NASA Applied Sciences

In 2011, Texas experienced a severe drought that caused substantial economic and environmental losses. The Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) estimated that 300 million trees succumbed to the severe drought conditions, with urban areas, in particular, losing about 5.6 million...

Forest disturbances from bark beetle outbreaks are a major concern in Bhutan, known to cause extensive tree mortality to pine and spruce forests. The NASA DEVELOP team partnered with the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute of Conservation and Environmental Research (UWICER), the...

Several major and small-scale hurricanes have swept over the US Virgin Islands (USVI) dating back to 1989. Often originating near the Cabo Verde islands near western Africa, these major hurricanes travel westward towards the USVI, leaving destructive impacts upon landfall. Nearshore marine ecosystems in the...

The California grunion is an endemic fish species vital to the California coast, acting as a versatile food source for many species such as seabirds, large mammals, and other fish in the food web. This species, known primarily for the unique way in which they...

The Woolsey Fire began on November 8, 2018, and lasted for almost two weeks, during which it burned almost 100,000 acres of valuable landscape and habitat, including a vast area of woodland. The persistence of key woodland species provides aesthetic...

Oysters are vital to the environmental health of the Mississippi Sound and a critical part of Mississippi's economy. Environmental disturbances, such as Hurricane Katrina, major flooding events, and the Bonnet Carré spillway openings, have caused oyster populations to decline and have has negatively affected the...

As flooding events in the United States grow in frequency and intensity, the use of technological advancements and applied science is increasingly necessary for effective flood monitoring and warning systems. Governments are exploring new ways of using science and technology to...

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) is vitally important to the Chesapeake Bay, serving as one of the primary food sources for the organisms that inhabit the bay. This project evaluated the efficacy of remote sensing applications to monitor water quality parameters, specifically turbidity, to indicate areas...

The eastern Great Basin (EGB) extends throughout the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming, covering approximately 411,000 km2. In recent years, wildfires in the EGB have increased in frequency and size, representing a growing concern for our partners...

The Luquillo Mountains in the El Yunque National Forest contain the most biologically diverse forest in the United States. It is a cloud forest rich in endemic species and its streams bring clean water to the people of Puerto Rico. This unique environment was exposed...