Image Processing - a Remote Sensing Perspective

By John R. Jensen, Dept. of Geography University of South Carolina

Prentice-Hall, a Division of Simon and Schuster, Inc. 1986

ISBN 0 13 500828 X 025

4). Fundamentals of Spatial Information Systems the APIC Series No. 37

By Robert Laurini and Derek Thompson

Academic Press, Inc. 1992 ISBN 0 12 438380 7

I. GIS/Remote Sensing Websites

http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/nsdi/digital2.html:

Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center. Makes remote sensing and associated data available to the scientific and land management users worldwide.

http://www.desktop.org/cgiscf/sbi.htm:

Sierra Biodiversity Institute is a research and educational organization focused on biodiversity issues. The institute takes the best of science and technology and uses it for finding solutions to conservation issues. GIS is the institutes tool for finding solutions to environmental problems.

http://www.interrain.org:

Interrain Pacific mission is to promote conservation-based development by enhancing understanding of social and ecological patterns of change. They provide leadership in public access GIS's, community health indicators, watershed assessment, and community level training.

http://www.esri.com/base/data:

Maps and Data:online from ESRI, DATA: the raw materials for your GIS, provides useful data with its desktop mapping and GIS software including ArcViewGIS Version 3.0, Atlas GIS, BusinessMAP, MapObjects, MapObjectLT.

http://www.ns.doe.ca/inform/points/env.html:

The links in this page are organized into the following categories: Atlantic Provinces, Canadian Environmental servers, world wide environmental servers, and other lists of environmental sites.

http://www.frw.ruu.nl/nicegeo.html#gis:

Nice Geography Sites is a collection of geography-related sites all over the world divided into: General Geography sites, GIS and Remote Sensing sites, and Geography and GIS related News Groups. University UTRECHT

http://www.fsl.orst.edu/hydrology.html:

Hydrology Modeling Resources contains extensive information under the categories of: Hydrologic Resources, Hydrologic Models, Research Groups, GIS and Remote Sensing, Data Archive, and WWWgeneral Resources.

http://www.fgdc.gov/FGDP/:

This Federal Geographic Data Committee has a guide to on-line and mostly free U.S. Geospatial Attribute data, and an opportunity for public feedback.

http://home.earthlink.net/~rpminfonet/gis.html:

Earthlink with information on Computer Technology, Physical Sciences as well as news and journals.

http://nsdi.usgs.gov/nsdi/products/dlg.html:

USGS node of the National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse is a component of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure(NSDI). Metadata is available and some data sets are available at no cost. Pathway to metadata/geospatial data available from USGS. USGS DLG info.and actual DLG links

http://info.er.usgs.gov/research/gis/title.html:

National Mapping Information, Geographic Names Information, Global Land Information as well as online data and map sales.

http://www.ggrweb.com/:

GeoWeb Interactive-books, links, vendors, www. resources and articles. Resources for GIS, GPS, and Remote Sensing industries

II. GPS Websites

Introduction:

http://galaxy.tradewave.com/editors/john-beadles/introgps.htm

- Introduction to GPS, applications, DGPS servers, etc plus other pointers.

Manufacturers:

http://www.trimble.com/ (Trimble home page)

http://www.magellan.com/ (Magellan home page)

http://www.garmin.com/ (Garmin home page)

Reference/Catalogues:

http://www.compasscom.com/ (GPS equipment consultant)

http://www.gpsworld.com/ (GPSworld magazine)

http://nmeri.unm.edu/index.htm (NMERI GPS Research Work)

http://www.iwol.com/iww/customers/westmarine/ (GPS Supplier Catalog)

http://www.iwol.com/iww/customers/westmarine/portsupply/home.html

(Same, except wholesale)

Service:

http://www.dgps.com/ ­ Differential Corrections, Inc. RDS DGPS Service

http://www.accqpoint.com/ - Accqpoint's CUE RDS DGPS Service

http://www.omnistar.com/ - John Chance & Associates Sat-based DGPS Service

http://www.navcen.uscg.mil/ - US Coast Guard DGPS Service

GPS base stations listings:

These are from:

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS, FAYETTEVILLE

THE CENTER FOR ADVANCED SPATIAL TECHNOLOGIES (CAST)

Center of Excellence for GPS by Trimble Navigation Ltd

(http://www.cast.uark.edu/main.html)

http://www.cast.uark.edu/other/trimble/gpsdata/BASESTATION.TRIMBLE

http://www.cast.uark.edu/other/trimble/gpsdata/BASESTATION.EPA

http://www.cast.uark.edu/other/trimble/gpsdata/NGS.STATIONS

Misc.

http://www.trimble.com/satview/index.htm

Part of mission planning involves determining when sufficient satellites

are available for GPS'ing and the best times to conduct the survey to

achieve highest accuracies. The above WWW page allows you to specify

the region and dates of proposed surveys, and it generates graphs of

satellite orbits and accuracy measures, such as DOP's.

http://tdg.uoguelph.ca/omafra/page1.htm

(Ontario Ministry of Agr, Food, and Rural Affairs, Canada WWW site.)