# Storytelling from Space: Tools/Resources
This list of resources is all about acquring and processing aerial imagery. It's generally broken up in three ways: how to go about this in Photoshop/GIMP, using command-line tools, or in GIS software, depending what's most comfortable to you. Often these tools can be used in conjunction with each other.
## Acquiring Landsat & MODIS
### Web Interface
* USGS Earth Explorer - Browser and data access (create a login)
<http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/>
- Landsat archive
- Many other products, like aerial/orthophotography
* GLOVIS (Java/Firefox required)
<http://glovis.usgs.gov/?popout=TRUE>
- Similar data different interface
* NASA WorldView - Browser and data access
<https://earthdata.nasa.gov/labs/worldview/>
* NASA GIBS - MODIS tileserver
<https://wiki.earthdata.nasa.gov/display/GIBS/Global+Imagery+Browse+Services+%28GIBS%29+Home>
* NASA Near-Real Time satellite data links
<https://earthdata.nasa.gov/data/near-real-time-data/rapid-response>
* Google Earth Engine
<https://earthengine.google.org/>
* Landsat 8 Acquisition Calendar
<https://landsat.usgs.gov/tools_L8_acquisition_calendar.php>
### Scripting
* Landsatutil (Development Seed)
<http://www.developmentseed.org/blog/2014/08/29/landsat-util/>
<https://github.com/developmentseed/landsat-util>
* Fetch from Google Earth Engine
<https://gist.github.com/briantjacobs/ab695cc15775df9570ed>
* Landsat 8 data on AWS
<http://aws.amazon.com/public-data-sets/landsat/>
* Landsat data on Google Storage
<https://console.developers.google.com/storage/browser/earthengine-public/landsat/>
## Processing Landsat
### Background
* Landsat 7/8 bands and combinations
<http://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2013/07/24/band-combinations-for-landsat-8/>
### Photoshop
* How To Make a True-Color Landsat 8 Image (Rob Simmon, NASA)
<http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/elegantfigures/2013/10/22/how-to-make-a-true-color-landsat-8-image/>
* Processing Landsat 8 (Tom Patterson, National Park Service)
<http://www.shadedrelief.com/landsat8/introduction.html>
* Avenza Geographic Imager - Expensive but excellent plugin. Allows you to much of what GDAL does (plus things it can't) and preserve geographic metadata.
<http://www.avenza.com/geographic-imager>
* Without Geographic Imager, you need GDAL tools if you want to preserve geographic metadata:
Dump metadata from a file before messing with it in Photoshop
```
listgeo -no_norm original.tif > original.geo
```
Add the metadata back after saving back out
```
geotifcp -g original.geo modified.tif modified_geotiff.tif
```
### GIMP
* Merging bands into RGB in GIMP
<http://edwardmjohnson.wordpress.com/using-landsat-imagery-in-gimp/>
* Pansharpening in GIMP (translate from Portuguese!)
<http://www.processamentodigital.com.br/2013/11/17/gimp-2-8-fusao-de-imagens-landsat-8-em-pseudo-cores-naturais/>
### Scripting
##### GDAL - Geospatial Data Abstraction Library & ImageMagick (command-line photoshop)
* GDAL: ogr2ogr (for vector) and GDAL (for raster)
```
brew install gdal --enable-unsupported --with-postgres
```
*note: "--enable-unsupported" allows you to install third party drivers, necessary for proprietary formats like MrSID and FileGDB. See this <http://briantjacobs.com/mrsid-gdal-homebrew/>*
* ImageMagick, aka `convert`
```
brew install imagemagick
```
* **GDAL cheatsheet - Derek Watkins (NYTimes)** ← *see "Raster Operations"*
<https://github.com/dwtkns/gdal-cheat-sheet>
* **Processing Satellite Imagery (Mapbox)** ← *extra helpful*
<https://www.mapbox.com/foundations/processing-satellite-imagery/>
* Dan's GDAL scripts
<https://github.com/gina-alaska/dans-gdal-scripts>
* Pansharpening Landsat 7 with Dan's scripts
<http://blog.remotesensing.io/2013/04/pansharpening-using-a-handy-gdal-tool/>
* Convert Landsat 8 GeoTIFF images into RGB pan-sharpened JPEGs.
