Category Archives: Announcement

Join in the Upcoming Summer GIS Workshop for Educators

Dear Teachers,

As the summer approaches, we wanted to encourage you to save the date for an upcoming GIS workshop for K-12 educators being held at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa on July 20-21, 2022.  See attached poster for more details.  Also please send us an email if you are interested but can’t make this event.  If there is enough interest, we may hold a second workshop, in August or the fall.

Please contact Amy Logan or Debbie Stevens with any questions.

Announcing the Golden Jubilee of the Landsat Mission

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first Landsat satellite (July 23, 1972). To celebrate fifty years of earth observation, IowaView will be posting various images and gif documenting Landsat in Iowa and around the world. Check back regularly for new images and articles. #TimeLapseTuesday #ThrowbackThursday

A Calendar Full of Exciting, Engaging April Events

Happy Earth Month! This month is full of lots of exciting and engaging events for you to participate in. Here are some coming up soon:

What: VIRTUAL EVENT: ASPRS GeoBytes Webinar: A History of the Landsat Program presented by Ellie Leydsman McGinty This is going to be a fantastic opportunity to learn about some of the stories behind how the Landsat program became what it is today and some of the people that made it happen. 
When: 4/8/22 @ 12pm-1pm (Eastern)
Registration (free): https://my.asprs.org/ASPRSMember/Events/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=GB20220408&WebsiteKey=9126ee3f-e9e1-43bd-a00c-0cfa63182579

What: VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON EVENT Virginia Tech Office of GIS and Remote Sensing Research Symposium
We have an exceptional panel of speakers on hand this year representing Duke University, NASA (Emerita), and Virginia Tech.  Another highlight of the Symposium, is the student poster session  & web map app showcase with over 35 undergraduate and graduate student posters on full display! 
When: 4/8/22 @ 12pm-3:30pm (Eastern)
Registration (free): https://virginiatech.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_n0l1pRCTTSWgDeP7Jwx47Q

What: VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON EVENT Iowa Technology and Education Connection (ITEC) Conference
ITEC is hosting the annual conference on April 13-14. Join fellow Iowa educators at the state’s premier Tech Ed event! IowaView staff will be presenting on April 14 at 1:15 -2:05pm – Spreading the Mapping Bug: Sharing Geospatial Resources, Ready-to-Go Curriculum, and Mapping Activities for Teachers to Use Tomorrow and Integrate into Their Lessons. Great for student engagement. Many of these materials align with core standards and resources include interactive maps and apps available immediately.
When: 4/14/22 @ 1:15-2:05pm
Registration: https://www.itec-ia.org/conference-registration-details/

What: VIRTUAL EVENT GeoTech Center – Earth Observation Day

When: 4/20/22 @ 11am-4:45pm (Eastern)
Registration (free): https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/02d5fc3ded704f958fb1aa96d9e125bf

For even more events check out the IowaView Jobs and Other Opportunities Page.

It’s time to Spread the word about the Iowa Map Contest!

The Iowa Map Contest is open. This year we would like to give out all our prize money. If you know students in grade 4-12 or teachers encourage them to participate. For contest details, visit: https://sites.google.com/site/iowamapcontest/.

Here’s a link to the poster pdf: https://www.iowaView.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Iowa_map-contest-poster_smaller-compressed-1.pdf.

Presenting Iowa’s first Landsat 9 Image!

Yesterday the United State Geological Survey (USGS) released the first 38,000 scenes collected from the recently launch Landsat 9 (September 2021). After much calibration and quality assurance here are some of the first clear images of Iowa. For more images visit USGS Earth Explorer: https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/.

Ames, Iowa

New Data Products from the ISU GIS Facility: 24K Topo Maps 1949-1986


The ISU GIS Facility Manager, Robin McNeely, recently gave a presentation for the Iowa Geographic Information Council Lunch and Learn series about new data products that the GIS Facility has been producing. Here is a link to watch Robin’s presentation, which begins around (29:20): https://iastate.webex.com/iastate/ldr.php?RCID=64ed815f6c8eaa323fa5c88cc36d7d60.

She highlighted the completion of the Historic United States Geological Survey (USGS) 24,000 Topographic Map series ArcGIS service. The 24k historic topo maps were downloaded from the USGS TopoViewer as georeferenced .tif files, inventoried and put into an ArcGIS mosaic dataset. The dates for those maps for Iowa are 1949-1986. They are currently in a published map service on ortho.gis.iastate.edu and as a layer in the Iowa Geographic Map Server (see map below.)

Dear Teachers: A New Year, A New You!

As we begin this new year you may want to challenge yourself with a new skill. Esri has a 6-week program, Learn ArcGIS Educator Program for New Users, available to give you an introduction to many of the core applications available for the classroom. Each week you will spend time watching videos related to the topic, take notes, share you thoughts using Flipgrid and discussion boards. For more information and resources visit the Learn ArcGIS Educator Program Hub: https://learn-arcgis-educator-program-new-user-learngis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/welcome.