Feature
reserved for feature articles
Building a Consolidated Community Global Cropland Map
![Hybrid cropland map of Africa produced by IIASA/IFPRI developed as part of [10]](http://www.earthzine.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/africa-150x150.jpg "Hybrid cropland map of Africa produced by IIASA/IFPRI developed as part of [10]")
A new Sub-Task on Agricultural Mapping is building a living, community-based consolidated cropland map. The aim is to provide the agricultural monitoring, food security and land use change communities with a better cropland product than currently exists. The product is freely available to researchers and the general public.
See et al., posted on
January 24th, 2012
Agriculture, Earth Observation, Featured Article
Alex Steffen says Earth Observation is part of Worldchanging
Alex Steffen, keynote speaker at the IEEE Professional Communication Society conference at the University of Cincinnati, says small steps can result in big changes, and we need to better educate the public on scientific findings that demonstrate the need for action.
Jeff Kart, posted on
October 10th, 2011
Earth Observation, Featured Person, Sustainability
Sorting Out India’s Soot Situation: A Conversation with Jayaraman Srinivasan
Earthzine speaks with Jayaraman Srinivasan, the climate modeler tapped to lead India’s Black Carbon Research Initiative, on the scientific and political context for research on soot and its role in glacial melting and climate change.
Peter Fairley, posted on
September 6th, 2011
Featured Person, Urban Monitoring
A Beautiful Earth Educates and Inspires
NASA launches the Beautiful Earth project to inspire and educate students, teachers and the public with images and videos of Earth from space, to the backdrop of music by Kenji Williams.
Wanda Archy, posted on
July 27th, 2011
Earth Observation, Education, Featured Person
Putting Earth Observation Data to Work: The EuroGEOSS Broker (Max Craglia interview)
The first step in making sense of the processes and events that impact the Earth is to observe and analyze them. The next step is to share those observations and analyses with your peers in the context of a shared infrastructure. Today, however, there are dozens of such shared infrastructures, each with its own set of policies, terms and protocols. How can all this information be shared?
Lisa Rudy, posted on
June 4th, 2011
Earth Observation, Featured Person, GEOSS/ICEO News, People
An Interview with Alberto Moreira, President of GRSS
Dr. Alberto Moreira, president of the IEEE Geosciences and Remote Sensing Society, has a dynamic vision for remote sensing that is now, he says, in its golden age. In this far-ranging interview, he talks about the early days of remote sensing, the field’s contributions to GEOSS, and humanity’s responsibilities to Earth.
Paul Racette, posted on
October 21st, 2010
Earth Observation, Featured Person, GEOSS/ICEO News, People
The Challenges Of Water And Climate In Asia
Mr. Arjun Thapan is Special Senior Advisor to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) President for Infrastructure and Water. ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. In this opinion essay, he discusses Asia’s impending water crisis, exacerbated not just by the environmental consequences of economic and population growth, but now also by climate change.
Arjun Thapan, posted on
September 21st, 2010
Articles, Climate, Disasters, Earth Observation, Economy, Ecosystems, Featured Person, Millennium Development Goals, OpEd, Water
Tom Wiener on the IEEE’s World Vision and Work with GEO
IEEE joined the ad hoc Group on Earth Observations in 2004 to help define an entirely new and “virtual” structure, a Global Earth Observation System of Systems. When completed, GEOSS will provide a framework for Earth observation data collected worldwide by thousands of instruments and in-situ methods. This vast cache of information will be catalogued and made accessible through functional interoperability to ensure that everyone in the world can use it—for free or minimal cost. In this Earthzine interview, Dr. Thomas F. Wiener, Chair of the IEEE Committee on Earth Observation, discusses how IEEE’s involvement with GEO has grown.
Maeve Hickok, posted on
July 12th, 2010
Earth Observation, Featured Person, GEOSS/ICEO News, Water
A Surprising Side-Effect of Climate Change: A Fog of Confusion
Recent changes in public opinion appear contrary to the growing empirical evidence that climate change will have significant impact to human society. In their essay, Drs. Jean-Louis Fellous and Catherine Gautier describe the thickening fog of climate skepticism and put forth a remedy for clearing the air.
Jean-Louis Fellous and Catherine Gautier, posted on
June 21st, 2010
Climate, Earth Observation, Feature, Featured Person, OpEd, People, Weather
Judith Curry On the Credibility of Climate Research
Judith A. Curry, Ph.D. is professor and chairperson of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research interests include remote sensing, climate of the polar regions, atmospheric modeling, and air/sea interactions. The Op-Ed posted here addresses her views on what has become a global controversy about climate science. Her stated aim is to stimulate constructive debate by this essay about the critical scientific research on climate, and about the roles and responsibilities of scientists. Comments are welcome on this and every Earthzine article.
Dr. Judith A. Curry, posted on
March 22nd, 2010
Climate, Featured Person, OpEd, Politics
NASA Daily Image
Panorama of the East Coast
This Jan. 29 panorama of much of the East Coast, photographed by one of the Expedition 30 crew members aboard the International Space Station, provides a look generally northeastward: Philadelphia-New York City-Boston corridor (bottom-center); western Lake Ontario shoreline with Toronto (left edge); Montreal (near center). An optical illusion in the photo makes the atmospheric limb and light activity from Aurora Borealis appear "intertwined." Image Credit: NASA