SOURCES OF EARTH AND PLANETARY PHOTOGRAPHY

EARTH PHOTOGRAPHS AND IMAGES

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Aerial photographs are available from NASA's Earth Resources Aircraft Program, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and other Federal Government agencies. NASA's aerial photography program was established to test remote-sensing instruments over certain preselected areas. The photographs are available in a wide variety of formats and flight altitudes from a few thousand feet up to 60,000 feet. The USGS and other agencies have acquired aerial photography for mapping of the United States. The aerial survey altitudes range from 2,000 to 40,000 feet.

Sources:

EROS Data Center
Customer Services
Sioux Falls, SD 57198
(605) 594-6511

EROS provides aerial photos from several government agencies.

U.S.Department of Agriculture Aerial-Photography Field Office
User Services ASCS-USDA
2222 West, 2300 South
P.O. Box 30010
Salt Lake City, UT 84130
(801) 975-3503

USDA has aerial coverage from the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, the Forest Service, and Soil Conservation Service. The photography from these agencies covers most of the nation, primarily the agricultural and national forest areas. Call or write for price and ordering information.

MANNED SPACECRAFT PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographs from manned spacecraft missions were taken from Gemini, Apollo, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), and the Space Shuttle. The astronauts photographed selected sites using a hand-held Hasselblad camera (Shuttle Astronauts also used the Aero Linhof Technika 45 camera). They obtained high-quality color photos of terrain features and cloud systems for geological, geographical and meteorological purposes. Skylab also had two camera systems that were mounted on the spacecraft: a Multispectral camera, which used six different film/filter combinations and an Earth terrain camera. These cameras offered the first opportunity to obtain high-resolution multi-spectral Earth photography from space.

Sources:

Earth Data Analysis Center
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
(505) 277-3622

Formerly known as Technology Application Center. See order form for prices and ordering information.

EROS Data Center
Customer Services
Sioux Falls, SD 57198
(605) 594-6511

Use order form for each manned satellite. Use scene ID numbers if known. If not, EROS will do a search of the desired area. Prices are listed on order forms. (EROS does not provide ASTP photography.)

Media Services
PO. 58425
Houston, TX 77058
(713) 483-8604

Media Services has motion picture footage from all missions. Still images can be downloaded from the web at: images.jsc.nasa.gov

MANNED SPACECRAFT MAPPING PHOTOGRAPHY

The Large Format Camera (STS 41G) and the Metric Camera (German Spacelab 1 Mission, STS 9) operated from the Shuttle's cargo bay were experiments in studying terrain mapping from low-orbiting spacecraft. Both of these experiments produced high quality photographs.

Large Format Camera

Source:

EROS Data Center
Customer Services
Sioux Falls, SD 57198
(605) 594-6511

Call for details.

Metric Camera

Source:

DLR-Forschungzentrum
Post Wessling/OBB
D-8031 Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany
(49) (081 53)28-0

RUSSIAN CAMERA SYSTEMS

Russian Camera systems consist of both multispectral and mapping photography flown aboard manned and unmanned spacecraft. The mapping camera provides some of the highest spatial resolution photography commercially available.

Source:

Sovinformsputnik

LANDSAT

Landsat, a remote sensing Earth Resources Technology satellite, has been acquiring repetitive coverage of the Earth since 1972 when Landsat 1 was launched. Since then, four others have been in operation. Landsats 1, 2 and 3 fly in a circular orbit 570 miles above the Earth's surface and circle the Earth every 103 minutes and Landsat 4 and 5 fly about 440 miles above the Earth and circle every 98 minutes. Each scene covers an area 185 km on a side. Landsat 1, 2 and 3 carried two remote sensor systems: a Return Beam Vidicon (RBV) or television system and a Multispectral Scanner (MSS). Landsats 4 and 5 carry the MSS sensor and an advanced MSS called a Thematic Mapper which records in seven spectral bands and obtains high resolution images (30m/pixel) of selected areas.

Sources:

EOSAT Customer Service
4300 Forbes Blvd.
Lanham, MD 20706
1-800-344-9933 or (301) 552-0537

All ordering information is listed on the order form . Call or write for Catalog of Products and Services.

EROS Data Center
Customer Services
Sioux Falls, SD 57198
(605) 594-6511

EROS provides only MSS in digital form and only Black and White Photoproducts.

LANDSAT MOSAICS OF INDIVIDUAL STATES:

Sources:

National Air Survey Center
4321 Baltimore Avenue
Bladensburg, MD 20710
(301) 927-7180

All prices and ordering information are listed on order form.

Earth Data Analysis Center
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
(505) 277-3622

Formerly known as Technology Application Center, EDAC has mosaics of New Mexico and Colorado only.

