USGS Center for Earth Observation

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USGS Center for Earth Observation Science
(EROS) Analog Archive Preservation Efforts

• PV 2005
• The Royal Society, Edinburgh
• November 21, 2005
• Timothy B. Smith
• Science Applications International Corporation
  (SAIC)
• Contractor to the USGS/EROS

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USGS/EROS Vision Mission Statement

• To be the worlds leading source of land
  information for exploring our changing planet
• To promote and conduct land science applications
• To ensure data access to land information
• To safeguard the national archive of remotely
  sensed land data

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Background

• The USGS is a bureau of the U.S Dept. of Interior
  (DOI)
• USGS/EROS is a research field center and
  long-term archive for DOI its partners (NASA,
  NOAA, EPA, DOD, USAID, UNEP GRID)
• The USGS/EROS Archive includes over 2.8 petabytes
  of digital data and over 8.6 million frames of
  analog film (39,000 square feet of archive
  conditioned space)
• USGS/EROS and its 630 employees are host to the
  National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data
  Archive (NSLRSDA), the NASA Land Processing DAAC,
  the World Data Centers for Remotely Sensed and
  Land Cover Data, and is in the process of
  becoming a National Archive Records
  Administration (NARA) Affiliate Archive

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The USGS Film Holdings

• U.S. Dept. of Interior 33,700 rolls
• Dept. of Defense 11,700 rolls
• NASA Collections 14,100 rolls
• 59,500 rolls of film (8.6 million images)
• and over 70,000 photo indexes

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USGS Archive of the 21st Century

• Significantly improve access to the USGS Film
  Archive and Film Collections from other
  participating Agencies and Bureaus
• Fully transition to a digital product delivery
  system
• Assure long-term preservation of USGS photography
  and photographic collections entrusted to EROS

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Photo Product Evolution

• Customer demand for film based products trending
  downward and the costs to produce film/paper
  products exceeded income (production peaked over
  350,000 in 2000 down to 60,000 in 2004)
• Market pressures the photo industry is moving to
  digital some of the raw stock are no longer
  being manufactured
• Not all of the USGS film collections are
  accessible Only single frame metadata references
  were searchable in Earth Explorer which
  represents 33 of the EROS archive
• Over 19,500 film rolls have the vinegar syndrome
  problem including over 310,000 frames of
  Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR)
  photography

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Historical Film Access Methods
Single Frame
Photo Index
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Terminology

• Digitize
• Digitized browse quality image files.
• 14.4 mega pixel digital cameras
• JPG, B/W148 KB, color400 KB, 72 dpi
• Browse downloadable at no cost to customers
• Medium-resolution digitized image files
• By-product of creating the digital browse
• Non-photogrammetric quality, 600 dpi
• TIFF output format, B/W13 MB, color38 MB
• Minimal photo editing (format, crop, adjust
  polarity, add USGS vis/ID)
• Stored near-line on a Silo for ready access to
  serve customer orders
• Scan
• High-resolution scanned image files.
• Output of Zeiss and Leica photogrammetric
  scanners
• Standard spot size is 21micron (1200 dpi).
  Options to 7 (3600 dpi)
• TIFF output format, B/W120 MB, color 360 MB
• On-demand products (scans are not routinely
  archived)

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Digital Capture Systems
High-resolution Photogrammetric Quality System
(customer product)
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Historical Film Digitization Plan

• 5 yr plan to digitize archive film.
• Create full frame browse to improve film archive
  access.
• Store medium-resolution images created during the
  process.
• Digitize all photo indexes line plots (over
  72,000)
• Systems development progressing.
• Four systems are operational two shifts/day.
• 5th system online by January 2006.
• Archive Digitization Ops.
• Digitizing 60-65 rolls/day.
• Priority scheme
• Primary drivers One time U.S. coverage,
  Vinegar Syndrome Rolls, USGS collections, Science
  Customer Interests.

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Historical Change Pair Examples(can you name
this island in Pennsylvania?)
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Or this agricultural area in Colorado?
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Or this mountain in Washington?
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Old Photos New Work
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Digital Data Distribution

• Providing on-demand high-resolution scanned
  products from the historical film archive
• 24 / per frame scanning fee plus media charges
  30/file FTP, and file stacking on CD (45) and
  DVD (60)
• Providing near-line access to the
  medium-resolution digitized files as they become
  available.
• 1/ per file plus media charges (30/file FTP,
  and file stacking on 45/CD and 60/DVD)
• Archiving major project scans when 7 micron
  products are requested (e.g. Declassified
  Satellite imagery).

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Summary

• Over 1.7 million frames were digitized and over
  100,000 single frame records were created from
  photo indexes in 2005
• In the same period EROS created over 18,000 high
  resolution scan products for the science
  community general public
• On-line browse simplifies archive access and
  promotes increased interest in the USGS/EROS film
  archive
• Digitizing film rolls uncover many images that
  were not previously accessible (initial use vs.
  reuse)
• The comparatively small file size of
  medium-resolution images permit customers easy
  access and opportunities to perform value added
  processing with satellite imagery
• The new approach enhances archive value as
  additional browse imagery, digitized medium
  resolution, and high resolution scanned products
  permit open access to the USGS film archive and
  USGS partner collections to support the ever
  changing needs of the science community and the
  general public