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All about global data sets

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-07

February 7th, 2010 · Tweets-Globaldata on Twitter

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Happy World Wetlands Day 2010!

February 2nd, 2010 · Data Chatter, TerraViva Data

Author: Amber L. Iler and Richard C. Cicone, Research Scientists at ISCIENCES, L.L.C

Today is World Wetlands Day and marks the 39th anniversary of the “Convention on Wetlands of International Importance,” better known as the Ramsar Convention because it was signed in Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971. The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty to protect and conserve Earth’s wetlands. Today 159 different countries from around the world have signed the treaty and identified “wetlands of international importance” within their boundaries to protect. The theme of this year’s World Wetlands Day is, “Wetlands, Biodiversity, and Climate Change,” selected by the Ramsar Secretariat to coincide with the United Nations’ International Year of Biodiversity.

Global Data on Wetlands

Being geospatially minded, we took a look at the current state of global maps of wetlands and were surprised by what we found. Search for global wetlands maps on the web and you will quickly find Global Distribution of Wetlands Map shown below from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). This map was created by reclassifying the FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World and combining it with a soil climate map from the USDA-NRCS. Unfortunately, the most recent version of this map is from 1997 and the resolution is not great. With the help of NRCS geographer, Paul Reich, we now know how to retrieve that data and hope to include it in our TerraViva! map library soon. In the meantime, you may download the raster wetlands map yourself here: ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NHQ/pub/outgoing/soils/

wetlands_map

USDA Global Distribution of Wetlands Map (1997). Credit: USDA-NRCS.
Click image to enlarge.

A little deeper look takes us to a paper from 2004 by Lehner and Döll titled “Global Lakes and Wetlands Database GLWD.”  These researchers at the University of Kassel, Germany, produced a digital map (shown below) that is available through the World Wildlife Fund.  The data is described as the “combination of best available sources for lakes and wetlands on a global scale (1:1 to 1:3 million scale resolution).” But cartographic license seems well exercised, with broad regions marked either 25 – 50% or 50 – 100% wetlands, sans delineation. Most of the Eastern coast of the USA is so categorized.

GLWD_map

Global Lakes and Wetlands Database. Credit: Lehner and Döll (2004).[1]
Click image to enlarge.

Licensing use of the GLWD data is problematic since the data were developed using “proprietary products of the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI), the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP WCMC), and others.” One must comply with the following terms: “The User may apply GLWD for non-commercial scientific, conservation and educational purposes. The User shall not copy, reproduce, convert, (re)publish, (re)distribute, (re)broadcast, (re)transmit, sell, rent, lease, sublicense, lend, assign, time-share, or transfer, in whole or in part, or provide unlicensed third parties access to the data and related materials.” So it is unlikely that we will be able to post a TerraViva!-compatible version anytime soon, and you are on your own, assuming you’re willing to jump through all the hoops required to use this data.

On other global data fronts, we located this useful resource from the CGIAR International Water Management Institute at http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/wetlands/ providing metadata concerning watershed ecosystem characteristics.

And finally, we also took a closer look at data available on the TerraViva! GeoServer, to see if they might be adapted to reflect wetlands.  Though this potential did exist for several data sets such as the GlobCover Land Cover v2 2008, MODIS IGBP Land Cover 2004, Olson Eco Life Classes 1985, and Global Ecosystems 1993 maps, the legends were inconsistent as were the areas mapped.  With all of these inconsistencies and with the difficulties associated with finding an up-to-date rendition, is a global wetlands map a “mythical map?”

So Where Are the Wetlands?

According to Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, wetlands encompass “areas of marshes, fen, peatland, or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is flowing or static, fresh, brackish or salty, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters”. This suggests that most any drainage system would apply and the maps we see attempt to describe drainage systems and standing water bodies, making it seem like wetlands are everywhere. But the Ramsar Convention limits its wetlands to those of “international importance”: currently 1886 sites covering 185,156,612 hectares of the world.

