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1.  Australian and Southeast Asian Indexes

2.  Brazilian Indexes

3.  Canadian Indexes

4.  CIESEN, GTOS and similar non-imagery dataset indexes

5.  European Indexes

6.  Japanese Indexes

7.  Private Sector Indexes

8.  U.S. Government Indexes

9.  Gazetteers

10. Selected Satellite Tracking Software
 
 
 

1.  Australian and Southeast Asian Indexes

Center for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing, National University of Singapore -- CRISP
This Singapore-based ground station and analysis center provides imagery covering much of Southeast Asia and South Asia from SPOT, ERS, Radarsat International, Landsat and other satellites.  CRISP provides an effective imagery index for: Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China (southern), India (southern), Indonesia, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar/Burma, Pakistan (southeastern), Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
Professor Hock Lim, Director CRISP, NUS
tel:       +65  874 3220
fax:      +65  775 7717
email:  phylimh@leonis.nus.sg
 

Center for Remote Sensing - Australia
Australia's Center for Remote Sensing's index permits searching Landsat and Spot imagery simultaneously, but only for scenes of Australia and nearby New Zealand, Indonesia and Irian Java.  Includes maps, metadata and thumbnail images as well as a gazetteer.
 

2.  Brazilian Indexes

INPE Space Agency - Brazil
Brazil's space agency provides good image indexing of Landsat and SPOT imagery for South America, and particularly for the Amazon region.
 

3.  Canadian Indexes

Canada Center for Remote Sensing -- CCRS
CCRS is Canada's lead agency for remote sensing applications. This site is in English and French and includes an image browser and a clickable map of Canada. It also includes a sampling of what Landsat Thematic Mapper images could look like at much higher resolutions. The site is located at http://www.ccrs.emr.ca/cdql/spot-dd/canspot.htm.

Radarsat Weekly Snapshots via University of Alaska
This page provides point-and-click access to an index of recent, worldwide
imagery beginning mid-1998. Imagery is usually cataloged and available for order within four to five days, though priority service is available from Radarsat itself.  Data received at non-Canadian and US groundstations is sometimes delayed.  The home page is http://asf.alaska.edu/weekly_snapshot.html.
User services:
tel:       +1 907 474 6166
email:  uso@asf.alaska.edu

4.  CIESIN, GTOS and similar datasets

Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network -- CIESIN
CIESIN, http://www.ciesin.org, is not an imagery index.  It provides worldwide bibliographic and geographic information on human interactions with the environment. This CIESIN site is an entry point to a large number of earth science databases, and it allows users to simultaneously search different databases and rapidly identify and obtain data from various sources.  For details, see:
CIESIN Thematic Guide  useful for studies of human impacts on environmental change --  at http://www.ciesin.org/TG/RS/RS-home.html;
CIESIN Social and Economic Data -- SEDAC a gateway to socio-economic data http://sedac.ciesin.org; and
CIESIN Mapping and Data Fusion Tool an interactive mapping tool, at http://sedac.ciesin.org/plue/DD viewer.
 

The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites International Directory Network -- CEOSIDN
CEOSIDN is an international effort to assist researchers in locating information on available data sets. It provides free, on-line access to information on worldwide holdings of scientific data on the Earth sciences (geoscience, hydrospheric, biospheric, satellite remote sensing, atmospheric sciences), space physics, solar physics, planetary science and astronomy/astrophysics. The site is located at http://gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/ceosidn.
 

Global Terrestrial Observing System -- GTOS
This is an evolving U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization project that plans to index socioeconomic and environmental datasets, satellite imagery and related information through a single interface.  The GTOS home page is http://ww.fao.org/GTOS/home.htm.
GTOS Secretariat
c/o U.N. FAO
Viale della terme di Caracalla
Rome 00100
Italy
Tel:    +39 06 5705-2586
Fax:   +39 06 5705 3369
email: GTOS@fao.org
 

Global Change Research Information Office
The Global Change Research Information Office at http://www.gcrio.org offers data directories, inventories, data browsing, data ordering, bulletin boards, and documents.
 

Global Environmental Information Locator Service
Global Environmental Information Locator Service is a new service maintained by the G-7 group of industrialized countries in conjunction with the EU's Centre for Earth Observation.  It is now offering an alpha version of a Global Environmental Information Locator Service somewhat similar to NASA's Global Change Master Directory that provides links to many non-image geographic data sets.
 

