USC Dornsife Spatial Sciences Institute

The Nature Conservancy's 2023 Annual Geospatial Report has arrived! 👏

The fifth edition focuses on the role of Earth observation (EO) technology in critical conservation decisions, monitoring marine ecosystems, and more.

2023 Geospatial Annual Report TNC presents our fifth-edition Geospatial Conservation at The Nature Conservancy Annual Report & Map Book, focusing on Earth observation technology that's advancing our science and policy work.

"Our foundational work provides a broad stroke, a descriptive portrait, that touches on a new area of climate science emphasizing how erratic temperature can be, who it impacts the most, and how."
— Emily Smith-Greenaway, Professor of Sociology and Spatial Sciences at University of Southern California

Daily temperature variation hits marginalized communities most Minority and low-income U.S. communities face greater health risks from daily temperature swings than wealthier white populations: USC Dornsife study

All in on innovative maps? 🖐️

Revisit this year's LA Geospatial Summit ArcGIS StoryMaps competition winners with Esri:

Showcasing Innovation in GIS Education through Student Projects at the LA Geospatial Summit The annual Los Angeles Geospatial Summit, hosted by the Spatial Sciences Institute at USC, gathered students and professionals to explore cutting-edge projects and insights in the world of GIS.

Five SSI students had the thrill of Esri President Jack Dangermond personally selecting their map presenting carbon-based scenario planning for Los Angeles County in the Esri User Conference opening plenary session. Amber Birdwell, Sidney Neville, Yimiao Wang, Naman Casas, and Isabella Gonzalez Villarreal worked on the Global Carbon Geodesign Challenge project organized by the International Geodesign Collaboration (IGC) last year. Congrats!

Earthquakes are notoriously unpredictable — but that doesn’t mean we can't analyze and forecast.

USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences's Statewide California Earthquake Center helped the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) do just that by providing crucial data for its updated earthquake report.

Earthquake hazard model update shows threat to US communities USC Dornsife’s Statewide California Earthquake Center contributed models that forecast earthquake ruptures for the USGS National Seismic Hazard Model

Which cartographic elements are your must-haves?

1. data (or map) frame
2. map legend
3. map title
4. north arrow
5. map scale bar
6. metadata (or map citation)
7. border (or neatline)
8. inset (or locator) map.

…yeah, we can't choose either. 🧭🗺️😍

What's in a Map? Exploring the Elements of Cartography Maps visualize geographic data, and contain elements like data frames, legends, titles, north arrows, scale bars, citations, borders, and inset maps.

Food insecurity and nutrition insecurity challenge LA County 1.4 million adult Angelenos live with both food and nutrition insecurity, with young adults, Hispanics and Asians at greatest risk

And the first place winner of the UNIGIS International Association 2023 Academic Excellence Prize is…🥁

Christopher S. Hayner, for his thesis work conducted at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences SSI's M.S. in GIST graduate program!

USC MS GIST alumnus Christopher Hayner wins international prize for thesis work - Spatial Sciences Institute USC Dornsife Spatial Sciences Institute

Visualize air pollution in real-time (at unprecedented resolutions) with newly available data from TEMPO Mission: NASA's first Earth Venture Instrument mission to measure North America's pollution. 🌬️

pweb.cfa.harvard.edu

SSI Associate Professor Dr. Robert Vos was interviewed on KABC about Walgreens store closures. Dr. Vos explained how this exacerbates pharmacy deserts and how the locations of pharmacies are important for equitable health care access.

Associate Professor Robert Vos interviewed on KABC about Walgreens closing stores - Spatial Sciences Institute USC Dornsife Spatial Sciences Institute

SSI attendees:

Don't forget our annual reception is happening tomorrow, July 16th at 6 PM!

See you in the Big Island Room at Roy's Restaurant. 🤗

https://calendar.usc.edu/event/usc-spatial-sciences-institute-reception-at-the-2024-esri-user-conference

Esri gets us. 🫶

A Swift Introduction to Location Intelligence Taylor Swift’s Eras tour joins the pantheon of live events that not only entertain fans but boost local economies.

📍 Spotted in Seattle:

University of Southern California Population, Health and Place doctoral program Ph.D. candidate Andy Kampfschulte presenting at the Iars360 Meeting.

Inside scoop from USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: https://dornsife.usc.edu/spatial/2024/06/13/ssis-andy-kampfschulte-presents-at-anesthesia-conference/

Started as a passion project during the pandemic, Mexicali’s Colorado River Family Album explores the city's history.

"It’s really beautiful to learn that two blocks away, where now there’s a highway, there used to be shrimp and a place you could fish."

A cartography of loss in the Borderlands - High Country News Mexicali’s Colorado River Family Album documents what is no more.

Happy 4th of July, Trojans!

Today, we honor the military, veterans, and SSI alumni and students who have served our country to ensure our independence.