A Mythical Map?

The term “mythical map” used earlier was borrowed from Jack Estes.[2] The late Dr. Estes bemoaned the state of our knowledge of Earth’s surface and our ability to describe it – let alone monitor changes in it – and he sought to change that. Climate change looms as a threat to natural ecosystems, but more and more those systems provide essential services that we depend on. The challenge of staying in touch with the changing Earth is very much before us. Kudos to the Ramsar Convention, USDA, the University of Kassel researchers, and all who are maintaining a watchful eye.

And dear Jack, wherever you are, we need your help as much as ever.

Notes

[1] Lehner, B. and P. Döll (2004): Development and validation of a global database of lakes, reservoirs and wetlands. Journal of Hydrology 296/1-4: 1-22. http://www.worldwildlife.org/science/data/GLWD_Data_Documentation.pdf

[2] Estes, J. E., and D. W. Mooneyhan (1994). “The Mythical Map,” Proceedings Pecora XII Symposium, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, August 24-26, 1993, Bethesda, MD. Amer. Soc. Of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, pp. 473-480.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-31

January 31st, 2010 · Tweets-Globaldata on Twitter

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Mapping future human impacts

January 26th, 2010 · Data Chatter, TerraViva Data

Not too long ago, a reader commented on our Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems blog post, which also discusses the human footprint map. The comment reads:

    “The human footprint map illustrates that there are still a lot of wild
    places to protect. A lot of opportunities in a good part of Canada, Russia
    Northern Africa, Australia and part of South America. It would be nice to
    have a 25 year projection of the human footprint map.”

    - Yves

footprint.jpg

The Human Footprint Map shows impact of humanity’s influence on the earth’s land surface (circa 2002). Click image to enlarge.

We asked our round table of three IScientists to comment on Yves’s question.

W. Fred Zimmerman, Research Scientist addressed a challenge in projecting populations and their impact on natural resources: “The fundamental difficulty is that population growth and location drives most of the anthropogenic phenomena, but there are few global maps of projected future population. SEDAC (The Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, part of Columbia University’s CIESIN) has a projection to 2015 [PDF].

Last of the Wild organized by biome. Click image to enlarge.
Last of the Wild by Biome

“Obviously, all ‘maps of the future’ involve making a lot of assumptions about where people will locate. The easiest thing to do is to figure out which areas are ‘the Last of the Wild’ and then protect those. Or to be more elaborate, do a sort of reverse travel cost analysis: the wild areas that are closest to current human habitation are probably the most threatened.”

Ric Cicone, President, said “a great resource to learn more about the protection of wild places is CIESIN—Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network. I would encourage our reader to visit http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/.”

Tom Parris, Vice President and Director of Sustainability Programs, recommends building scenarios based on a number of alternative assumptions.  “I would encourage Yves to begin with some reading.  A good place to start is the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios.  This document describes the basis for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s regional scenarios of demographic, economic, and technological change through the end of the century.  Some scholars have been working on developing scenarios with a higher degree of spacial specificity.  Arnulf Grübler et al.’s Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Pages 74 and 980-1029 illustrate one example of how people are trying to construct spatially explicit scenarios of population and economic change. Links to this work are below:
[Abstract] [Full Text]
http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/PCC/pubs/abs-Gruebleretal_TFSC.html
http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/PCC/pubs/Gruebleretal2007_TFSC_downscaling.pdf”

We love this kind of food for thought and encourage our readers to ask about data sets or other technology areas ISciences works in.  You never know – your comment could lead to our next blog post!

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-24

January 24th, 2010 · Tweets-Globaldata on Twitter

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Crowdsourced Data Gaining New Respect – Earthquake Aftermath in Haiti

January 20th, 2010 · Data Chatter

Author: Dylan L. Anderson, Research Scientist, ISCIENCES, L.L.C

From Twitter to OpenStreetMap to the open source crisis management tool, Ushahidi, crowdsourcing is playing a pivotal role in the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Haiti. While a disaster of this magnitude would be tragic no matter where it occurred, it is especially devastating in a lesser-developed area such as Haiti. Such places are usually unequipped to handle such large scale rescue and relief efforts. Thankfully, crowdsourcing has been able to provide some assistance.

