Hydrological modeling has the potential to drastically improve water resource management in Yosemite National Park. By combining satellite-derived data, such as precipitation, temperature, land cover and elevation values, it is possible to ascertain and quantify surface water availability at any given time.
Are Florida’s mangrove ecosystems on the move? Using a combination of hyperspectral and radar imagery combined with field work, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA’s DEVELOP team partnered to track this dynamic ecosystem as it encroaches upon salt marshes in the north.
Increasing occurrences of large-scale forest fires in the Rocky Mountains have threatened forests that are vital to overall ecosystem health and human well-being. The goal of this project was to model riparian wetlands in the Cache La Poudre watershed to provide a decision-support tool for monitoring change in the watershed following the devastating High Park Fire of 2012.
Using NASA remote-sensing technologies, a series of interactive maps will be created to allow community members and decision-makers in Ethiopia to develop a Malaria Early Warning System.
Due to civil unrest and the agriculture-based economy, Rwanda’s native forest has been reduced to 5 percent of the nation’s territory. As a result, many species have experienced habitat loss, threatening their survival. A 30-mile corridor is being proposed to connect isolated populations to interbreed and conserve biodiversity.
The Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area is the largest wetland in the interior United States, and is a stopover for 45 percent of the birds who migrate north through the area. A land cover classification map and an estimate of suspended sediment changes will help managers to track the effectiveness of policies aimed at maintaining this critical habitat.
The Gulf of Mexico Eco Forecasting Team investigates various detection methods of Sargassum using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), a long-wave sensor which offers significantly improved detection availability, and achieved a better understanding of the relationship between Bluefin Tuna and Sargassum, and the potential impact from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
Using pre- and post-attack Landsat imagery, 7.2-meter validation plot data, and various modeling strategies, forest stand changes were measured in a subalpine ecosystem at Fraser Experimental Forest in Fraser, Colorado, which resulted from the mountain pine beetle epidemic from 1996 to 2002. This new information will aid local forest management stakeholders and decision-makers, spur ongoing restoration efforts, and assist future research projects.
A team of NASA DEVELOP interns at Langley Research Center used satellite data along with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency’s HAZUS flood model to examine the destruction caused by extreme rainfall events in Duluth, Minnesota, and Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The earthen infrastructure of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta levee system plays a vital role in keeping much of California’s fresh water supply intact. NASA Airborne RADAR data will aid in maintaining the levee system.
