EROS Data Center (EDC) DAAC The EDC DAAC is used by Earth and global change scientists to study, characterize, and monitor biologic, geologic, hydrologic, limnologic, ecologic, and other conditions and processes existing and operating at or near the land surface. Included are studies of conditions and processes affecting land-atmosphere and land-ocean interactions and studies that attempt to model the role and influence of these processes and interactions in the history and evolution of the total Earth system. The objective of the EDC DAAC is to promote the interdisciplinary study and understanding of the integrated Earth system. The areas of particular emphasis are land surface conditions and processes. Researchers will be supported by enhancing access to relevant data and data products and in appling those data and data products to intrerdisciplinary Earth science and global change studies. EDC DAAC Data Availablity 30 Arc-second Digital Chart of the World Digital Elevation Model The Digital Chart of the World (DCW) DEM data provide 30-by-30 arc-second digital elevation data produced from the Defense Mapping Agency's (DMA) 1:1,000,000-scale DCW contour and hydrology data. The EROS Data Center's DCW DEM project includes generation of 30 arc-second data for the entire world to be distributed on CD-ROM as major geographic regions are completed. Production is under way for the continent of Africa. As of June 1, 1993 Madagascar and Haiti, are complete and available for distribution. North American Landscape Characterization The North American Landscape Characterization (NALC) project is a component of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Landsat Pathfinder Program. Pathfinder projects are focused on the investigation of global change utilizing remote sensing technologies. The NALC project is a cooperative effort between NASA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to make Landsat data available to the widest possible user community for scientific research and general public interest. The NALC project is principally funded by the EPA Office of Research and Development's Global Warming Research Program (GWRP) and the USGS's Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center (EDC). The objectives of the NALC project are to develop standardized remotely sensed data sets and standard analysis methods in support of investigations of changes in land cover, to develop inventories of terrestrial carbon stocks, to assess carbon cycling dynamics, and to map terrestrial sources of greenhouse gas (CO, CO2, CH4, and N2O) emissions (Lunetta and Sturdevant, 1993). The EROS Data Center has primary responsibility for producing the NALC Landsat multispectral scanner (MSS) triplicate data sets, as well as the responsibilty for archiving, managing, and distributing data and information derived from the NALC triplicates. The EPA Environmental Systems Monitoring Laboratory in Las Vegas is responsible for developing the standard analysis methods to be applied to the NALC data and for establishing collaborative research agreements to facilitate the derivation of higher level data products that can be used by researchers investigating specific science problems. In accordance with the Landsat Pathfinder Program concept, the Pathfinder basic data sets will be comprised of data which have had systematic radiometric and geometric corrections applied. NALC triplicates, however, will be precision corrected for geocoding. In addition to the basic data sets and the NALC triplicates, selected derivative or higher level data products (landcover classifications, landcover change images, etc.) will be sent to EDC for archive and distribution. The NALC project area includes the conterminous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean islands. Global 1-Kilometer Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer Scientific investigations indicate that global change information can be derived from the 1-km advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) data acquired by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) television infrared observation satellite (TIROS). Over the past 3 years, various scientific organizations have identified the need for compiling a global 1-km resolution multitemporal AVHRR data set. The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme's-Data and Information System's (IGBP-DIS) land cover working group completed a study that stressed the need for this data set (Townshend, 1992). The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's Forest Resources Assessment 1990 project requires 1-km AVHRR data for all the forested lands on the planet, with emphasis on the tropical zones, for their global forest inventory mandate. NOAA researchers need a 1-km AVHRR data set of the northern hemisphere to study urban heat island effects on surface observations of temperature data (Gallo and others, 1993). The Commission of the European Communities and the European Space Agency (ESA) have a joint requirement for global, daily, long-term, consistent optical and thermal satellite data for tropical environments in support of the joint Tropical Ecosystem Environment Observations by Satellite (1991) project. The NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer land science team concluded that a global land 1-km AVHRR data set is crucial to develop algorithms for several land products for the Earth Observing Sytem (EOS) (Running and others, 1993). The compilation of such a data set has received endorsement from the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), through the recommendation of the data working group. The CEOS endorsement facilitates international cooperation. NASA (as part of the objectives of the EOS program) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), EROS Data Center (EDC) (as the EOS EDC Distributed Active Archive Center), NOAA, and the IGBP are coordinating a project to meet the requirements of the science community for such a data set. The objectives of the project are data acquisition, processing, archiving, and distribution of the raw global 1-km AVHRR data and higher level products, such as vegetation indexes and periodic temporal composites. Accessing EDC DAAC Data Data orders will be placed at the EDC DAAC through the NASA EOSDIS V0 Information Management System (IMS). The V0 IMS is scheduled to be accessible by the end of July, 1994. In the interim for orders and information contact: EDC DAAC User Services EROS Data Center Sioux Falls, SD 57198 Phone: 650-594-6116 Fax: 605-594-6589 Internet: edc@eos.nasa.gov .