NASA's Global Change Master Directory and Earth Observing System -- Data Information System (EOSDIS)
These sites are but two parts of a giant, evolving project intended to weave together geographic data holdings of NASA, NOAA, USGS and unclassified military data with similar holdings from Japan, Europe, Africa and certain universities and other sources worldwide. These two sites do include indexes to some imagery, but go considerably beyond that into environmental data of many sorts. The main advantage of these sites is that they may permit you to pull up relevant information, sometimes including imagery, about non-U.S. areas that is not easily found elsewhere.
 

National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse -- NGDC
This address, http://nsdi.usgs.gov, provides access to metadata describing earth science datasets. The information is available in electronic form through the USGS node of the National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse (NGDC). Digital data products found at this site are designed to be used by geographic information systems, image processing systems and similar programs.

5.  European Indexes
 

DLR ISIS Cooperative Index
The German Aerospace Center, NASA, ESA and several private companies have created this excellent image index as one element in the EOSDIS program.  It is strongest (and most convenient) for coverage of European sites, but includes some data worldwide.  The URL as of November 1998 is http://isis.dlr.de/services/ISIS/ISIS-query.  Early web gateways to ISIS are obsolete.

Earth Viewer
The Earth Viewer allows online access to many images transmitted by satellites around the globe. Geographic coordinates of the desired location desired must be entered in order to create the image. The URL for the site is www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html.
 

ESA's DESCw and Software Gallery
The European Space Agency's very useful software gallery is located at http://earth.esa.int:90/descw/.  Note particularly the free download of DESCw (Display Earth RS Swath Coverage) tracker and search tool that will permit one to simultaneously search for imagery of a particular spot gathered by a number of European, Japanese and U.S. satellites. Most, though not all, if the imagery in the index is of Europe.
 

ESA's "Earthnet Online" Imagery Catalog
Eurimage's eiNet index
These two indexes, located at http://earthnet.esrin.esa.it/reg/catalog and http://www.eurimage.com/einet/einet_home.html, respectively each index Europe's own ERS series satellite data, other European-origin imagery, as well as U.S., Russian and Japanese imagery collected at European ground stations. The method for searching the indexes varies, however, and the collections do not appear to be identical. At the moment Eurimage's catalog seems more user friendly and the agency puts greater stress on making thumbnail or quicklook images available for inspection and downloading. ESRIN seems to offer a broader range of data sets and places more emphasis on rapidly updating their index. The ESRIN prototype for more advanced services is at http://tracy.esrin.esa.it:8001/www/.
 

European Space Agency AVHRR Browser
The Ionia "1 km" Net-Browser at URL http://services.esrin.esa.it permits relatively easy access to the AVHRR imagery archived and maintained at ESA/ESRIN. Browser features include inventory searching, display and selection of retrieved data. Images can be selected through a clickable map of the world or by selecting geographic coordinates of the desired site.

http://www.nrsc.co.uk

http://www.npagroup.co.uk

6.  Japanese Indexes
 

Geological Survey Institute, Japan
This institute maintains an excellent and relatively comprehensive source for worldwide mapping and topological data.

NASDA Earth Observation Center Information System -- EOIS
This is probably the most comprehensive and relatively easy to use image index site presently available. NASDA's site at http://www.eoc.nasda.go.jp/guide/guide/eoc/eois/eois_e.html permits searching Japanese and U.S.-origin multispectral imagery as well as some synthetic aperture radar imagery. It appears to feature worldwide coverage and thumbnail images but is strongest in its coverage of Japan, Korea and Pacific Rim countries.  Search capability in English or Japanese languages. Japan's center links to similar centers in the United States, Canada and Europe via the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites International Directory Network (CEOS-IDN).  For more Japanese data, see the excellent guide to these materials compiled by Stephan Pollard at http://www.cast.uark.edu/jpgis/index.htm .

7.  Private Sector Indexes
 

Aerial-Images and SPIN-2
Aerial Images is partnered with Russia's SOVINFORMSPUTNIK to put digital satellite images of the globe in the hands of the public via the Microsoft TerraServer project.  The Russian data features 2-meter spatial resolution images of  excellent quality for those parts of the world it covers. SOVINFORMSPUTNIK plans four new satellite launches by 2000 in order expand the collection.
Aerial Images/Spin-2
615 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, NC, USA  27603
tel:  919-832-9627 ext.234
fax: 919-833-9614
 

Euromap Satellitendaten - VmbH
Euromap is the licensed distributor for Indian Remote Sensing satellites IRS 1 C/D data gathered over Europe.  It provides image index resources through the ISIS cooperative index operated by the German Aerospace Research Centre.  Euromap also provides a gateway to IRS data gathered at groundstations operated by interlocking companies at Dubai, (U.A.E.), Norman, Oklahoma (U.S.A.), Bangkok (Thailand), and Shadnagar (near Hyderabad, India).
Euromap / GAF mbH
Arnulfstrasse 197
D-80634 Munich,
Germany
fax:  +49 89 121528-79
 

ImageNet
"ImageNet" is an ambitious and relatively thorough commercial imagery index that permits searching Landsat, SPOT, Indian, and much unclassified U.S. government origin data. Provides thumbnails for many of its collections. Http://www.coresw.com.