LANDSAT IMAGES OF CONTERMINOUS UNITED STATES:

Sources:

USDA - Aerial Photography Field Offices
User Services ASCS-USDA
2222 West 2300 South
PO. Box 30010
Salt Lake City, UT
(801) 524-5856

Provides prints, negatives and transparencies. Call or write for ordering information.

National Air Survey Center
4321 Baltimore Avenue
Bladensburg, MD 20710
(301) 927-7177

LANDSAT POSTERS OF METROPOLITAN AREAS

Landsat Thematic Mapper Images are used to make high quality posters of major metropolitan areas. Currently, each of these companies has posters of U.S. and foreign cities and plans on producing posters of other cities.

Sources:

Advanced Satellite Productions Inc.
5851 Hackett Road
Peachland BC Canada VAH1X4

250-767-9523

Spaceshots, Inc.
26943 Ruether Ave Suite R
Santa Clarita, CA 91351
661-299-5594
1-800-272-2779

Spaceshots sells posters of many U.S. cities as well as foreign cities and countries.

SPOT

Systeme Probatoire de l'Observation de la Terre, or SPOT is a remote sensing satellite developed by France, Belgium and Sweden. Its high-resolution sensors allow detailed monitoring of varied regions. SPOT 1 was in operation from February 1986 to December 1990 and March 1992 to December 1992. SPOT 2 was launched in January 1990 and is still in operation. SPOT 3 was successfully launched in 1993.

Source:

SPOT Image Corporation
14595 Avion Parkway Suite 500
Chantilly, VA 20151
703-715-3100
1-800-ASK-SPOT (257-7768)

Call or write for information.

ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE DATA

Environmental satellites monitor all aspects of the Earth's environment such as cloud cover and movements, wind speed, temperatures, and snow and rain fall.

Source:

Environmental Data and Information Service
National Climatic Data Center
Satellite Data Services Division
Princeton Executive Square, Room 100
5627 Allentown Rd.
Camp Springs, MD 20746
(301) 763-8400

See ordering procedures and price list .

RADAR IMAGERY

Imaging Radar Systems are another technique for acquiring imagery of the Earth. Radar has been flown on both aircraft and satellites and has the capability of being used at any time since it penetrates through all environmental and atmospheric conditions. It observes phenomena different from those seen by other Earth-looking satellites, and is sensitive to the small-scale roughness and slopes of the target surface.

Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR):

SLAR is an electronic image-producing system that derives its name from the fact that the radar beam is transmitted perpendicular to the side of the aircraft acquiring the data. The result is an obliquely illuminated view of the terrain that enhances subtle surface features.

Source:

EROS Data Center
Customer Services
Sioux Falls, SD 57198
(605) 594-6511

Coverage is available for selected project areas in the conterminous United States and Alaska.

SEASAT-Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR):

SEASAT, a free-flying Earth-orbiting satellite, was the first of NASA's space borne imaging radar satellites. It was designed specifically to observe the Earth's oceans.

Source:

Environmental Data and Information Service
National Climatic Data Center
Satellite Data Services Division
Princeton Executive Square, Room 100
5627 Allentown Rd.
Camp Springs, MD 20746
(301) 763-8400

See ordering procedures and price list.

Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR-A and SIR-B)

Flown aboard the Space Shuttle missions STS 2 and STS 41G, the Imaging Radar experiment acquired images of varied terrains and ocean surfaces. SIR-B was able to acquire digital imagery from different incidence angles.

Source:

National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC)
Code 633
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
(301) 286-6695

Provide Data Take no. that can be found in User's Guide. Prices vary according to Data Take. Call or write for ordering information.

ERS-1

The European Space Agency's European Remote Sensing Satellite was launched in July 1991 and provides systematic coverage of ocean and sea-ice areas on a highly repetitive basis allowing global monitoring for meteorological and environmental applications. Much of the data is collected from remote areas such as the polar regions and the southern oceans.

Source:

Radarsat International ERS-1 Order Desk
13800 Commerce Pkwy
MacDonald Dettwiler Bldg.
Richmond, British Columbia
Canada V6V2J3
604-231-5000
1-888-780-6444

GEOLOGICAL PHENOMENON

Lunar and Planetary Institute
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/library/library.html#COLLECTION
3600 Bay Area Blvd.
Houston, Texas 77058-1113
U.S.A.

LPI has produced several slide sets using Space Shuttle images. These sets include images of clouds, oceans, volcanoes and other interesting geologic features.

National Geophysical Data Center
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov
NOAA, E/GC1, Dept 953
325 Broadway
Boulder, CO 80303
U.S.A.

NOAA will provide slide sets of geologic hazards such as volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Images include damage done by earthquakes, volcanoes erupting and before and after views of many of the hard hit areas.

Sources of Earth and Planetary Photography