LOUISIANA La. — On the second floor of University of Louisiana’s Abdalla Hall, an epicenter of technology is constantly at work mapping out all corners of Louisiana.

The NASA UL Regional Application Center puts the NASA technology to work for the community through the development and archiving of maps. The center is housed in the University Research Park.

“We’re not talking about space missions,” said Brent Yantis, center director. “We’re talking about earth science.”

The center makes available archives that date back as far as the 1930s, he said. Much of the center’s work can be accessed through its Web site.

The center works with several state and federal agencies including National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Louisiana National Guard. The center also offers educational opportunities — workshops, certifications and K-12 outreach.

The center offers opportunities to University of Louisiana students to gather, analyze and manipulate the data to produce a finished product.

Last week, students Stewart Krielow and Michael LaGrange sat in a darkened room in a center lab. Sections of maps filled their computer monitors. LaGrange examined a reservoir in north Louisiana, while Krielow compared aerials taken of the Louisiana National Guard’s Jackson Barracks. Across the room, quick flashes of light capture sepia images taken of the Mojave Desert.

The machine scans a roll of 100 frames in 3 or 4 hours, said LaGrange, who’s working on his master’s in geology.

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Marsha Sills
msills@theadvertiser.com