OrbNet -- Orbital Imaging Corp. Image Index
OrbNet's online catalog is based on current full color digital imagery collected by the company's OrbView-2 satellite. Much of the online data stems from NASA's SeaWIFFS program, with ground resolution roughly comparable to that of weather satellites.  Image prices begin at about $500.00 (USD).  Orbital Imaging plans to orbit 1-meter resolution OrbView-3 and OrbView-4 satellites in 1999 and 2000, respectively.
Orbital Imaging corporation
21700 Atlantic Blvd.
Dulles, VA 20166
USA
tel:  + 703 406 5800
fax: + 703-406-5552

OrbView
Orbimage's OrbView spacecraft provides one and two-meter panchrome satellite imagery and four-meter multispectral imagery on a near real-time basis.
 

SpaceImaging
The company intends to launch its own 1m resolution satellite in early 1999. In the meantime it represents India and Canada's remote sensing satellite organizations in the U.S. The index at  http://www.spaceimage.com includes scenes from those sources as well as unclassified U.S. government imagery. Site includes gazetteer.
 

Spot Image Corporation - DALI Index
SPOT Image Corp.'s DALI image index includes more than 6 million scenes, many with thumbnail-sized quicklooks. Most imagery is 30m to 10m resolution. Try also http://www.spotimage.fr -- the company's European URL. SPOT offers an earlier index on CD ROM that is quite handy up through 1995.   Subscription to the full DALI index currently costs $100 (U.S) per year, although many collections of SPOT imagery for particular regions -- southeast Asia, South America and others -- can be searched without cost at public sites in those regions.  See the regional listings for details.
 

Terraserver, by Microsoft, Aerial images and SOVINFORMSPUTNIK
Found at http://terraserver.microsoft.com. The most interesting aspect of Microsoft's entry into online image indexes is its Russian origin data of approximately 1m resolution. If the site has what you need, it may be the best unclassified high resolution imagery presently available from any source. The site includes thumbnails. Unfortunately the collection of Russian imagery has very spotty coverage and tends to be dated prior to 1991. The site includes a gazetteer that appears to use French language spellings (e.g., "Jugoslavia") and does not reflect the sweeping changes in country and geographic names that has taken place during the last decade.
 
 

8.  U.S. Government Sites

EOSDIS DAAC Project
NASA, NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey maintain   relatively powerful and easy to use earth data indexing and distribution centers, which are known as Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs). Nine sites  now  focus on land features and mapping, snow and ice, chemistry of the atmosphere (including pollution), and related issues. The DAACs are being absorbed into the EOSDIS project, but still remain accessible via http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/daacpages/otherdaacs.html.

 For further details see DAAC entries A through I
 

A) U.S. Geological Survey and EROS Data Center -- EDC DAAC
Land Processes Imagery. URL http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/landdaac/landdaac.html.

B) NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory -- JPL DAAC
 Ocean circulation and air-sea interaction. URL: http://podaac-www.jpl.nasa.gov.

C) Alaska Synthetic Aperture Radar Facility DAAC Project
The Alaska Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Facility home page includes SAR images and derived data, AVHRR and Landsat satellite imagery. The site is located at http://www.asf.alaska.edu/daac_documents/index2.html.

D) The Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network - Socioeconomic Data and Applications center -- CIESEN-SEDAC. See also Human dimensions of global environmental change that is located at Ciesen.org.

E) National Snow and Ice Data Center -- NSIDC-DAAC
 Snow and ice, cryosphere and climate information located at http://www-nsidc.colorado.edu/NASA/GUIDE.

 F) NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center DAAC and Entrance Point
This site provides DAAC data sets grouped by discipline. Queries and orders can be made for data sets containing information on the atmosphere, the biosphere and inter-disciplinary projects. The data can also be accessed via anonymous FTP. The site is located at http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/DAAC_DOCS/gdaac_home.html.