When much of the phone service went down after the quake, people turned to services such as Twitter, Facebook, and Skype to report locations of building collapses and injuries. To better aide rescuers, users of OpenStreetMap have been working around the clock to update the maps of Haiti with more detail. Blogger Mikel Maron has maps from OpenStreetMap of Port au Prince before and after the quake to illustrate just how much has changed in the past few days.

Ushahidi Screenshot - 2010 Earthquake in Haiti

Ushahidi Screenshot – 2010 Earthquake in Haiti

Perhaps one of the most helpful tools in use is Ushahidi (screenshot above). Ushahidi is an open source platform “that allows anyone to gather distributed data via SMS, email or web and visualize it on a map or timeline…to create the simplest way of aggregating information from the public for use in crisis response.” Within hours of the quake, the site haiti.ushahidi.com was launched providing real time data on relief efforts. For those that want to help, the site includes a list of various organizations actively providing aide to the victims.

While many crowdsourcing applications are still in their infancy, and perhaps questionable in their effectiveness, it is reassuring to see the good they can provide in real times of need.

These are by no means the only crowdsourcing methods in use to help with the Haiti earthquake. What other crowdsourcing applications you have found helpful? Let us know in the comments.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-17

January 17th, 2010 · Tweets-Globaldata on Twitter

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TerraViva Novice’s Journey – SEDAC shows how easy GIS can be with TerraViva [Video]

January 12th, 2010 · Data Chatter, TerraViva Data

Author: Amber L. Iler, Research Scientist, ISCIENCES, L.L.C

As a TerraViva novice, I’m always looking for tips and tricks to help me take full advantage of all of TerraViva’s capabilities. Recently, the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), at the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University, put together a three-part TerraViva YouTube series for new users. I was immediately interested in what I could learn and jumped right into Part 1:

The first thing I noticed as I explored Part 1 (”Getting Started…”) is that the default map for the TerraViva SEDAC Viewer is the human footprint map, rather than the national boundaries map that comes with the TerraViva Global Data Viewer (GDV) available directly from ISciences at www.terraviva.net. This is because SEDAC is highlighting a version of TerraViva customized for their area of interest. Other than this small difference, I felt this video provided an excellent primer for how to navigate and explore in GDV.

Video Content and Timeline

For those interested, below is a list of the Part 1 content and approximate timings so you can easily skip to a topic you’re interested in.

  • 0:30 – The human footprint map.
  • 1:16 – Panning, zooming, and navigating.
  • 1:32 – Legends and finding map values.
  • 1:56 – Centering the map.
  • 2:12 – Changing map projections.
  • 2:50 – Using the map library.
  • 3:48 – Tiling and using multiple maps.
  • 5:50 – Map guides and getting map metadata.
  • 6:40 – Credits.

I personally found the navigating (1:16), map projection (2:12), and tiling (3:48) aspects of this demo helpful, and I learned about a new way to obtain metadata in the map guides section (5:50). This video is a quick and easy way to get familiar with some of the features that make TerraViva powerful.

More about SEDAC

SEDAC’s mission is to develop and operate applications – such as TerraViva – that support the integration of socioeconomic and Earth science data and to serve as an “Information Gateway” between Earth scientists and social scientists.

To see Parts 2 and 3 of this video series, visit the TerraViva! SEDAC page on YouTube.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-10

January 10th, 2010 · Tweets-Globaldata on Twitter

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Understanding Climate Change on a Cold Day in Michigan

January 6th, 2010 · Data Chatter, TerraViva Data

AUTHOR: Richard C. Cicone, President, ISCIENCES, L.L.C.

Michigan cherry orchard (courtesy www.flickr.com).

