NASA's Invasive Species Forecasting System

CHALLENGE

NASA’s Applied Science Program and INNOVIM have been assisting the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in one of its missions to manage invasive plant species in the United States.  INNOVIM is pleased to provide advanced capabilities to the Invasive Species Forecasting System, the application identified by NASA as one of national priority. 

The USDA defines an “invasive species” as one that is non-native to the ecosystem and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or endanger human health. The USDA, along with others, (National Parks Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Department of Energy), spends billions of dollars annually on research and control practices.

SOLUTION

INNOVIM has taken the lead in designing and developing an innovative, enterprise-ready toolset which uses NASA satellite observations, sophisticated data interpretation methods, and high-performance computing and advanced modeling algorithms to generate landscape-scale, predictive maps of invasive species distributions.

This toolset, called the Invasive Species Forecast System (ISFS), employs a state-of-the-art open J2EE based framework crafted by INNOVIM. INNOVIM is scheduled to assist in its deployment to NPS and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) operational ISFS turnkey systems. 

One such deployment is planned for Sequoia, Kings Canyon National Park. There, Plant Ecologists, Naturalists and GIS Specialists will use ISFS to map the distribution and spread of Cheatgrass and Bull Thistle.  Today’s current control operations performed are limited to easily accessible locations such as hiking trails, roads and camping sites, With the ISFS maps, NPS can use their limited resources more effectively on the less cultivated land, the vast majority of the park.

BENEFITS

According to Neal Most, INNOVIM Project Manager, “ISFS can quickly expand from local deployments to a nationally prioritized online system used by all operational government agencies who manage public lands. ISFS dynamically integrates NASA space-based observations and Earth systems modeling and produces predictive models and maps that improve the accuracy and timeliness of land managers’ decisions about invasive plant management and ecological restoration.”

As INNOVIM plays a major role in advancing the ISFS Program for NASA and USGS, it expands its contribution from engineering to supporting partnership development with key organizations. INNOVIM is committed to working side-by-side NASA and partner agencies to increase the awareness and use of ISFS.

Client Web site:  http://bp.gsfc.nasa.gov/