 G) NOAA Satellite Active Archive
NOAA's weather and climate archive is located at http://www.saa.noaa.gov.

H) NASA/Langley Research Center -- LARC-DAAC.
Radiation budget, aerosols, tropospheric chemistry and cloud data  are located at http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/.

I) Oakridge DAAC for Biogeochemical Dynamics
The Oak Ridge DAAC provides access to Biogeochemical dynamics data for terrestrial ecosystems. Current data on-line are available via search and order systems. Permits ordering/downloading of FIFE, OTTER, or CDIAC data via WWW at http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/.

NOAA's   Satellite Active Archive
This site is perhaps the best publicly-accessible archive of weather imagery in the world. Its main address is http://www.saa.noaa.gov.   However the address extension is also focused on weather imagery and expands the flexibility of the NOAA site. It sometimes seems easier to use than the main SAA collection. Like USGS/EROS, NOAA's image archive is part of the larger EOSDIS network, yet is often easier to access and use independently.

9.  Gazetteers

Australia
On-line gazetteer for Australia

Bartholomew World Gazetteer (print)
Published by Bartholomew Press.  High quality on paper gazetteer found in larger libraries.  Also has a separate French Language Gazetteer.
 

Columbia Gazetteer of the World (print)
Published by Columbia University Press.  High quality on-paper gazetteer found in larger libraries.

Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
This is the first genuinely global, online gazetteer of place names and geographical features.  Place names include alternate spellings (e.g. Beijing, Peking, Pei-ching Pekin) with limited metadata on source materials.  The gazetteer includes natural features such as rivers.  There are, at present, approximately 900,000 entries  and plans to expand.

Natural Resources Canada
An on-line gazetteer of Canadian geographical names.  Also available in French language.
 

NIMA's GEOnet Names Server
This site in by far the best free utility for identifying place names, latitude and longitude, geographical features and similar information for locations outside the United States.
 

UK Ordnance Survey
An on-line gazetteer for England, Scotland and Wales only.
 

U.S. Bureau of Census
U.S. Bureau of Census on-line gazetteer.  For U.S. locations only.

U.S. Geological Survey Gazetteer
This gazetteer includes United States territories and Antarctica place names.  It can also be accessed via Yale University at http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/gnis.
 

10.  Selected Satellite Tracking Software

J-Track Real_Time Satellite Tracking from NASA
J-Track is an easy to use NASA web site that permits real-time tracking of more than five hundred satellites from NASA, NOAA, U.S. Department of Defense agencies, Russia, Israel, Japan, China and other countries. The latest version of J-Track can handle ten simultaneous real-time tracks. Observed satellites include those for communication, weather, earth sensing, and other missions. The URL is http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/realtime/JPass.

WinOrbit
http://www.sat-net.com/winorbit/download.html WinOrbit is sophisticated freeware designed to be particularly useful for amateur radio enthusiasts. It can be downloaded and run locally and includes a variety of features such as world relief map backgrounds and a satellite encyclopedia by Jean-Phillipe Domino listing approximately 1700 satellites whose orbital data can be automatically linked to WinOrbit. Runs on Windows 3.1, 95 and NT. The URL is http://www.sat-net.com/winorbit/download.html.

SatSpy
SatSpy is downloadable, commercial software designed to be particularly useful to astronomy enthusiasts. It does display ground tracks for hundreds of satellites, but its real strength is ground based observation of devises passing overhead. It includes a useful users manual and built in ephemeris for predicting passes over one or more points on the earth. URL: http://www.satspy.com
 

ISIR Satellite Launch News
Launchspace  publications provides a useful calendar of upcoming satellite launches around the world, with news on date, launch vehicle, payload and launch site.  See http://www.launchspace.com or the email service at ISIR Newsline Digest, isir@lists.newspace.com.

N3EMO Orbit Simulator
Robert Berger's N3EMO is in many ways the grandfather of every PC-level satellite tracker in use today.  So far as we know, however, it has not been updated since version 3.7 introduced in 1990.

SBSat LX 200 Satellite Tracking software
This shareware, designed by Scott M. Baker, automates some aspects of amateur satellite tracking via telescope.  It is designed primarily for radio and astronomy enthusiasts, but can follow earth observation satellites as well.  Baker knows the software is in 'extreme beta stage...and may not work on your system."  Contact him at smbaker@primenet.com or http://smbaker.simplenet.com.

Satellite Altimetry URLs
Key altimetry sources compiled by IMAGRS-L readers include:
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/announcements/announce_predict.html
http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov
http://topex-www.jpl.nasa.gov

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