AmericaView (AV) is a nationwide program that focuses on satellite remote sensing data and technologies in support of applied research, K-16 education, workforce development, and technology transfer.

AmericaView is administered through a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey and the AmericaView Consortium.

The AmericaView Consortium is comprised of university-led, state-based consortia working together to build a nationwide network of state and local users. AmericaView works to further expand communications networks, facilities, and capabilities for acquiring and sharing remotely sensed data among AmericaView members. The Consortium is actively working with the USGS and universities across the country to expand participation in the AV Program to all 50 states.

Brief History

AmericaView is the outgrowth of a research and education pilot project initiated in the State of Ohio by the USGS in 1998. The OhioView pilot was begun by the USGS and a group of universities in Ohio to overcome some of the major cost and data-access problems that the federal government and research community historically have faced in using satellite remote sensing technology. The objective of the OhioView pilot was to create a prototype system for high-speed processing and rapid delivery of remotely sensed data to state and local users.

OhioView worked with the USGS to successfully establish infrastructure to support routine acquisition, processing, and delivery of Landsat and other remotely sensed data to a state user community. Today 12 universities participate in OhioView, the State of Ohio routinely supports the purchase of statewide satellite imagery, and enrollment in remote sensing education courses around the state has increased significantly.

In 2000, impressed with the clear and continuing successes of OhioView, Congress instructed the USGS to begin implementing the vision nationwide, and the AmericaView Program was born.

Need for AmericaView

The need for AmericaView has been building for more than 30 years. Since the early 1970s, the federal government and private sector have spent billions of dollars on satellite-based earth observing systems and have worked with the research community to identify, develop, and distribute real-world applications for mapping, monitoring, and managing natural and environmental resources.

Unfortunately, while the potential uses of the technology have been widely recognized, development and distribution of real-world applications have persistently been tough issues for both the federal government and the academic research community.

Satellite data is expensive, and using the data requires significant investments in software, hardware, and training. It has often been hard for university researchers to use or even access the data, particularly at smaller schools or research facilities. For three decades this has hindered applied research and made it difficult to train the workforce, both current and future.

This has also meant that many state and local agencies that work with applied research programs have not been able to effectively integrate remote sensing technology into their management or decision-support programs.

The AmericaView Consortium is charged with helping each state overcome these difficulties and helps the university, secondary-education, and public sectors in each state identify, develop, and distribute the kinds of applications each state needs most.

In light of our nation's current focus on achieving a secure and stable digital infrastructure, never has this task been more relevant.