1. A Profile of the Workforce at the USGS EROS DATA CENTER
John Dwyer
Raytheon ITSS

2. USGS EROS Data Center Mission Statement
To promote new uses, new users, and new understanding of land information, so that others can better understand our planet
To ensure scientists, researchers, businesses, decision makers, and the public have ready access to the land information they need
To safeguard and expand the world’s largest civilian archive of remotely sensed land data

3. USGS EROS Data Center Home of the:
National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center
World Data Center-A for Remotely Sensed Land Data
USGS Sales Data Base
United Nations Environment Programme / Global Resource Information Data Base

4. Department of the Interior

5. Land Remote Sensing from Space: Acquisition to Applications
Earth Observation Satellites
USGS National Archive Challenge
Data Applications
Land Cover
Fire Danger Rating
DOI Land Management
Natural Hazards
Coastal Zones
Environmental Monitoring
Emergency Response
Declassified Systems
Landsat 1-5
NOAA - POES
Shuttle Radar
Landsat 7 (1999)
NASA-EOS (1999)
High Resolution Systems
Preserve
Provide Access
Process
Reproduce
Distribute
Hold in Trust
Expanding to over 18 million images of the earth!

6. USGS EROS Data Center Expertise Customer services
Information systems development and technologies
Remote sensing and its applications
Earth system sciences - terrestrial, ecosystem, global change
Software development and maintenance
Systems engineering
Data management
High speed communications
Image processing
Product generation, digital and photographic

7. USGS EROS Data Center Staffing Profile

8. USGS EROS Data Center Staffing Locations
 Alaska FO
Whitefish MT 
Rapid City SD 
EDC
Menlo Park CA 
Denver CO 
Greenbelt MD
Washington DC
 Niger
 Honduras
 Venezuela
 Kenya
 Zimbabwe

9. EROS Data Center Staffing Educational Levels
72% of Government and Raytheon staff have degrees.

10. Workforce Characteristics – USGS/TSSC
421Total
Employees

11. Workforce Characteristics NASA/ECS Raytheon ITSS
44 Total
Employees

12. Science and Applications Branch
Staff Expertise
 Agronomy
 Geology
 Anthropology
 Mathematics
 Atmospheric Science
 Natural Resources
 Botany
 Physics
 Cartography
 Range Management
 Computer Science
 Regional Planning
 Ecology
 Remote Sensing
 Electrical and Civil Engineering
 Soil Science
 Forestry
 Wildlife Biology
 Geography

13. Activities Investigate new technologies and applications
Develop prototype products and services
Participate in national and international research
Participate in collaborative research and applications projects
Perform requirements analysis
Promote technology transfer
Provide technical/scientific support

14. International Program
Famine Early Warning (FEWS)
Ecological Monitoring
(Senegal)
Early Warning Systems
(Sub-Saharan & Southern African Countries)
Developing Country Applications
(Madagascar)
Projects for Sustainable Development
(Latin America)
International Development Technical Assistance
(Greater Horn, Mozambique, Latin America)
UNEP/GRID
Lake Victoria - Water Hyacinth

15. Research and Applications Program
Projects:
Electro-optical Studies
Microwave Systems
Technique Development Studies
Topographic Studies
Arctic Studies
Carbon Cycle
Environmental Monitoring
( )

16. Land Cover Characterization Program
Guiding Principles
Compatible with previous work
Built on partnerships
Flexible data base strategy
Multi-Resolution
Needs-Based and User-Driven
Dynamic, with Monitoring Capability
Integrated Strategy

17. Develop Prototype Products
Oregon Land Cover
Multi-scale
National and Global
Historical

18. Land Cover Characterization Program Components
Global Seasonal Land Characteristics AVHRR
Regional Land Cover (30 m)
Landsat TM
Urban Land Use/Land Cover Aerial Photography

19. Topographic Science Program
Projects:
Elevation Data Research
Global
National
Hydrologic Derivatives and Applications
NED-H Development and Applications
HYDRO1k Development and Applications

21. Workforce Training -- Preparation
Education
Earth or Natural Sciences, Geography
Physics/Geophysics
Mathematics/Statistics
Principles of Remote Sensing
Image Interpretation
Digital Image Processing
Geographic Information Systems

22. Workforce Training -- Preparation
Experience
Airborne and satellite data
Image processing software
Radiative transfer models
GIS software
Statistical analysis software
Programming
(C++, object-oriented, HTML/XML)
Windows, Unix, and/or Linux OS

23. Workforce Training -- Preparation
Summary
Academic training – theoretical basis
Practical experience – real data, tools,
and problems
Strong communications skills – written
and oral
Commitment to teamwork – projects
Ability to multi-task