Application of EOS Core System data and data products for monitoring and mitigating natural disasters

A primary goal of the Texas Synergy I program was to evaluate the utility of high temporal resolution data acquired at coarse spatial resolution for assessment of regional conditions and early detection of environmental changes. Three sample applications are shown to emphasize the use of EOS Core System (ECS) data for these purposes. (1) A multi-year Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) composite of cloud-free sequences over Texas was developed by Center for Space Research (CSR) to demonstrate the severity of the year 2000 drought. The NDVI time series products illustrate precipitation trends qualitatively and highlight the drought's impact on vegetation across the state of Texas. (2) Similarly, the daily Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) chlorophyll data product derived by CSR using NASA's SeaWiFS Data Analysis System (SeaDAS) software provided useful information on the extent of a red tide event that developed along the entire Texas coast in the fall of 2000. Several samples of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro radiometer (MODIS) data, with their improved spatial resolution and spectral calibration, indicated a potential for low cost monitoring of biological signatures in the ocean. (3) Finally, severe weather in West Texas, exacerbated by the drought conditions of spring 2000, ignited a 47000 acre wildfire in the Glass Mountains. CSR downloaded and processed ECS data imaged during and after the fire event. Several 2D and 3D data products demonstrated the integration of 30-m digital elevation models and GIS data layers with Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) imagery. Hot spots were evident in MODIS 3.7-micron imagery while the evolving burnscar was clearly visible in 250-m pixel resolution MODIS imagery.