Earth ID: 3332

Deriving the Tamarisk Suitability Map: The Complete Story

Visualizations by Alex Kekesi Released on February 15, 2006

The spread of invasive species is one of the most daunting environmental, economic, and human-health problems facing the United States and the World today. It is one of several grand challenge environmental problems being addressed by NASA's Science Mission Directorate through a national application partnership with the US Geological Survey. NASA and USGS are working together to develop a National Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) for the management and control of invasive species on Department of Interior and adjacent lands. The system provides a framework for using USGS's early detection and monitoring protocols and predictive models to process MODIS, ETM+, ASTER and commercial remote sensing data. It can also be used to create on-demand, regional-scale assessments of invasive species patterns and vulnerable habitats. Tamarisk (Salt Ceder) is an invasive plant that typically grows near water and crowds out native species. Tamarisk reflective properties differ from those of its neighboring vegetation throughout the annual life cycle. These different reflective properties can be seen by the naked eye (as in the accompanying seasonal photographs), and can also be seen by satellite sensors. Current Tamarisk infestations and suitable habitats for future growth can be derived from various data sets, including EVI, NDVI, and land cover classifications.

Final animation composite showing both land-based photographs of seasonal vegetation change alongside satellite data of NDVI over the United States. The animation first starts with photographs of Tamarisk at the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Utah. These photos then cycle through time showing the changing seasons. They then pull away to reveal NDVI data over the western U.S. The NDVI data continues to cycle through the seasons in synchronization with the photos. Finally, the cycling NDVI data is combined with land cover classification data to create the Tamarisk suitability map.

For More Information

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/invasive_species.html

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2005/invasive_species.html

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/feb/HQ_06063_Invasive_species.html

Visualization Credits

Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Cindy Starr (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Visualizer
Rich Melnick (HTSI): Video Editor
Jeffrey Morisette (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Jeff Pedelty (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Elizabeth A. Smith (HTSI): Writer

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3332

Missions:
Landsat
Terra

Data Used:

Aqua/MODIS

08/2005

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Landsat-7/ETM+

08/2005

http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/about/wrs.html

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Terra/MODIS

08/2005

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NOAA/AVHRR/NDVI

1/1/2001 - 12/31/2001

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Tamarisk Suitability

J. Morisette, et al., includes data from NASA's Terra, Aqua, and Earth Observing-1 satellites, and the USGS Landsat satellites.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/invasive_species.html

view all stories where this data set is used

Terra and Aqua/MODIS/Land Cover

1/1/2001 - 7/1/2001

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NOAA/AVHRR/EVI

1/1/2001 - 12/31/2001

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Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
Invasive Species Forecasting System

Keywords:
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Land Surface >> Land Use/Land Cover
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Biosphere >> Ecological Dynamics >> Invasive Species
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Biosphere >> Vegetation >> Vegetation Index
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Land Surface >> Land Use/Land Cover >> Land Use Classes
GCMD >> Location >> United States Of America
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0

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