NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

SERVIR works from space to village, bringing people and their environment into harmony. SERVIR does this by providing access to data and models, coupled with training and capacity building that can be used to help decision makers and their constituencies with climate change, environmental monitoring, and assessment of extreme events. In fact, SERVIR-Himalaya has already been helping to map the recent flooding in Pakistan, shown below, through USAID support and NASA satellite data. Image Credit: SERVIR

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left, is welcomed to Nepal by Basanta Shrestha, division head of the Mountain Environment & Natural Resources Information System, part of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, or ICIMOD, in Kathmandu, Nepal. Bolden was in Nepal for the opening of SERVIR, NASA's state-of-the-art Earth monitoring system, which integrates satellite and other geospatial data to address pressing environmental and climate change issues affecting the planet. Initiated by NASA and USAID, SERVIR has been recognized by the Group on Earth Observations, or GEO, as an early achiever of the GEO vision. Image Credit: ICIMOD
View large image

Dan Irwin, SERVIR project director at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., discusses the importance of Earth observation during his presentation at the International Symposium in Kathmandu, Nepal. One of the goals of the International Symposium is to foster the need for international cooperation to promote the use of, and access to, Earth observation systems for improved scientific knowledge and understanding. Developed by researchers at Marshall, SERVIR features web-based access to satellite imagery, decision-support tools and interactive visualization capabilities. It puts previously inaccessible information into the hands of scientists, environmental managers and decision-makers. Image Credit: ICIMOD
View large image

NASA and USAID are expanding SERVIR to the Himalayas to address critical issues such as land cover change, air quality, glacial melt and adaptation to climate change. The agencies are working in partnership with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a regional knowledge development and learning center that serves member countries in the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya region, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

SERVIR was developed by researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and it's name comes from the Spanish word meaning "to serve." SERVIR features web-based access to satellite imagery, decision-support tools and interactive visualization capabilities, and puts previously inaccessible information into the hands of scientists, environmental managers, and decision-makers. The Earth observation information is used to address threats related to climate change, biodiversity, and extreme events such as flooding, forest fires, and storms.

"SERVIR is valuable tool to address issues related to climate variability and change and to provide relevant information that improves understanding of these phenomena," said Dan Irwin, SERVIR project director at the Marshall Center. "Science and technology are key -- ultimately it is the combination of local expertise and space-based technology that makes monitoring effective."

The SERVIR program is operated by the Earth Science Division's Applied Sciences Program in NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Four other NASA field centers work with Marshall on the program: Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Ames Research Center in Moffet Field, Calif., the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

For more information about SERVIR, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/servir

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

For more information about SERVIR, visit:

http://www.servirglobal.net Janet Anderson
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
Janet.L.Anderson@nasa.gov