US Geological Survey "Earth as Art" Satellite Images at the Library of Congress

Written by Eleanor Tanquery Wednesday, 18 May 2011 23:04

Washington, D.C.-  The “Earth as Art” Exhibition at Library of Congress Opens May 31 where it will remain on view for a year, before the 40 award-winning Landsat satellite images become a part of the permanent collection of the Library’s Geography and Map Division (G&M).  In 2006, G&M hosted an earlier “Earth as Art” exhibit and those images also became a part of the Library’s permanent collection. When Earth is viewed from space, cloud formations, coastlines, mountain ranges, islands, deltas, glaciers and rivers take on patterns resembling abstract art — with striking textures and brilliant colors.

John Hébert, chief of G&M, said “The Geography and Map Division is pleased, once again, to receive the exhibition for its permanent collection and to place it on display for an extended period of time.  Our patrons and staff enjoyed previous renderings of “Earth as Art” and in my preliminary review, these new “Earth as Art” images will delight all.  It is amazing to see how places on Earth from space do appear as art, and yet, at the same time, reflect the ever-presence of humankind in reshaping Earth’s appearance.” Landsat satellites for nearly 40 years have captured images of the Earth’s surface, providing data for applications in business, science, education, government and national security.  The satellites monitor important natural processes and human land use such as vegetation growth, deforestation, agriculture, coastal and river erosion, snow accumulation, fresh-water reservoir replenishment and urbanization.

The U.S. Geological Survey selected images for the exhibit based on their aesthetic appeal rather than their scientific value.

The US Geological Survey is a science organization that provides impartial information on the health of ecosystems and environment, the natural hazards that threaten us, the natural resources we rely on, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the core science systems that help us provide timely, relevant, and useable information. As the US' largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems.  The diversity of their scientific expertise enables them to carry out large-scale, multi-disciplinary investigations and provide impartial scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. Amongst other responsibilities, the USGS maintain and operate a number of satellites used to track and anyalize weather and other environmental factors. Normally, the USGS makes their data (including photographs) available to paying customers. However, staff at the USGS were so surprised by some of the images they received from the Landsat 7 and Terra satellites that they began collecting them for aesthetic rather than any scientific purpose and subsequently made them available to the public free of charge through their on-line galleries. Visit the on-line galleries at http://eros.usgs.gov/imagegallery/

The Library of Congress was established by an act of Congress in 1800 when President John Adams signed a bill providing for the transfer of the seat of government from Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington. The legislation described a reference library for Congress only, containing "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress - and for putting up a suitable apartment for containing them therein…" Established with $5,000 appropriated by the legislation, the original library was housed in the new Capitol until August 1814, when invading British troops set fire to the Capitol Building, burning and pillaging the contents of the small library. Within a month, retired President Thomas Jefferson offered his personal library as a replacement. Jefferson had spent 50 years accumulating books, "putting by everything which related to America, and indeed whatever was rare and valuable in every science"; his library was considered to be one of the finest in the United States.  When the Library of Congress building opened its doors to the public on November 1, 1897, it was hailed as a glorious national monument and "the largest, the costliest, and the safest" library building in the world. Today's Library of Congress is an unparalleled world resource. The collection of more than 144 million items includes more than 33 million cataloged books and other print materials in 460 languages; more than 63 million manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in North America; and the world's largest collection of legal materials, films, maps, sheet music and sound recordings. The Library’s Geography and Map Division has the largest and most comprehensive collection of maps and atlases in the world, some 5.2 million cartographic items that date from the 14th century to the present.  The Library's map collections contain coverage for every country and subject, and include the works of the most famous mapmakers throughout history — Ptolemy, Waldseemüller, Mercator, Ortelius and Blaeu.  For more information, visit www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/.

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