Daniel
Hardin, University of Alabama in Huntsville, DHardin@itsc.uah.edu
(Presenting)
Mesoamerica - composed of the seven Central American countries and the five southernmost states of Mexico - is one of the richest biological regions in the world. The region is home to approximately eight percent of the planet’s biodiversity. The rich biological, ecological and cultural diversity of this region is threatened by human influence and natural disasters alike. Illegal logging and slash and burn agriculture contribute to extensive deforestation. Earthquakes, volcanoes, drought, and severe storms regularly threaten the region.
An international effort is underway to preserve the remaining forested regions, and to promote sustainable development throughout the region. NASA has teamed with the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the Central American Commission for Environment and Development, and the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC) to develop an advanced monitoring and decision support system for Mesoamerica known as SERVIR. (SERVIR is a Spanish acronym meaning to serve.) SERVIR addresses the nine societal benefit areas of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS): disasters, ecosystems, biodiversity, weather, water, climate, oceans, health, agriculture, and energy.
SERVIR headquarters are located at CATHALAC in the Republic of Panama. A test bed SERVIR facility is managed by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center at the National Space Science and Technology Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Local SERVIR partners--the University of Alabama Huntsville and Science Systems and Applications, Inc.--are creating data sets and developing information management techniques that will give policy makers, scientists, and educators, information based on solid science, that can be used to monitor and forecast ecological changes, respond to natural disasters, and better understand natural and human induced effects in the region.