We hope you're all able to spend this day with friends and family! ✌️🇺🇸

This comprehensive oasis map presents two possible futures for oases, but they both depend on one crucial element: . 💧

The first worldwide oasis map lays out an uncertain future, human expansion, and the exhaustion of sources Desert agriculture has increased in certain areas despite advancing drought in arid lands

Visiting Joshua Tree this summer? 🏜️

You'll dig this StoryMap by USC student Elisa Barrios. She explores the area through the lens of conservation, using GIS to pinpoint threatened areas in need of adaptation strategies.

Oh, and her project won the Esri StoryMaps competition at the 2023 Geospatial Summit!

Finding Climate Refuge A Preliminary Analysis of the Joshua Tree Forest in California, USA

Ushering in a new era of analytics with AI and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency:

Geospatial intelligence gets smart How the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency is leveraging AI for battlefield awareness and geopolitical insights.

Don't mind us, just loving campus today. ✌️❤️

📣 Undergrads:

Want to work with USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences SSI faculty?

APPLY NOW for a student researcher position in the Fall 2024 semester:
https://dornsife.usc.edu/spatial/2024/06/14/apply-now-for-undergrad-research-positions/

Deadline is Friday, July 12th at 5 PM (PT).

The United States could see a 73% increase in residents experiencing (at least) annual coastal flooding by 2100, and rising sea levels could leave swathes of cities like London underwater by 2050.

Every day, climate change brings us closer to this troubling future.

In hopes of raising awareness and preparing policymakers, Climate Central illustrates increasing flood risk with a data-driven map.

Sea level rise and coastal flood risk maps -- a global screening tool by Climate Central Interactive global map showing areas threatened by sea level rise and coastal flooding.

Rivers provide life-sustaining H2O to humans, 10% of all known animals, and half of all known fish species.

When scientist Cedric David and a team of NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration researchers began mapping our planet's rivers, they hoped to discover an untapped well of freshwater. Here's what they found instead:

Scientists are mapping Earth's rivers from space before climate change devastates our planet "I was hoping to demonstrate to myself that there is a lot more river water than we thought. Turns out, that's not what we got — that's a little sobering."

Fun fact: Did you know our B.S. in Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence degree is accredited by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation - USGIF?

That means we uphold the highest standards for GEOINT curriculum, faculty expertise, novel research approaches, and commitment to continual improvement.

Learn more: https://dornsife.usc.edu/spatial/undergraduate/b-s-human-security-and-geospatial-intelligence/

It's World Sea Turtle Day! 🐢🌏

Explore this interactive map of sea turtle biogeography from State of the World's Sea Turtles (SWOT), made possible by data contributions from hundreds of sea turtle researchers around the world: https://seamap.env.duke.edu/swot

With extreme heat waves becoming more common, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) set out to create a new safety tool:

A map of the United States that clearly indicates where temperatures are too hot to handle.

Using local health data of actual emergency room visits, NOAA color-coded this map to illustrate the risk of heat-related health impacts. 🚦

New Interactive Map Shows Where Extreme Heat Threatens Health People in the U.S. will be able to see where extreme heat is a threat to health with a new interactive tool created by the National Weather Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

What to know about this new moon map:

1. It's insanely detailed, revealing 12,000+ structures
2. It marks the first big update of lunar information since NASA's Apollo program in the 1960s-70s
3. It'll be invaluable when planning future missions 🌕

China reveals most detailed geological map of the moon ever created Chinese astronomers have shared the most detailed geological map of the moon ever created, revealing more than 12,000 structures. The new atlas will be essential for picking out landing locations and resource sites for future lunar missions.

📣 USC SSI Fam:

Join us for our annual reception at the Esri User Conference!

📅 July 16 | 6 – 8:30 PM
📍 Roy's Restaurant
✅ RSVP by June 28: https://bit.ly/3UHzON4

USC Spatial Sciences Institute Reception at the 2024 Esri User Conference (UC) All those in the USC Spatial Sciences Institute ohana, please join us at our annual reception at the Esri User Conference! Complete the registration form to RSVP by June 28, 2024, for the USC SSI reception at the 2024 Esri User Conference, and include your guests as well. Date: Tuesday, July 16, 202...

One Spatial Sciences Institute faculty member and 46 SSI students were inducted into the USC Gamma Theta Upsilon - Nu Theta Chapter of Gamma Theta Upsilon - International Geographical Honor Society in 2024. We are so excited to welcome this largest class of inductees into our GTU community!

The USC Gamma Theta Upsilon - Nu Theta Chapter of Gamma Theta Upsilon - International Geographical Honor Society exhibited at the 2024 LA Geospatial Summit on February 23, 2024. In attendance were our current President, Dr. Diana Ter-Ghazaryan, our current Vice-President Dr. Siqin Wang and many chapter members. Our exhibit attracted 200-300 event attendees, and those who stopped by our booth were introduced to GTU and the Nu Theta chapter. We cannot wait until next year’s Geospatial Summit!

It's World Environment Day!

Check out this StoryMap of Trees & Air Quality in Los Angeles, brought to you by USC's Urban Trees Initiative. 🌳🌎💚

Trees & Air Quality How trees impact air quality on the individualized level