Adopt a Pixel: Supporting Geospatial Career Development and Federal Remote Sensing

Adopt a Pixel (AaP) serves both federal remote sensing science and the public by involving youth and other citizens in collecting reliable ground reference data to help improve the accuracy of Landsat scene interpretation by... [ view full abstract ]

Adopt a Pixel (AaP) serves both federal remote sensing science and the public by involving youth and other citizens in collecting reliable ground reference data to help improve the accuracy of Landsat scene interpretation by Landsat scientists. Participants collect photographs of the landscape and record basic information such as geographic location, cardinal direction, time of day, and land cover following a simple protocol. These data will reside inside the portal to Landsat data, Earth Explorer, at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Earth Resources Observation and Data (EROS) Center, populating a new federal archive of geospatially-tagged photographs that provide a baseline record to serve multiple purposes societal benefit over the long term.

A pilot of the AaP protocol started in the Spring of 2012 by NASA’s Landsat public engagement team with a variety of partners including Black Hills State University; 4-H; the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science with its associated Sandia Mountain Natural History Center; and Bandelier National Monument. To assess the value of these data and to engage scientists in the use of citizen science data, a pilot campaign was launched in the Fall of 2014 to collect data at specific geographic locations identified by scientists studying forest disturbance. This connection to scientists is key in the success of this project.

Beyond engaging citizen scientists, AaP seeks to promote youth career awareness in fields that use geospatial technology by providing opportunities for youth to explore uploaded data, interact with scientists, and have in-depth learning experiences for building geospatial technology skills and exposure to careers in this emerging field.