Exotic but not erotic.
EROS currently stands for Earth Resource Observation and Science. It has had other interpretations and names over the years but it has always been part of the USGS which is, in turn, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
EROS was founded in the mid 1960s to photograph the earth, focusing primarily on the U.S., and to compile photographs taken by others so the data provided by those photographs could be made usable. EROS has five areas of study: geography, geology, biology, water, and geospatial information. That last one is where they provide information to the public like the photo below.
Here’s a model of a LandSat like those used to take most of the photos.
In it’s photos one pixel equals thirty meters or about one football field. In Google Earth’s photos one pixel equals one meter or about three feet. Eros looks for overall patterns not detail.
This photography is called “remote sensing.”
People and organizations worldwide make use of those photos and the data they provide. You might buy an aerial photo of the family farm or a UGSG topo map of an area you plan to hike Fish and wildlife people study habitats to help determine what should be hunted or put on the endangered species list. Forecasters study land and vegetation changes to predict such things as wildfires, volcano eruptions, and floods and the impacts of those. Their goal is to prevent natural hazards from becoming disasters.
Studying some of the data revealed that converting wetland to crop lands in southern Florida changed the weather there. Water doesn’t lose heat as quickly as land does. Draining the water to make land for growing crops caused temperatures to drop further and faster so the crops froze. This is one of those “unintended consequences” Dave is so fond of discovering.
I learned most of this from the exhibits in the atrium. Dave took the guided tour. He said the computer room was interesting. But unless you are into computers, you might want to just stick to the exhibits. They are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The tours are at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. It’s all free but this is a secure facility so do bring a photo ID and no weapons. Dave even had to leave his tiny pocket knife at the front desk. But they didn’t frisk me when I set off the metal detector. Darn.
TTYL,
Linda