Center for Geospatial Research

Last updated
Center for Geospatial Research
CGR
Established1985 (1985) [1]
Research typeApplied, Remote Sensing, Climate, Mapping Science
Director Dr. Marguerite Madden
Faculty Dr. David L. Cotten, Dr. Sergio Bernardes, Dr. Deepak Mishra [2]
Students Caleb Adams, Nicholas Neel, Khoa Ngo [3]
Alumni Dr. Roy Welch
Location Athens, Georgia
33°56′56″N83°22′31″W / 33.948847°N 83.375237°W / 33.948847; -83.375237
30602
Campus University of Georgia
Affiliations NASA DEVELOP National Program
Website crms.uga.edu

The Center for Geospatial Research at the University of Georgia focuses on remote sensing and climate science. The center is a regional NASA DEVELOP node and was recognized by NASA in 1998 for its outstanding achievements relating to applied climate and environmental sciences, being named a NASA Center of Excellence. [1]

Contents

Founding and History

The University of Georgia's Center for Geospatial Research, CGR, was founded in 1985 as the Laboratory for Remote Sensing and Mapping Science. In 1989 the lab was renamed the Center for Remote Sensing and Mapping Science. This Center was founded by Dr. Roy Welch, who served as director from its founding in 1985 until 2003. The Center is now directed by Dr. Marguerite Madden and in 2012 the center was renamed Center for Geospatial Research to better reflect its internal goals. In 2016 the center helped found the UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory. [1] [2]

Significant Research

Publications and Presentations

In 2016 research from the Center was used to identify the coastal regions of the United States that were most at risk from sea-level rise due to climate change. This study was one of the first studies to have accounted for ongoing population growth when assessing the potential magnitude of future impacts. Minimally 4.2 million people at risk of inundation were projected to be at risk from sea-level rise in the continental United States. [4]

Researchers at the Center for Geospatial Research have helped students at the UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory receive grants to build 2 satellites. These satellites will be the first satellites built, designed, and operated by the University of Georgia. [5] [6]

NASA DEVELOP

The Center for Geospatial Research is a regional node for the NASA DEVELOP national program and contributes significantly to climate change research. [7] The center was published in the International Union for Conservation of Natures World Conservation Congress Publication. The study focused on ecological forecasting, reforestation and conservation efforts, and the Colombian primate Cotton-top tamarin. [8]

The Center's DEVELOP program helps identify key issues regarding Atlanta and its suburbs. Using data from the Landsat 8 and Terra satellites the center is able to model water flow in the region and help the area build better infrastructure as it grows. [9] Water monitoring and forecasting is

Small Satellites

The Center is also aiding the undergraduates of the Small Satellite Research Laboratory with technical knowledge. Faculty members, such as Dr. David Cotten, have given presentations on the possibilities of structure from motion in low Earth orbit and how the Small Satellite Research Laboratory could build the first satellite to perform this technology in orbit. [10] [11]

Related Research Articles

Remote sensing Acquisition of information at a significant distance from the subject

Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about the Earth and other planets. Remote sensing is used in numerous fields, including geography, land surveying and most Earth science disciplines ; it also has military, intelligence, commercial, economic, planning, and humanitarian applications, among others.

Landsat program American network of Earth-observing satellites for international research purposes

The Landsat program is the longest-running enterprise for acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. It is a joint NASA / USGS program. On 23 July 1972, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite was launched. This was eventually renamed to Landsat 1 in 1975. The most recent, Landsat 9, was launched on 27 September 2021.

Geomatics Geographic data discipline

Geomatics is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as the "discipline concerned with the collection, distribution, storage, analysis, processing, presentation of geographic data or geographic information". Under another definition, it "consists of products, services and tools involved in the collection, integration and management of geographic data". It includes geomatics engineering and is related to geospatial science.

GRACE and GRACE-FO Joint American-German space mission to map Earths gravitational field

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) was a joint mission of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Twin satellites took detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field anomalies from its launch in March 2002 to the end of its science mission in October 2017. The GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) is a continuation of the mission on near-identical hardware, launched in May 2018.

Geoinformatics is the science and the technology which develops and uses information science infrastructure to address the problems of geography, cartography, geosciences and related branches of science and engineering.

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences Research institute

The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) is a research institute that is sponsored jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). CIRES scientists study the Earth system, including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and geosphere, and communicate these findings to decision makers, the scientific community, and the public.

The Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is a key core capability in NASA’s Earth Science Data Systems Program. It is a comprehensive data and information system designed to perform a wide variety of functions in support of a heterogeneous national and international user community. EOSDIS provides a spectrum of services; some services are intended for a diverse group of casual users while others are intended only for a select cadre of research scientists chosen by NASA's peer-reviewed competitions, and then many fall somewhere in between. The primary services provided by EOSDIS are User Support, Data Archive, Management and Distribution, Information Management, and Product Generation, all of which are managed by the Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project.

Israel Space Agency Government space agency of Israel

The Israel Space Agency is a governmental body, a part of Israel's Ministry of Science and Technology, that coordinates all Israeli space research programs with scientific and commercial goals.

Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission Government space agency of Pakistan

The Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) is the executive and national space agency of Pakistan. It is headquartered at the capital city of Islamabad in the northern part of Pakistan with additional facilities at the University of Punjab in Lahore.

Badr-B

The Badr-B is the second spacecraft and the first earth observation satellite launched into Earth orbit on 10 December 2001 at 09:15 by the SUPARCO — Pakistan's national space agency. Badr-B is a microsatellite, with a mass of ~70 kg, and contained the computerized system to conduct the studies on the gravity gradient. Badr-B is a research satellite to explore the upper atmosphere and the near space, and carried a large array of instruments for geophysical research.

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) coordinates international efforts to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). It links existing and planned Earth observation systems and supports the development of new ones in cases of perceived gaps in the supply of environment-related information. It aims to construct a global public infrastructure for Earth observations consisting in a flexible and distributed network of systems and content providers.

Computational geophysics is the field of study that uses any type of numerical computations to generate and analyze models of complex geophysical systems. It can be considered an extension, or sub-field, of both computational physics and geophysics. In recent years, computational power, data availability, and modelling capabilities have all improved exponentially, making computational geophysics a more populated discipline. Due to the large computational size of many geophysical problems, high-performance computing can be required to handle analysis. Modeling applications of computational geophysics include atmospheric modelling, oceanic modelling, general circulation models, and geological modelling. In addition to modelling, some problems in remote sensing fall within the scope of computational geophysics such as tomography, inverse problems, and 3D reconstruction.

Soil Moisture Active Passive

Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) is a NASA environmental monitoring satellite launched on 31 January 2015. It was one of the first Earth observation satellites developed by NASA in response to the National Research Council's Decadal Survey.

The University Nanosat Program is a satellite design and fabrication competition for universities. It is jointly administered by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the Space Development and Test Wing and the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate's Spacecraft Technology division. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center was involved from the program inception through Nanosat-3.

The Alaska Satellite Facility is a data processing facility and satellite-tracking ground station within the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The facility’s mission is to make remote-sensing data accessible Its work is central to polar processes research including wetlands, glaciers, sea ice, climate change, permafrost, flooding and land cover such as changes in the Amazon rainforest.

NASA research

Since its establishment in 1958, NASA has conducted research on a range of topics. Because of its unique structure, work happens at various field centers and different research areas are concentrated in those centers. Depending on the technology, hardware and expertise needed, research may be conducted across a range of centers.

RESPOND is a sponsored research program of Indian Space Research Organization whose main objective is to establish strong links with Universities/Institutions in the country to carry out quality research and developmental projects which are of relevance to space and derive useful outputs of such R&D to support ISRO programmes. The programme provides opportunity to the non-ISRO scientists and engineers, who are working with the recognized institute, to contribute to the Indian space programme. The contribution is mostly in areas of design and development of orbiting satellites for scientific research and space applications, sounding rockets and satellite launch vehicles. Non-academic R & D institutions can also participate in this programme.

The University of Georgia Small Satellite Research Laboratory (SSRL), or UGA SSRL, is a research laboratory founded in late 2015 with the goal of launching a student-built spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The SSRL is currently building the University of Georgia's first two satellites. The lab has a Space Act Agreement with the NASA Ames Research Center.

Claire Parkinson American Earth scientist and climatologist

Claire Lucille Parkinson is an American Earth scientist and climatologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "History of the UGA Center Geospatial Research". Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  2. 1 2 "Faculty of the UGA Center Geospatial Research". Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  3. ↑ "Satellite Team Students attend Small Satellite Conference and have Program Management Review with the Air Force". Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  4. ↑ "Millions projected to be at risk from sea-level rise in the continental United States". Nature. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "NASA Selects Proposals for Student Flight Research Opportunities". NASA. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "UGA team selected by NASA, Air Force to build and launch two cube satellites". UGA. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "NASA DEVELOP at UGA". Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  8. ↑ "Using Satellite Observations for Conservation" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Identifying Key Urban Areas to Reduce Stormwater Runoff and Maximize Conservation Efforts in Metropolitan Atlanta". NASA. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  10. ↑ "MOCI and SfM". Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  11. ↑ MOCI and the UGA SSRL
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