Will the OCO-2 satellite show emission reductions in California as mandated in Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32) after its launch in February of 2013? How effective are policies implemented in AB-32 for reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020? The DEVELOP team at JPL created a top down CO2 monitoring tool ready for implementation with the OCO-2 launch. This methodology will allow end-users to see how OCO-2 will observe carbon reductions.

Can remote sensing help ordinary people in small communities, such as farmers and indigenous people, to protect their own land? DEVELOP interns at the Langley Research Center used open source software with NASA EOS and the Chinese-Brazilian CBERS 2B satellite to monitor deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest. The project demonstrated how open source software can be easily accessed by small organizations and communities to save resources and improve decision making.

El Departmento del Valle del Cauco, Colombia witnesses numerous fires every year endangering ecosystems, infrastructure, and human life. Because many of the fires begin from anthropogenic sources, a fire prediction tool made available to the public could reduce the risk of loss. The goal of this project is to create a model that will correlate environmental factors from NASA EOS with historical fire locations to create a map of the spatial probability of fire ignitions for community awareness.

In May of 2009, ice jams up to ten feet high crippled the small town of Eagle, Alaska. DEVELOP students at NASA Langley Research Center plan to improve forecasting techniques and the mitigation of these disasters using RadarSat and VIIRS.

When will the next earthquake occur in the Central US region? The year 2011 marked the 200th anniversary of the New Madrid Earthquakes, the largest earthquakes to have ever occurred in the United States (M8.1). In an effort to better understand earthquake hazards, the JPL team demonstrated to partners earthquake scenarios and mapped high areas of risk in the US's fifth most at-risk earthquake hazard region along the New Madrid Seismic Zone.

Can NASA EOS assist in forecasting of daily soil moisture, solar insolation, and temperatures in Nepal? DEVELOP interns at Marshall Space Flight Center used NASA Earth science models and measurements to assist with Nepalese food security forecasts and predict famine threat.

A look at how Microsoft captured data for its Global Ortho Project. There's an article, too. http://fox4kc.com/2012/09/03/how-online-maps-are-brought-to-life/

Microsoft recently completed their Global Ortho Project for US/Western Europe. This video highlights the Bing Maps massive Global Ortho Program that is redefining aerial map imagery.

DEVELOP is a NASA Science Mission Directorate Applied Sciences training and development program. Students work on Earth science research projects, mentored by science advisors from NASA and partner agencies and extend research results to local communities. The projects demonstrate to community leaders how NASA science measurements and predictions can be utilized to address local policy issues. Directions Magazine will be featuring the work of the DEVELOP program to focus on the work by students who are completing projects in earth observation.

Idaho GIS specialists are going trough 600-800 feet of paper a day creating fire maps for the public and firefighters.