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6,000 meteorite fragments (25 percent of the total found on Earth) found in Antarctica have been in blue ice areas.

Digitally enhanced images show ice rises, flow lines on ice streams and ice shelves, and buried mountain ranges more clearly than previous images do, and linear scarps and ancient valleys are clearly reflected on ice surfaces in places.

Because distinctive flow and crevasse features in floating parts of ice streams and outlet glaciers remain visible just below their grounding zones for many years, imaging the same area twice over an interval of several years yields time-lapse measurements of glacier velocity to a first order of accuracy. This technique offers a rapid, cost-effective method of obtaining average velocities of many ice streams and outlet glaciers near their termini.

A cooperative project with the Norsk Polarinstitutt of Norway was set up to analyze digitally enhanced Thematic Mapper (TM) images of an area in Queen Maud Land. These images have a ground resolution of about 100 feet, three times better than the resolution of MSS images. Discrimination between clouds and snow is also better in TM near-medium infrared-wavelength bands than it is in bands of MSS, which are in visible and near-infrared wavelengths. These TM bands also reveal splotchy markings on the snow, which are not observed in visible wavelengths and which may be caused by variations in grain size. The excellent resolution of these images makes them a valuble tool for expeditions doing traverse planning.

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INFORMATION SYSTEMS

DIVISION

MISSION

The Information Systems Division provides support and advice to the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Divisions of the Geological Survey, the Department of the Interior, and other Government agencies on matters relating to information technology and automated data processing (ADP). It provides these computer services for users of large-scale general-purpose computers and smaller special-purpose computers. The Division assists users in acquiring ADP and telecommunications equipment and software, coordinates and improves information systems through system analysis and design, and conducts research into better ways to use dataprocessing technology to solve missionrelated problems. The Division is responsible for managing all voice, data, and radio communications in the Geological Survey.

substantially enlarged the Earth Science Data Directory, an automated system for improving access to earth-science information. The directory contains information about earth-science data bases maintained by State and Federal agencies and nongovernmental entities.

The Division assisted in establishing a telecommunications plan that provides a comprehensive, cost-effective, unified approach to voice and data telecommunications services within the Geological Survey. The plan supports and links diverse program elements through the management of a nationwide data communications network called GEONET.

In addition, the Division was involved in other activities such as the Reston Service Center, geographic information systems, and bureauwide personnel administrative systems.

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BUDGET AND
PERSONNEL

The Division had a budget of $15.9 million for fiscal year 1986, which was funded by providing services to other Geological Survey Divisions, to the Department of the Interior, and to other Federal agencies. Division staffing consisted of 148 full-time employees, primarily computer specialists, computer analysts, mathematicians, computer scientists, systems programmers, and computer technicians. Part-time and intermittent employees and contract computer operations personnel assisted in fulfilling the mission of the Division. These employees served customers through four ADP service centers located in Denver, Colo., Menlo Park, Calif., Flagstaff, Ariz., and Reston, Va.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES

In fiscal year 1986, the Division, assisted by other Divisions of the Geological Survey,

HIGHLIGHTS

Earth Science Data Directory

By C. R. Baskin

The Earth Science Data Directory is a computerized catalog of approximately 800 references for sources of earth-science and natural resources data. Maintained on a mainframe computer in Reston, Va., the directory is accessible through a variety of computer terminals and is extremely easy to use. A number of search routines can be used to locate references.

During fiscal year 1986, agencies from 36 States either entered or agreed to enter references to their data into the directory. In addition to the Geological Survey, 13 Federal agencies provided directory references, and some references were received from nongovernmental sources. Users of the directory included people from 20 Geological Survey sites, 24 State agencies,

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