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| USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science | |
|---|---|
| Name | Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science |
| Agency | United States Geological Survey |
| Formed | 1973 |
| Jurisdiction | United States Department of the Interior |
| Headquarters | Sioux Falls, South Dakota |
| Employees | ~200 |
| Parent agency | United States Geological Survey |
USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science is a major science center within the United States Geological Survey focused on satellite remote sensing, geospatial data, and applied Earth science. Located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the center integrates satellite observations with field studies to support federal agencies, state governments, and international partners such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the United States Department of Agriculture. Its activities inform decisions related to natural resources, hazards, land use, and climate by producing standardized datasets used by entities including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the United Nations.
The center traces roots to early satellite programs and environmental mapping initiatives linked to Landsat and the Earth Resources Technology Satellite era, evolving alongside institutions like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency. In the 1970s and 1980s, collaborations with the U.S. Geological Survey mapping programs and the U.S. Department of the Interior led to establishment of a dedicated site in Sioux Falls. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s it expanded services in response to programs such as Landsat 7, Landsat 8, and international efforts with European Space Agency missions including Sentinel-2. The center’s history intersects with major policy milestones like the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act and partnerships formed under initiatives led by the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation.
The center’s mission supports the Department of the Interior and partners by processing, archiving, and distributing remotely sensed data from platforms such as Landsat, Sentinel-2, and commercial providers linked to firms like Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs. Responsibilities include development of science products for agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. It delivers operational products used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster response, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for research calibration, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for coastal and vegetation monitoring. The center implements national strategies influenced by directives from the Office of Management and Budget and supports datasets aligned with standards from the International Organization for Standardization and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Facilities include high-performance computing clusters, long-term data archives, and calibration labs co-located with federal and academic partners including South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota. The center maintains terrestrial test sites used by projects tied to USGS National Map activities and international validation campaigns coordinated with the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites and the Group on Earth Observations. Infrastructure supports ingest of data from satellite ground stations operated in collaboration with entities such as NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and commercial ground networks serviced by companies like Iridium Communications. Onsite resources support field campaigns that involve cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Reclamation.
The center curates and distributes standardized products including land cover maps, surface reflectance datasets, and time-series analytics derived from Landsat archives and Sentinel-2 collections used by researchers at Princeton University, Stanford University, and the University of California, Berkeley. Products feed national programs such as the National Land Cover Database and support applications by the Environmental Protection Agency for air and water quality assessment and by the U.S. Census Bureau for demographic-environmental analyses. Derived datasets inform projects at laboratories like Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and are integrated into modeling systems maintained by the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.
Active research spans land change science, disturbance mapping, water resources monitoring, and ecosystem characterization, with projects interfacing with initiatives at the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, and the World Wildlife Fund. Programs include long-term monitoring efforts analogous to those at the Long Term Ecological Research Network and multi-agency initiatives such as those coordinated under the United States Global Change Research Program. The center supports method development in machine learning and remote sensing used by teams at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University and contributes to interdisciplinary assessments alongside the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Global Climate Observing System.
Collaborative relationships extend to federal agencies including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defense, and to international organizations such as the European Space Agency, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, and the Group on Earth Observations. Academic partnerships include Iowa State University, University of Minnesota, and University of Maryland while industry collaborations involve companies like Maxar Technologies, Planet Labs, and Google. The center engages in data sharing with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and programmatic partnerships with foundations such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Outreach includes training workshops for state agencies like those of South Dakota, educational collaborations with institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and the American Museum of Natural History, and support for citizen science platforms similar to partnerships with NASA Earth Observatory initiatives. Educational programs provide resources for teachers aligned with standards from the National Science Teaching Association and foster internships in cooperation with Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and universities including University of Colorado Boulder and University of Michigan. Public-facing portals and tools are used by non-profit organizations like Nature Conservancy and international partners such as United Nations Environment Programme to broaden access to geospatial information.
Category:United States Geological Survey Category:Remote sensing organizations Category:Scientific organizations based in the United States