International Space Station Photography

 

ISS Earth Observations Science Plan - Long Term Ecological Research

 

The National Science Foundation established the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network over twenty years ago. This network is comprised of study sites located throughout the continental United States, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Antarctica, and the Pacific Ocean. The sites cover a wide range of ecosystems including reefs and coastal zones; hot and cold deserts; temperate, montane, and grassland regions; and urban areas. The core mission of the network is to understand ecological phenomena over long temporal and spatial scales, conduct well-designed and documented experiments at and between sites, and provide information for identification and solution of ecological problems. Astronaut photography is a uniquely useful dataset for the network due to its inherent variability in spatial scale and temporal frequency. Used together with traditional remotely sensed data, astronaut photography has the potential to increase the temporal resolution of land cover/land use change, vegetation dynamics, and surface soil process information for the LTER sites.

 

Science collaborators:  John Vande Castle, LTER Network Office, University of New Mexico

 

Responsible NASA staff scientist:  William L. Stefanov

 

Site Name:       LTER Sites

Center Point:    See list

Box Coordinate Range: See list

Site objective:   Characterization/monitoring of land cover/land use, vegetation, and surface soil change

Camera:           Digital Camera

Window:          Any

Lens:                180-250 for general site mapping,  400 for detail (particularly for tree/shrub/grassland transitional areas)

Viewing Angle:             Nadir (preferred) or low oblique

Season(s):        All

Maximum clouds:          10%

Frequency:       Four times/year to capture spring, summer, fall, winter seasonal change in vegetation

 

 

Site List - Long Term Ecological Research (LTER)

Site Name                                            Box Coordinate Range Center Point

 

Andrews Forest                                    43-46N, 121-123W    44.2N, 122.26W

Baltimore Ecosystem Study                   37-40N, 75-79W        39.1N, 76.3W

California Current Ecosystem                31-33N, 119-121W    32.8N, 120.3W

Cedar Creek Natural History Area       44-46N, 92-94W        45.4N, 93.2W

Central-Arizona Phoenix                       31-35N, 109-114W    33.4N, 111.9W

Coweeta                                              34-36N, 82-84W        35.0N, 83.4W

Florida Coastal Everglades                   24-26N, 79-81W        25.5N, 80.1W

Georgia Coastal Ecosystems                 30-32N, 80-83W        31.4N, 81.4W

Harvard Forest                                     41-43N, 71-73W        42.5N, 72.2W

Hubbard Brook                                    42-44N, 70-73W        43.9N, 71.7W

Jornada Basin                                       31-33N, 105-107W    32.5N, 106.8W

Kellogg Biological Station                     41-43N, 84-86W        42.4N, 85.4W

Konza Prairie                                       38-40N, 93-97W        39.1N, 94.6W

Luquillo                                                17-19N, 64-66W        18.3N, 65.8W

Moorea Coral Reef Ecosystem             16-18S, 148-150W     17.5S, 149.8W

Niwot Ridge                                         39-41N, 104-106W    40.0N, 105.4W

North Temperate Lakes                        42-47N, 88-90W        46.0N, 89.7W

Plum Island Ecosystem                         41-43N, 69-72W        42.8N, 70.9W

Santa Barbara Coastal                          33-35N, 118-120W    34.4N, 119.9W

Sevilleta                                                33-35N, 105-107W    34.3N, 106.9W

Shortgrass Steppe                                39-42N, 102-105W    40.8N, 104.8W

Virginia Coast Reserve                         36-38N, 74-77W        37.4N, 75.7W  

 

 

This document is intended to give the ISS crew the general science objectives and locations for a site (or set of sites).  High latitude sites are not included because of the orbital characteristics of the International Space Station.  The coordinates listed here can be used to search for imagery on the technical search page:

http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/sql.htm