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Daily Archives: November 9, 2015

USGS – Newly Released Photo Catalog Puts US Landscapes On Exhibit

“The U.S. Geological Survey announced today that it has made part of a huge national repository of geographically referenced USGS field photographs publicly available. USGS geographers developed a simple, easy-to-use mapping portal called the Land Cover Trends Field Photo Map. The entire collection contains over 33,000 geo-referenced field photos with associated keywords describing the land-use and land-cover change processes taking place. Initially, nearly 13,000 photos from across the continental US will be available to the public, yet the online collection will grow as more processed photos become available. “This is a treasure trove of royalty and copyright-free photography collected using consistent procedures,” said Chris Soulard, project leader and USGS research geographer. “We envision that these photos will captivate general audiences and fulfill a myriad of scientific needs.” Sharing these unique field photos provides an excellent resource for the scientific community with potential to develop future research, such as future repeat photography projects or applications where photos may validate remote sensing classifications. Serving USGS data interactively to the public is integral to the USGS mission and provides opportunities for future scientific collaboration by communicating USGS land change research to the broader public and scientific community. “The benefit of these photos being hosted by the USGS is equal access to all without copyright concerns and quality control,” said Jason Sherba, USGS geographer and project web-developer. The photography was collected as part the USGS National Land Cover Trends Project, a research effort that spanned over ten years and represented one of USGS’ largest cross-center research efforts. The project employed Landsat imagery between 1973-2000 to derive rates, causes, and consequences of contemporary land use/land cover change. Photos were collected between 1999 and 2007 to serve as an aid in Landsat-derived land-use/land-cover change analyses and assessments. The map viewer was developed to present photographs within a land use/land cover change mapping context, yet photos may also be found on the USGS Earth Explorer website.”

OECD Economic Outlook November 2015

Emerging market slowdown and drop in trade clouding global outlook – “Global growth prospects have clouded this year. Global growth has eased to around 3%, well below its long-run average. This largely reflects further weakness in emerging market economies (EMEs). Deep recessions have emerged in Brazil and Russia, whilst the ongoing slowdown in China and… Continue Reading

2015 World Energy Outlook

IEA: “An extended period of lower oil prices would benefit consumers but would trigger energy-security concerns by heightening reliance on a small number of low-cost producers, or risk a sharp rebound in price if investment falls short, says the International Energy Agency (IEA) in the 2015 edition of its flagship World Energy Outlook publication (WEO-2015). The… Continue Reading

EFF – NSA Ordered to Stop Collecting, Querying Plaintiffs’ Phone Records

EFF news release: “Affirming his previous ruling that the NSA’s telephone records collection program is unconstitutional, a federal judge ordered the NSA to cease collecting the telephone records of an individual and his business. The judge further ordered the NSA to segregate any records that have already been collected so that they are not reviewed… Continue Reading

CBO – Monthly Budget Review: Summary for Fiscal Year 2015

“In fiscal year 2015, which ended on September 30, the federal budget deficit totaled $439 billion—$44 billion less than the shortfall in 2014. Fiscal year 2015 was the sixth consecutive year in which the deficit declined as a share of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). The deficit peaked at 9.8 percent of GDP in… Continue Reading

As American homes get bigger, energy efficiency gains are wiped out

Pew FactTank: “U.S. homes have become considerably more energy-efficient over the past four decades, according to government data. But homes also are a lot bigger than they used to be, and their growing girth wipes out nearly all the efficiency gains. According to preliminary figures from the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable… Continue Reading

Speakers of the House: Elections, 1913-2015

CRS – Speakers of the House: Elections, 1913-2015. Richard S. Beth – Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process, Valerie Heitshusen, Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process. November 3, 2015. “Each new House elects a Speaker by roll call vote when it first convenes. Customarily, the conference of each major party nominates a candidate… Continue Reading

U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background, Developments, and Issues

CRS – U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background, Developments, and Issues, updated November 3, 2015. “Even though the United States plans to reduce the number of warheads deployed on its long-range missiles and bombers, consistent with the terms of the New START Treaty, it also plans todevelop new delivery systems for deployment over the next 20-30… Continue Reading