Principal Investigator

Vanesa Martín

Imagen
This image shows NDVI (green) derived from June to July 2018 Landsat 8 OLI data overlaid by a 2015 Sentinel-2 MSI composite image (bands 8, 11, 4) clipped to Leech Lake in Minnesota (purple). Emergent northern wild rice is visible in yellow near the lake edges. Partners at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources can use spectral indices like these to distinguish wild rice from surrounding wetlands and vegetation.

Crop wild relatives (CWRs) are genetically related to cultivated crops and function as repositories for genetic diversity. These plants have the potential to improve the yield, nutritional value, and resilience of crops, thereby buffering against widespread crop failure and supporting...

Principal Investigator

Adriana Le Compte

Imagen
Multispectral Landsat 8 ESRI on-the-fly imagery superimposing the 2009-2017 difference in unvegetated to vegetated ratio calculated using classified NAIP imagery. Salt marsh along the Charleston, South Carolina coast relies on sediment import from the environment to remain stable. Areas in yellow are indicative of greater salt marsh change from vegetated to unvegetated. Change from vegetated to unvegetated indicate these areas may be vulnerable to open water conversion resulting in the loss of the salt marsh.   Keywords: UVVR, Jacob Stid, Adriana LeCompte, Derek Nguyen, Elspeth Gates​

Among the most productive ecosystems on earth, salt marshes provide crucial ecosystem services including water filtration, shoreline protection, storm surge buffering, and flood mitigation. Marshes are largely dependent on their sediment budget which can significantly vary across a region. Upstream...

Principal Investigator

Forrest Corcoran

Imagen
Downscaled satellite data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) missions evaluate Earth’s gravitational anomalies, and quantify the amount of subsurface groundwater. In the Central Valley of California, from February 2003 to January 2020, a color gradient from red to blue shows groundwater loss and gain respectively. This analysis shows that the southern portion of the valley is losing more groundwater than the northern portion over time.   Keywords: Central Valley, California, GRACE, Forrest Corcoran, Marissa Dudek, James Kitchens, Patrick Saylor

California’s Central Valley is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world, producing approximately $20 billion in crops annually. The recent California droughts of 2007-2010 and 2011-2017 resulted in increased groundwater pumping in the Central Valley to adequately...

Principal Investigator

Kimberly Johnson

Imagen
Improving Detection of Land Use Change in Habitat Conservation Plan Areas Using NASA Earth Observations and a Landscape Anomaly Detection Tool

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) monitors and approves the creation of Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) areas under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Habitat Conservation Plans allow economic development in areas that have threatened and endangered species with the agreement that the developer provides...

Principal Investigator

Brian Lee

Imagen
Improving Flood Extent Mapping Using the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) Tool with NASA Earth Observations and UAVSAR within Southern California

The Southern California coast, from Point Conception to the Tijuana River wetland, has become more sensitive to flooding as king tides have increased in magnitude. These king tides are thought to be intensifying due to numerous environmental factors such as storm surges, strong winds, and...

Principal Investigator

Alex Matacchieri

Imagen
Improving Water Quality Monitoring and Management in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Utilizing NASA Earth Observations in Association with the Delta Smelt

Water quality plays a critical role in California's freshwater supply and environmental health in the San Francisco Bay-Delta. While there are measures in place to protect human and environmental health from poor water quality conditions, implementation of these measures is frequently reliant on physical water...

Principal Investigator

Erica O’Connor

Imagen
This is a 2018 Landsat 8 OLI image of Minnesota processed to show Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values displayed with pink and green color ramps, respectively. Dark pink shades indicate areas very inundated with water; lighter pink shades are less inundated. Dark green shades are healthy vegetation and lighter shades are less healthy. Focusing on areas that contain wetlands is important for stakeholders to maintain inventory accuracy.

Wetlands are a critical feature of our landscape for the ecological services they provide, including protecting water quality, providing habitat to rare species, mitigating erosion, and providing opportunities for recreation. Despite this, wetlands are facing increasing threats from a variety...

Principal Investigator

Jeremy Rapp

Imagen
Incorporating NASA Earth Observations into an Assessment Tool to Identify Correlations Between Factors Associated with Bee Health

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are a vital component to global agriculture, however, over recent decades their populations have been declining. Honey bees provide pollination services to more than 90% of the leading 107 global crop types, and without them it is estimated that...

Principal Investigator

Lauren Lad

Imagen
NDVI-processed imagery using data from Suomi-NPP VIIRS on May 1st, 2019 with an overtop of hillshade with vertical exaggeration of 10x. The Uinta National Forest and part of the Manti-La Sal National Forest, located south of the Great Salt Lake, are displayed. Lighter shades of green and blue indicate poor health of vegetation or no vegetation. Shades of brown indicate mildly health vegetation. Shades of dark blue and dark green indicate good to strong health of vegetation. Focusing on areas with bright hues of green as well as terrain, emergency response teams will be aware of potential future fire ignition sites in this area and predict resource allocation.  Keywords: NDVI, eastern Great Basin, VIIRS

The eastern Great Basin (EGB) covers approximately 411,000 km2 within the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Since the 1950s, wildfires have increased in both frequency and size within the EGB and neighboring states. Partners at the Bureau...

Principal Investigator

Garrett McGurk

 
Imagen
Integrating NASA Earth Observations into the Google Earth Engine Platform to Enhance Drought Monitoring in Chile

Chile is characterized by extreme climate variability ranging from the arid Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth, to the extremely wet Lake District that averages 2,535 mm of annual rainfall. In recent years, Chile has experienced abnormal climate conditions as record...