News

CEOS webinars – Analysis Ready Data/Synthetic Aperture Radar

Registration is required!

The LSI-VC series on CEOS Analysis Ready Data for Land (CARD4L) isscheduled for February 1-2, 2021.  The webinar series is being organised as a means to strengthen the dialogue between CEOS and the broader community on the topic of ARD (ceos.org/ard), and to explore what interfaces and cooperative activities are needed to increase data use, choice and flexibility for users.

 This second webinar will cover an introduction to the CARD4L specifications for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors, and provide some examples of actual uptake of CARD4L SAR products by the EO community, both public and private. The agenda will include significant time for discussion to promote dialogue between participants. Duration 75 minutes.

To accommodate participation at decent hours across most time zones the webinar will be repeated during two time slots 12 hours apart:

Time slot 1:

     February 1, 2021 (Mon): 15:00-AKST/ 16:00-PST / 19:00-EST / 21:00-ART

     February 2, 2021 (Tue): 08:00-CST / 09:00-JST / 11:00-AEDT

Time slot 2:

     February 2, 2021 (Tue): 07:00-EST / 09:00-ART / 12:00-UTC / 13:00-CET / 15:30-IST / 20:00-CST / 21:00-JST / 23:00-AEDT

 All are welcome to join. More information and a registration form can be found here. Connection details will be shared with all registered participants in due course. The CEOS ARD website has further background information and links to the CEOS ARD Strategy and CARD4L Product Family Specifications:

 http://ceos.org/ard/

NASA ARSET Training: Hyperspectral Data for Land and Coastal Systems

Three consecutive short-courses building upon skills learned in prior lessons to complete this 4.5 hour long training.

DESCRIPTION

Hyperspectral data presents a unique opportunity to characterize specific vegetation types and biogeochemical processes across the land and oceans. Applications of hyperspectral data include plant species identification, invasive species management, assessment of phytoplankton functional types, mapping of wetlands and shallow benthic communities, and detection of harmful algal blooms (HABs). The ability of hyperspectral data to characterize chemical, physiological, and morphological traits allows decision-makers to better understand critical components of ecosystem dynamics such as invasive species encroachment, forest decline and pest infestation, and ocean dynamics. This training is also an opportunity to build capacity in a large user community prior to the launch of the highly anticipated global hyperspectral SBG mission.

DETAILS

 – 
LANGUAGES
English
TRAINING TYPE
Online Training
LEVEL
Introductory
TRAINING SOURCE
ARSET

REGISTER FOR SESSION A (11:00-12:30 EST; UTC-5)

REGISTER FOR SESSION B (16:00-17:30 EST; UTC-5)

AGENDA

OBJECTIVE

By the end of this training, attendees will be able to:

  • Identify characteristics of hyperspectral data including benefits and limitations for land and coastal systems
  • Recall various satellite and airborne-based hyperspectral imagers
  • Relate past hyperspectral campaigns to future missions
  • Access hyperspectral data from multiple platforms
  • Illustrate uses of hyperspectral data for land assessments such as invasive species management, agricultural management, wildfire impacts, forest decline and pest infestation, and more
  • Illustrate uses of hyperspectral data for coastal and ocean applications such as coral reef assessments, mapping submerged aquatic vegetation, and identifying marine debris
AUDIENCE

Local, regional, state, federal, and non-governmental organizations involved in invasive species management, forest monitoring, coastal and ocean processes, and innovative remote sensing techniques.

COURSE FORMAT
  • Three one and a half hour sessions
  • One homework assignment via Google Forms
SESSIONS
Overview of Hyperspectral Data
  • Introduction to hyperspectral data
  • Satellite and airborne-based hyperspectral imagers
  • Assessing and processing hyperspectral data
  • Q&A
Hyperspectral Data for Land Management
  • Applications of hyperspectral data for invasive species management, agricultural management, wildfire impacts, and forest decline and pest infestation
  • Case study examples
  • Q&A
Hyperspectral Data for Coastal and Ocean Systems
  • Use of hyperspectral imaging for wetland vegetation communities
  • Use of hyperspectral for coastal shallow-water ecosystems
  • Use of hyperspectral for marine debris
  • Case study examples
  • Q&A
PREREQUISITES

PhD opportunity: Water, Climate and Development: Google Earth Engine

This PhD will bring together Earth observation, GEE processing and data analytics.  To find out more and apply click here.

Earth observation: The applicant will develop or optimise algorithms for the retrieval of water quality (focusing initially on chlorophyll-a) and water quantity parameters in water bodies identified by GEO Aquawatch and World Bank Group. Algorithm development will be based on optical water type frameworks (Spyrakos et al. 2018) or/and data driven approaches (Spyrakos et al. 2011). Ground data, for the development and validation of the models in these water systems, will be provided by initiatives led by USTIR such as Limnades (https://limnades.stir.ac.uk/Limnades_login/index.php) and Aquawatch (https://www.geoaquawatch.org/). Both Sentinel 2 and LandSat satellites will be exploited to retrieve water constituents. Simulated (Hydrolight) spectra will also be generated to fill gaps in the in situ data record, to contribute to algorithm development and uncertainty characterisation.
GEE: GEE will be used to process large volume of remotely sense data. These will include water quality and quantity parameters but also available data of land cover, catchment and climatic variables. GEE will make it easier to build inventories with high spatial and temporal resolutions, since processing of the often large remote sensing data can be performed in the cloud. It also allows for reanalysis of the data to build climatology.
Data analytics: Innovative tools in environmental data analytics including functional data analysis will be investigated and applied for temporal trend (O’Donnel et al., 2015) and climatology. These data analytics approaches will be applied (and developed) in the R software environment. Non-parametric time series analysis will be used to identify the presence and strength of key underlying long-term patterns in the EO data. Where relevant this analysis will be developed to account for autocorrelation, identify change points and explore patterns beyond the mean, modelling quantiles to assess if changes over time are constant across all levels of the variables of interest.

Final Year Graduate Students: New Diversity Scholarship Available!

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AGI Invites Applications for New Scholarship for Advancing Diversity in the Geoscience Profession

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce its new Scholarship for Advancing Diversity in the Geoscience Profession. The scholarship is a one-time $5,000 award supporting geoscience graduate studies by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who self-identifies as a member of an underrepresented minority (Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color) and is within two semesters of completing a recognized geoscience program.

“The geosciences can thrive only with full participation from all communities, yet research shows that many underrepresented minority students face obstacles in the transition from undergraduate to graduate studies,” says AGI Interim Executive Director Sharon Tahirkheli. “Supporting the next generation of aspiring minority geoscientists has perhaps never been more important.”

The application deadline is February 21, 2021. The scholarship winner will be notified in April 2021. To learn more, see https://www.americangeosciences.org/workforce/agi-scholarship-advancing-diversity-geoscience-profession. If you have questions, please contact AGI Geoscience Profession and Higher Education Director Christopher Keane at keane@americangeosciences.org.

About AGI
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI), a federation of scientific and professional associations representing over a quarter-million geoscientists, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to serving the geoscience community and addressing the needs of society. AGI headquarters are in Alexandria, Virginia.

Comment on CEOS CARD4L-Aquatic Reflectance until Nov 20th!

The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) needs your feedback!  Now is YOUR chance to review and contribute to the draft Product Specification for Aquatic Reflectance for CEOS Analysis Ready Data, which is now open for community comment and contributions.  Please email any comments, suggested edits, or additions to lsi@lists.ceos.org.  Contributions are strongly recommended to be submitted by November 20th, but it is possible to add comments through mid-December.