A Winner and Honorable Mentions: NASA DEVELOP Fall 2014 Virtual Poster Session

A collage of DEVELOP participants and Earth imagery from the San Pablo Bay and northern San Francisco Bay (upper left) and the Atacama Desert, Chile (bottom right). Image Credit: NASA DEVELOP/Chris McKeel.

A grand-prize winner and honorable mentions have been selected for the fall 2014 Virtual Poster Session (VPS) contributed by NASA’s DEVELOP National Program. The contest included 23 projects conducted by 114 participants across 14 DEVELOP locations.
The grand prize goes to the project, “Cheatgrass: Cheating the West!” conducted by a team of three participants at DEVELOP’s node at Ames Research Center. The project utilized satellite imagery and GIS analysis to examine the relationship between cheatgrass, an invasive species, fire activity and climate in the Great Basin ecoregion.
“The virtual poster session is an exciting opportunity for DEVELOP to engage the global community in NASA Earth science applications,” said Jamie Favors, international lead for NASA’s DEVELOP National Program.
Each member of the winning team will receive a one-year trial version of ArcGIS software, furnished by competition sponsor Esri. Esri creates geospatial and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software that can incorporate NASA remote-sensing data.
Runner-up honors go to three teams who won their individual categories and followed closely behind the winning Great Basin Climate Team in scoring based on content clarity, use of Earth observations, creativity, dialogue and discussion, and decision support:

When Disaster Strikes: “Tracking the Tides: Near Real-Time Flood Monitoring of Southeast Asia” (Goddard Space Flight Center)
From Oceans to Rivers: “Now Streaming: A Look into Coastal Mississippi Streams” (Mobile County Health Department)
From Systems to Soils: “Hard Core Problems: Using MODIS LST Data for Poikilothermic Pest Prevention” (Langley Research Center)

For more information about DEVELOP, visit the DEVELOP website.
Previous DEVELOP Earthzine Virtual Poster Sessions are listed in the DEVELOP VPS Archive.

Winner

Cheatgrass: Cheating the West!

The Great Basin, one of the largest wild lands left in the nation, is overrun with invasive annual grasses, and is experiencing an increase in fire activity. How do these scenarios interact with each other? We can visually show the relationships using NASA’s Earth Observing System and careful GIS analysis to help inform management decisions.

Runners-up

Tracking the Tides: Near Real-Time Flood Monitoring of Southeast Asia

Extreme flooding of the Mekong River in Southeast Asia causes extensive damage and threatens the well-being of the basin’s 60 million residents. This project developed a near real-time flood impact product for the region. The product is displayed on an online dashboard with other flood data for improved flood management.

Now Streaming: A look into Coasting Mississippi Streams to Map Watershed Boundaries and Model Wetland Extent

How does a small stream about half a mile long affect you? In many ways! Gulf Coast streams are home to thousands of species, are a primary source of drinking water, provide clean efficient energy, and act as a cushion to the force of powerful hurricanes.

Hard Core Problems: Using MODIS LST Data for Poikilothermic Pest Prevention

NASA is helping to preserve your apple pie! Learn more about the codling moth, a major apple pest, and how apple growers manage their populations. See how NASA data helps apple growers adapt to climate change and future codling moth behavior.