APPLICATIONS & INVESTIGATIONS IN EARTH SCIENCE
NAME: ______________________________
EXERCISE 3
CLASS: ______________________________
RESPONSE FORM
DATE: ______________________________
1) Spend some time investigating the information that is available at the Earth Resources Observational System
(EROS) Data Center website operated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
When you have finished your exploration of the site, write a short paragraph describing what resources are
available at the site.
2) The United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Earthshots website is an ideal place to investigate satellite images.
After you thoroughly examine the "First time readers..." information at the site, review one of the articles and
write a brief summary of your findings. (NOTE: The information at this USGS site may also be helpful.)
3) Begin your study of aerial photographs by taking a virtual "fly-over" of your home at the TerraFly website.
Following your fly-over, determine if any aerial photographs are available for your home area from the USGS
National Aerial Photography Program (NAPP).
List the dates and other ordering information of those photos that can be purchased.
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4) Beginning at this MapSport site, determine which 7.5 minute series USGS quadrangle map(s) are available for
your home area.
List the map(s) by name, and indicate the scale.
.
5) The TopoZone bills itself as the Web's center for recreational and professional topographic map users. Here you
can interactively view topographic maps from the entire United States.
Using the website, locate and examine the topographic map for your home or other area of interest in the United
States.
a)
What is the name of the topographic quadrangle you have examined?
b) What is the effect of changing the map scale?
c)
Select one scale. Indicate the scale and the relief shown on the map.
d) Write a general summary of the topography of the area you have examined.
(NOTE: Print and attach a copy of the map to your answers.)
6) After you examine the information available at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA)
Earth Observatory website, answer the following questions.
a) What are some of the recent events listed on the "Natural Hazards" page?
b) What are the featured land images on the "Land" page?
7) Research the terms listed in the NetSearch module of this exercise. Following your search, write short reports on
any two of the terms.
8) Locate and examine the aerial photograph and topographic map for your home or other area of interest in the
United States using the "Advanced Find" feature of Microsoft's TerraServer website.
What is the elevation of the feature you located?
(NOTE: Print and attach a copy of both the aerial photograph and the topographic map to your answers. Be sure to
indicate the exact location of the feature you researched on both.)
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9) In addition to locating places on Earth's surface using latitude and longitude or the Congressional Land
Survey, a third method, call the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid is also employed. Begin your
investigation of the UTM grid at this USGS site. Then, using a search engine, investigate the Universal
Transverse Mercator grid at several other sites. When you have completed your research, write a brief
description of the system.