[ESIP-all] What's New on esipfed.org

Wed, 5 Feb 2003 09:14:08 -0600

Here is a summary of recent updates and additions to the Federation Website.
Please help keep Federation accomplishments visible by sending us items from
your ESIP to post on: http://www.esipfed.org/

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INSIDE The FEDERATION
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Statement of the ESIP Federation and The Foundation for Earth Science on the
Tragic Ending to the Space Shuttle Columbia's Mission February 1, 2003
Fairfax, Virginia - It is with deep sadness that we recognize our colleagues
whose lives were lost on-board the Space Shuttle Columbia. As a community of
earth scientists that works with space-generated data, we are bound by a
special kinship with our space exploring brethren. Our thoughts and prayers
are with the families of those tragically lost and our hope remains with
NASA to continue exploring the wonders of space. 
President Bush stated today what many of us were thinking but found
difficulty articulating when he said, "The same Creator who names the stars
also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the
shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all
are safely home." 
The quest into space must continue as the NASA mission so clearly states;
*	To improve life here, 
*	To extend life to there, 
*	To find life beyond 
This mission will continue and it is our role to support this mission by
furthering the research, applications and missions into space so we can
learn more about our home planet while energizing our children to become the
next generation explorers. 
Let us pause to mourn. Let us reflect on their lives. And let us learn from
today so we can move forward tomorrow and keep their dreams alive. 
The members of the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners and the
Foundation for Earth Science express our deepest sympathies to the family,
friends and countrymen of the crew of STS-107. Surely they are looking down
on us now urging us to keep going.
Dave Jones
President, Federation of Earth Science Information Partners 
Dick Wertz
Executive Director - Foundation for Earth Science

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PARTNER PROFILE - Tactical Geographics
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The partner in the spotlight this week is Tactical Geographics. Tactical
Geographics was founded in 2001 to provide innovative solutions for mobile
GIS applications. They are based in Tucson, Arizona, and serve customers all
over the world.
Mission Statement: To create small, lightweight, simple, cost effective,
geospatial tools for soldiers, sailors, Marines, intelligence and public
safety professionals to use in the field.
Vision Statement: To see our nation's guardians equipped with the absolute
best geospatial technology and data possible. http://www.tacgeo.com/

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FEDERATION FEATURE 
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Groundhog's Day 2003: Punxsutawney Phil Versus the U.S. National
Temperature, 1988 - 2002
NCDC has compiled a record of Punxsutawney Phil's predictions over the last
fourteen years. Find out how well he has done. Also, read about groundhog
day folklore and learn about other groundhogs throughout the United States
at this informative website.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/extremes/2003/groundhog/groundhog.html

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IN THE NEWS
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THE ROAD TO RECOVERY 
According to a recent report in Science, the Amazon rain forest has lost
nearly two million acres to logging each year since 1996. But a recent study
in the Amazon rain forest shows that some types of logging may not
negatively impact the carbon cycle as originally thought.
http://www.esipfed.org/news/newsitems/03-1_road_recovery.html

GRIDDED POPULATION OF THE WORLD FEATURED IN NY TIMES ARTICLE
SEDAC's ( http://sedac.ciesin.org/) Gridded Population of the World (GPW)
dataset was featured prominently in a set of maps provided as part of a
Sunday New York Times article on "Nuclear War Strategists Rethink the
Unthinkable" by S. Schemann (January 19, Section 4, The Week in Review, p.
14). An on-line version of the maps area available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/19/weekinreview/19SCHM.html

We select Earth interest stories from NASA press releases, Federation
Partners and other science news sources for inclusion on the Federation news
pages.  Recent stories are listed above. Please send us any news items from
your ESIP. For more on these and other Earth Science related stories go to:
http://www.esipfed.org/news/ 

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EDUCATOR'S ITEM - Held over for another week 
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Travel the Amazon with Data Discovery: The Amazon
Grade Levels 6-12 CD-ROM $29.95
From: Planet Earth Science
Data Discovery: The Amazon takes its users on a simulated scientific
research mission up the Amazon River, where they learn about the ecology of
the Amazon flood plain. A fully interactive, multimedia CD-ROM, this Data
Discovery title uses actual earth data sets from NASA. The CD-ROM runs on
MacOS and Windows 95+ operating systems. It has been authored for the
middle-school level, and is also perfect for home use. A complete teacher's
guide is included on the disk. 
http://www.planearthsci.com/products/The_Amazon/Amazon_Detail.html

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DATA YOU CAN USE 
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Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) CD-ROMs Released by ORNL DAAC
The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) Follow-On Project extended
and built upon the original BOREAS goal of investigating the interactions
between the boreal forest biome and the atmosphere in order to clarify their
roles in global change. A common set of existing BOREAS in situ and
remote-sensing data from the period 1993-1996 was compiled at point, study
area, and regional scales for use by Follow-On investigators. The Follow-On
holdings include additional historical data from as early as 1945.
http://www.daac.ornl.gov/BOREAS/FollowOn/followon_home_page.html

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OTHER  ITEMS 
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Photos from the 10th Assembly meeting are now available. See if you can
identify the people in these pictures:
http://www.esipfed.org/business/library/meetings/10th_fed_meeting/10th_galle
ry.html

New Links: We added prominent graphical buttons to the Federation home page
that link to the Federation E-Commerce Gateway, the Earth Observatory and
the DAAC Alliance. Take a look on the right side of the website at
http://www.esipfed.org/

The Standing Committee for Education will hold its next telecon February
13th at 12 noon EST.
The Executive Committee will hold its next telecon February 13th

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DID YOU HEAR FROM US? 
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Each week the web team contacts at least one ESIP of each type to solicit
news, product and service updates and any other information that the ESIP
may want on the Federation website. Our first contact is by telephone,
followed by e-mail. Please help us by responding with news from your ESIP.
e-mail: webteam@itsc.uah.edu

Danny Hardin
Federation Website Manager
danny.hardin@msfc.nasa.gov
(256) 961-7792