<https://gist.github.com/briantjacobs/48320e59954ee7ec5cd1>
* Charlie Lloyd's (Mapbox) Rake Task
<https://gist.github.com/briantjacobs/0d3f9a62fc7ca115ee5b>
##### Orfeo - More advanced. Do things like atmospheric correction and NDVI.
* Pansharpening with Orfeo
* <https://www.mapbox.com/blog/pansharpening-satellite-imagery-openstreetmap/>
### GIS
##### QGIS - Open Source alternative to ArcGIS
* Install
```
brew tap homebrew/science
brew install qgis24 --with-grass7 --with-orfeo
# May need: <https://xquartz.macosforge.org/landing
# May also need:
sudo pip install psycop2
echo 'export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages' >> ~/.bash_profile
```
* QGIS 2.0: Composition Color RGB for Landsat-8 (translate from Portuguese)
<http://www.processamentodigital.com.br/2013/11/23/qgis-2-0-composicao-colorida-rgb-para-imagens-landsat-8/>
## Creating Web Imagery
* GDAL2Tiles
<http://www.gdal.org/gdal2tiles.html>
* MapTiler
<http://www.maptiler.org/>
* TileMill
<https://www.mapbox.com/tilemill/>
* SimpleTiles / SimplerTiles (Ruby)
<http://propublica.github.io/simple-tiles/>
<http://propublica.github.io/simpler-tiles/>
## Storytelling Tools
* JuxtaposeJS - Compare two images
<http://juxtapose.knightlab.com/>
* Leaflet (see tileLayer or imageOverlay)
<http://leafletjs.com/>
* Leaflet.Sync
<https://github.com/turban/Leaflet.Sync>
* Google Earth
<https://www.google.com/earth/>
* Google Earth Tutorial for GeoTiff
<http://www.google.com/earth/outreach/tutorials/importgis.html>
## Storytelling from Space, In the wild
* Losing Ground (ProPublica / The Lens)
<http://projects.propublica.org/louisiana>
* Disappering Mississppi Delta (SkyTruth)
<http://blog.skytruth.org/2014/09/disappearing-mississippi-delta-1972-2014.html>
* Long Swath
<http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/LDCMLongSwath/>
* Long Swath Gigapan:
<http://gigapan.com/gigapans/9741ab68dda60a8b05b9c1bfce147500>
* NYTimes: A Rogue State Along Two Rivers
<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/03/world/middleeast/syria-iraq-isis-rogue-state-along-two-rivers.html>
* NYTimes: Assessing the Damage and Destruction in Gaza
<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/03/world/middleeast/assessing-the-damage-and-destruction-in-gaza.html>
* NYTimes: ISIS in Maps and Photos
<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/06/12/world/middleeast/the-iraq-isis-conflict-in-maps-photos-and-video.html>
* Monitoring Oil Reserves from Space
<https://www.mapbox.com/blog/Monitoring-oil-reserves-from-space/>
* Animated Gifs of Earth over time (Google Earth Engine)
<https://plus.google.com/b/106191537604091348855/photos/+GoogleEarth/albums/5875822979804092129>
* Hurricaine Sandy before/after
<http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/weeklynews/nov12/ngs-sandy-imagery.html>
* The Continuing Crisis in Northern Iraq
<http://blog.amnestyusa.org/middle-east/moving-on-from-the-mountain-the-continuing-crisis-in-northern-iraq/>
* Counting Whales from Space
<http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0088655>
* Using Repeat Satellite Imagery to Track Tank Movements
<http://sciience.tumblr.com/post/111780500452/using-repeat-satellite-imagery-to-track-tank>
* Gaza: X-ray of a disaster
<http://www.letemps.ch/interactive/2014/gaza-radiographie/>
* Google Earth Engine
<https://earthengine.google.org/#intro>
## Misc Geospatial Tools
* Web interface for CS2CS, quickly convert coordinates
<http://cs2cs.mygeodata.eu/>
* Find the EPSG from WKT from gdalinfo
<http://www.prj2epsg.org/search>
* Geojson.io - Draw geographic things, get info and export
<http://geojson.io/>
* Noah Veltman's geotools - Easily get bounding boxes and such
<http://dev.noahveltman.com/geotools/>
## Bonus
* USGS land cover classification data
- 1992-2011: <http://www.mrlc.gov/finddata.php>
- 70's: <http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/2006/240/>
* Installing Open Source geographic software
<https://github.com/nvkelso/geo-how-to/wiki/Installing-Open-Source-Geo-Software:-Mac-Edition>
* Creating the Blue Marble
<http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/elegantfigures/2011/10/06/crafting-the-blue-marble/>
* Rainbow planes
<http://booktwo.org/notebook/rainbow-plane/>
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/stml/sets/72157637938061015/>
* Global Forest Change from Lndsat and MODIS
<http://www.globalforestwatch.org/>
<http://earthenginepartners.appspot.com/science-2013-global-forest/download_v1.1.html>
* Carlton Complex Wildfire, Washington
<http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=84169>
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2705138/Aerial-photos-true-scale-devastation-Washington-states-largest-wildfire-burned-nearly-400-square-miles-destroyed-150-homes.html>