Contact: Ranjit Arab, University Relations, (785) 864-8855.
LAWRENCE - Not too long ago, farmers who needed the latest crop yield estimates had to wait for a monthly report to be mailed to them by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Now, thanks to The Green Report, put together by the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program at the University of Kansas, farmers can access entire color maps of the state with the latest estimates, updated daily from the United States Geographic Survey archives.
How is this possible? In large part, it is due to the Internet2.
Recently, KU learned from the U.S. Department of Education that its proposed uses for a congressional appropriation had been approved. That appropriation, worth just under $1.4 million, will enable researchers at KU to further develop and advance their Internet2 research efforts by improving access to the Great Plains Network - a consortium of research institutions from North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The appropriation was part of last year's federal education bill.
While most people are finally getting adjusted to life on the Internet, many researchers at KU are already utilizing the Internet2 - a high-speed network created to support advanced educational and research applications. With far less traffic than the commercial Internet, the Internet2 is not only faster and more reliable; it also is capable of supporting advanced applications that will facilitate collaboration and remote learning among researchers. Its features include high-quality interactive video, voice- and data-based applications that allow for real-time collaboration between researchers around the world.
"How researchers will take advantage of this remains to be seen," said John Louis, director of Networking and Telecommunications Services at KU. "But new opportunity is a powerful stimulus to new ideas."
The appropriation was due in large part to the efforts of U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan. Moore will be on the KU campus Aug. 11 to witness firsthand a demonstration of research being conducted on the Internet2 at the Natural History Museum.
The majority of the grant will be used to upgrade the existing networking infrastructure on campus, so it can accommodate the powerful Internet2 capabilities. Several research facilities on campus will receive an upgrade in network link speeds from 100 megabits per second to one gigabit per second. Router boxes on campus will have to be replaced and additional single-mode fiber capabilities also will be upgraded. KU will complete these changes by 2003.
While Internet2-based research is already being conducted at KU on a daily basis, the congressional grant will give even more researchers - in a wide variety of disciplines - the chance to benefit from the advanced technology.
"This keeps us on par with other Internet2 research institutions," Louis said. "And as a consequence, it places us ahead of many non-Internet2 research environments."