Michigan cherry orchard (courtesy www.flickr.com).

It is a cold New Year’s Day and over sixty inches of snow have fallen in the past month, blanketing the ground around my home in Bellaire, Michigan.  This makes it hard to come to grips with the arguments put forth by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that the Earth, on average, is warming – most likely due to human influences.    How does the burning of fossil fuels and changes to the land surface, like deforestation, influence climate?  Is the greenhouse effect being amplified due to increased emissions of CO2, CH4 and other greenhouse gases?

This is a hotly debated topic and it is a challenge to separate fact, theory, and speculation.  One scientific fact, thanks to the laws of thermodynamics, is that the Earth seeks thermal equilibrium – energy in, minus energy out, converges to zero.  So if additional greenhouse gases trap the ground-leaving radiation, how is equilibrium reached? All else being equal, long wave radiation emitted from the Earth according to Planck’s law increases as the temperature increases to eventually balance incoming energy, a process that would take years due to the Earth’s mass.  But the climate system involves many feedbacks and compensating phenomena, so to quote a popular movie, “It’s complicated.”

Holdren’s COP 15 briefing

A recent posting at the Office of Science and Technology Policy offers a perspective on “The Science of Climate Change: What can we know? What can we do?” Dr. John Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, prepared this briefing for the recent Copenhagen United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP 15).  In it he assembles evidence of warming and articulates our government’s perspective on the options we face: mitigating climate change by reducing the rate of growth of emissions and through stewardship of land cover; adapting to climate change by adjusting societal and economic practices to fit the new climate; or suffering the consequences.  Holdren argues that acting now is “win-win,” since actions taken will have both economic and social benefits well beyond the business-as-usual approach, though he acknowledges that it will be a difficult course.  The presentation contains complex but digestible graphics and is an excellent primer on climate science.

Supporting evidence

Is the idea of a human influence on global warming junk science as skeptics claim?  With the wealth of scientific information on climatology available today, you can understand this complex issue better.  The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) is rich with explanation (a summary report, plus three volumes over 1000 pages – not really bedtime reading).  And if you like to participate in the discussion, visit RealClimate, or a myriad of other sites on both sides of the issue.  I also learned from colleagues at Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) about a great index of reports complied by a team led by Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig at Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) that identifies locations worldwide where scientists have found evidence of impacts due to warming in recent decades (see the figure below, which was produced in ISciences’ TerraViva! Global Data Analyst).  You may prefer to read about it in a 2008 article published by Nature.

TerraViva! illustration of peer reviewed scientific publications describing changes attributed to recent warming trends from GISS data base.

TerraViva! illustration of peer reviewed scientific publications describing changes attributed to recent warming trends (adapted from GISS data base).

Visualizing the story

At ISciences, we hope to play a contributing role in this discussion – not to argue one side of the case or another – but to offer data and information so you can visualize what the science is saying.  Our recent blog and video on novel climates presented one science team’s view of future climates.  We expect to have a full collection of that data available for viewing with our TerraViva! Global Data Viewer later this month.  We are also working with CIESIN to compile a series of thematic maps related to climate change.  And we will soon post global maps of sea level rise and historic temperature records from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at East Anglia University (the same CRU that was recently embroiled in the “Climategate” scandal when unidentified hackers released inflammatory e-mail from CRU scientists).  In addition, TerraViva! maps illustrating global population, land cover, night lights and other thematic features of the Earth’s surface are available today via the TerraViva! GeoServer These all contribute to a better understanding of our human footprint on Earth.

The climate story is indeed complicated and not entirely understood.  But the good works of many scientists are helping us understand the Earth we live in better.  The climate future some predict challenges us to examine human influence on the climate system and how we can reduce our impact.  I like the snow in Bellaire, and I enjoy the crisp air I feel on this cold January day, so I find the skeptics’ position “heartwarming,” even if they are incorrect.  This is a good time of year in northern Michigan to enjoy the snow.  I wonder what the future will bring?

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