NPP, a risk reduction mission for NPOESS, will be the first major element of the next generation U.S. Earth observation system. NPP science instruments will provide essential climate measurements to bridge the data gap between the end of the current NASA’s Earth Observation System and the future operational NPOESS system planned for launch in 2013. NPOESS is the U.S. Government’s weather and environmental satellite system, which will combine missions currently performed separately by three agencies (NASA, DOD and NOAA).

Through the implementation of six joint projects beginning in 2001, NASA’s Applied Science Program and Innovim have been assisting the USGS in fulfilling one of its missions to provide advanced decision support capabilities for managing invasive plant species in the United States. The USGS has the responsibility to make available these latest technologies to a host of federal agencies whose charters entail taking preemptive actions in defense of our ecosystem. Placing significant importance on this initiative, NASA has identified the Invasive Species Forecasting System as an application of national priority.