NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

SERVIR: Expanding Sensor Networks From the Ground to the International Space Station

The ISERV camera, once on the space station, will be positioned to look through Destiny's Earth-facing window. ISERV will receive commands from Earth and acquire image data of specific areas on the Earth the next time the station passes over the region. (www.servirglobal.net) With Earth Day around the corner, it's a chance to look at how investigations done on the International Space Station give back to our planet. Through global observations from space, researchers have a unique point of view by which to approach environmental studies and disaster analysis. One such instrument is SERVIR, NASA and USAID's joint-venture environmental monitoring system, which is adding a new tool to enhance its research and global observation capabilities via the International Space Station.

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NASA And USAID Pledge To Advance International Development With Science And Technology

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, left, and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden shake hands after signing a five-year memorandum of understanding, Monday, April 25, 2011, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. (NASA) NASA and USAID signed a five-year memorandum of understanding on April 25. The agreement formalizes ongoing agency collaborations that use Earth science data to address developmental challenges, and to assist in disaster mitigation and humanitarian responses. NASA's SERVIR program integrates satellite observations, ground-based data and forecast models to monitor and forecast environmental changes and improve response to natural disasters in Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Himalayas. It helps inform science-based decision-making in the areas of climate change, health, agriculture environment, water and weather. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville manages the program for NASA. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville manages the program for NASA.

› News Release
› Administrator Bolden's Blog Post about the Signing
› Video
› Photos

The SERVIR initiative integrates satellite observations, ground-based data and forecast models to monitor and forecast environmental changes and to improve response to natural disasters. SERVIR enables scientists, educators, project managers and policy implementers to better respond to a range of issues including disaster management, agricultural development, biodiversity conservation and climate change. Principally supported by NASA and the US Agency of International Development, or USAID, a strong emphasis is placed on partnerships to fortify the availability of searchable and viewable earth observations, measurements, animations, and analysis. A SERVIR coordination office and rapid prototyping facility is located at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Regional SERVIR hubs are located at the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean, or CATHALAC, in Panama and the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development, or RCMRD, based in Kenya, and the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, or ICIMOD, located in Kathmandu, Nepal.