CIESIN — LLMpedia

CIESIN
Name	Center for International Earth Science Information Network
Type	Research center
Established	1989
Headquarters	Palisades, New York
Parent organization	Columbia University

Contents

CIESIN The Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) is a research center at Columbia University's Columbia University focused on the integration of remote sensing and social science data to study human interactions with the environment. It develops geospatial data, models, and tools used by scholars, agencies, and organizations such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank. CIESIN collaborates with universities, national laboratories, and international programs including NASA, NOAA, USGS, European Space Agency, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

History

CIESIN was founded in 1989 during a period of expansion in remote sensing and geographic information system applications that followed initiatives by NASA and NOAA in the 1970s and 1980s. Early work connected to projects supported by the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, and collaborations with institutions such as Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and Brookings Institution. The center's development paralleled global efforts like the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and programs including the Global Environment Facility, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, and Future Earth. Over time CIESIN engaged with agencies and programs including European Commission, World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, International Monetary Fund, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

CIESIN's mission emphasizes the integration of satellite remote sensing with population, infrastructure, and socioeconomic datasets to support decision-making by stakeholders such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the International Panel on Climate Change. Activities include the creation of geospatial data products, the development of online data portals used by NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System, training and capacity building for partners like USAID, Department of State, and United Nations Development Programme. CIESIN provides tools for users ranging from researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University to practitioners at World Resources Institute and Conservation International.

CIESIN produces datasets and tools linking population, infrastructure, and environmental information, contributing to initiatives tied to Landsat, MODIS, Sentinel missions, and datasets used in assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Notable work supports datasets used in studies by Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, and University of California, Berkeley. Data products align with standards from organizations like Open Geospatial Consortium, International Organization for Standardization, and repositories such as PANGAEA and DataONE. CIESIN's thematic products have been used in analyses alongside work from The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory.