Art News

South Dakota Repository’s Images Get Gallery Treatment

By: Dirk Lammers,Associated Press
GARRETSON, S.D. (AP).- The millions of satellite images collected at a federal repository north of Sioux Falls help document forest fires, droughts, hurricanes, tsunamis and other calamities. Scientists and engineers at the U.S. Geological Survey’s EROS Data Center often focus on the data found in images’ varying spectral bands, but sometimes they enjoy stepping back and simply admiring an image for its beauty. The center north of Sioux Falls has selected 40 of these standouts for its latest “Earth As Art” exhibit, now in its third incarnation. Prints of the images arrived in Washington, D.C, recently to begin a one-year stint at the Library of Congress. Jon Christopherson, a contractor working at the EROS Data Center, said human eyes peering down on the Earth would miss out on the many spectral bands a satellite can capture. “In other parts of the spectrum, there’s a lot of variation,” Christo