Archives : Through Spring 2004

EARTHscope Update June -- August 2003
The past months have seen a continuation of the exciting developments with BFI's EARTHscope (ES) project previously reported on in BFI's Trimtab.

ES 2.0 and ES Library Launch

This July, BFI announced the latest version of the EARTHscope. ES v2.0 can display multi-chapter geo-stories, and features an updated display with flexible windows. It also contains a new library interface, which provides access to multiple volumes, including the full AAAS Atlas of Population and Environment (see Spring 2003 issue of Trimtab) and several demo volumes.

The EARTHscope site now hosts two versions of ES: BFI's v1.0 demo ("Human Impact on Natural Habitat") and the ES 2.0. Both are accessible through the online library. See it now>>>

EARTHscope's First Kiosk Application

• Earthspan: The ES team just completed an interactive EARTHscope kiosk presentation that features content from The Assateague Island Peregrine Falcon Survey. Produced by Earthspan, it will be located at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge's new education center on Assateague Island in Virginia. The Internet-based kiosk displays 4 historical falcon fight path animations. A 5th flight path will feature remote updates from live falcon tracking data over the coming year. We just completed this new feature, which allows Earthspan to plug in new data on the fly (without needing to recompile the geo-story each time)! View Now>>>

  "EARTHscope delivers an attractive presentation that will soon become "THE" kiosk display in the Bateman Center, and they did so in a very timely manner at low cost. BFI/Chromatrope provided Earthspan with expertise that we cannot afford to keep in house as a small not-for profit. The EARTHscope kiosk will enable the million or so annual refuge visitors to experience bird migration like never before!" -- Blake Henke, Earthspan

  EARTHscope Kiosk  LoRes 608k pdf>>> | HiRes 1.1m pdf>>>

• Center for the Support of Native Lands: In collaboration with Native Lands, National Geographic created a path-breaking map that shows the linkage between indigenous people and natural ecosystems in Central American and southern Mexico.

  Using this map as a centerpiece, BFI is in the early phases of developing a geo-story for the Native Lands web site. The geo-story will include World Watch Magazine's inspiring article on Native Lands' work, including the beautiful cover illustration by Matthew Trueman, which will also be featured throughout the presentation.

• USGS Sprawl Animation Mock-up: This rough demo shows an animated history of urban sprawl in the SF Bay Area from 1800 to 1990. Based on public-domain data from USGS (United States Geological Survey), the animation made a great impression at the recent DLESE conference.

  We are exploring teaming up with USGS to produce an entire library of urban sprawl animations powered by EARTHscope. USGS has already completed urban change studies for Chesapeake Bay, the Washington-Baltimore metro area, and several other locations. View Now>>>

• LoMap Mock-up: BFI is currently working with Green Map to produce an interactive ES version of their popular LoMap. LoMap engaged youth of all ages from nearly 20 schools and clubs to describe, illustrate, and map the wonderful natural and cultural places in lower Manhattan that students want to celebrate and raise awareness about. Green Map is currently exploring the idea of using EARTHscope to publish a digital, interactive Green Map System Atlas. The current version of the ES library contains a very simplified LoMap demo module; the first to feature audio files for a narrated slideshow.