Applications of Remote Sensing and Ecosystem Modeling for Monitoring and Management of U.S. National Parks
Forrest
Melton, CSU Monterey Bay, forrest.s.melton@nasa.gov
(Presenting)
Rama
Nemani, NASA Ames Research Center, rama.nemani@nasa.gov
Hiatt
Sam, CSU Monterey Bay, samhiatt@gmail.com
Hirofumi
Hashimoto, CSU Monterey Bay, hirofumi.hashimoto@gmail.com
Michaelis
Andrew, CSU Monterey Bay, amac@hyperplane.org
Milesi
Cristina, CSU Monterey Bay, cristina.milesi@gmail.com
Wang
Weile, CSU Monterey Bay, weile.wang@gmail.com
Managers of U.S. national parks are under increasing pressure to monitor changes in park ecosystems resulting from climate and land use change within and adjacent to park boundaries. In response, the National Park Service (NPS) has worked for the past decade to develop and implement the NPS Inventory & Monitoring (I&M) System to provide a coordinated framework for monitoring and decision support. Until recently, use of remote sensing and ecosystem modeling within the I&M System has been limited, largely due to issues associated with data volumes, data pre-processing requirements, and lack of technical expertise. To overcome these obstacles, the Terrestrial Observation and Prediction System (TOPS) is currently being applied to automate the production, analysis, and delivery of a suite of data products derived from NASA satellites and ecosystem models to assist managers of U.S. national parks. TOPS uses ecosystem models to combine satellite data with ground-based observations to produce nowcasts and forecasts of ecosystem conditions. We are utilizing TOPS to deliver data products via a browser-based interface to NPS resource managers in near real-time for use in landscape monitoring and operational decision-making. Current products include measures of vegetation condition, ecosystem productivity, phenology, soil moisture, snow cover, climate, and fire occurrence, as well as forecasts of future climate scenarios on park ecosystems. We describe the TOPS data products used by NPS, integration of these products into the I&M framework in the NPS Sierra Nevada Network, and the browser-based data visualization interface developed to facilitate data access by NPS personnel.
NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Active Awards Represented by this Poster: