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January
31, 2007: Heavy rain from a thunderstorm can be a
nuisance. Heavy rain lasting several days can be downright
deadly. This past November, a stationary front got stuck over
northern Panama, dropping a massive amount of rain—nearly
13 inches—washing out bridges, creating landslides, killing
twelve people and leaving 1,300 more homeless. All told, the
storm caused nearly $10 million in damage.
It
could have been worse. Fortunately, the Panamanian government
had access to a state-of-the-art Earth observation system
called SERVIR, meaning "To Serve."
 "In
the midst of the disaster, the President of Panama visited
our SERVIR facility," recalls project scientist Emil
Cherrington. "Based on the information we gave him, the
national civil defense agency issued an advisory to two regions
of Panama: Bocas del Toro and Veraguas. They were told to
be on the alert for landslides and to evacuate if necessary."
"SERVIR's
contribution to the disaster response was proven when landslides
were indeed detected, preventing loss of life," he says.
Right:
President of Panama, Martin Torrijos, (left) being briefed
by CATHALAC Director Emilio Sempris (right) with Channel 2
TV Weather Forecasters Annette Quinn (center). [Larger
image]
Cherrington
is the Senior Scientist for CATHALAC, an international organization
headquartered in Panama. "SERVIR is a joint venture between
CATHALAC, NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development,
the World Bank, and Central America's Commission for the Environment
and Development (CCAD) and other partners."
How
does SERVIR work? "The system gathers data from a constellation
of geosynchronous and polar-orbiting satellites operated by
NASA and NOAA." After processing, these data are combined
with ground-based observations and transmitted to SERVIR's
website, providing realtime views of weather around Mesoamerica.
But SERVIR is much more than a high-tech weather station,
he says. "The website also has tools to monitor wildfires,
floods, volcanoes, harmful algal blooms and other long-term
ecological challenges."
A
favorite feature of the site is SERVIR Viz, a 60-megabyte
downloadable program based on NASA's World Wind software.
Akin to "Google Earth," the program allows users
to superimpose a variety of weather- and land-related data
over maps of Central America. "You can use the program
to pinpoint flood and landslide danger-zones, or browse volcano
and earthquake data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey."
"In
fact, every morning on the local news, Panama's Channel 2
uses SERVIR-Viz to display forecasts of current weather and
ecological conditions," notes Dan Irwin, SERVIR project
director at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
Below:
Accumulated rainfall during Panama floods as detected by the
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). TRMM image courtesy
Hal Pierce, Dr. Robert Adler/TRMM Project. [Larger
image]
All
this information, presented in such a clear and friendly manner,
makes SERVIR a vital "decision support system" for
Central American leaders, says Cherrington. The crucial questions
it answers are "What's going to happen tomorrow? What's
going to happen next? What areas should we evacuate?"
SERVIR's
reach is growing. Recently, CATHALAC signed an agreement with
Central America's Coordination Center for the Prevention of
the Natural Disasters (CEPREDENAC). "With the signing,
the facility will become host to the Central American Web
Emergency Operations Center (WebEOC) system, developed by
the U.S. Southern Command's Humanitarian Assistance Program,"
explains Irwin. "This development is a testament to the
value of SERVIR for disaster management and will provide timely
access to a new suite of tools for dealing with extreme events."
"It
is important that people learn how to use these tools,"
Cherrington continues. "Since SERVIR's inauguration in
February 2005, we have been holding regional workshops to
train government representatives in how to use this environmental
visualization data."
And
the best part about SERVIR? It is active and available to
anyone, says Cherrington. "SERVIR is an open system,
free, and its data can be downloaded any time."
Visit
the bilingual SERVIR web site at http://servir.nsstc.nasa.gov/
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Author: Bart Leahy | Editor:
Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
| Related
Links |
| SERVIR
-- Regional Visualization & Monitoring System home
page
CATHALAC
-- the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America
and the Caribbean is the operational institution for
SERVIR.
 Right:
The SERVIR team at CATHALAC with Project Director Dan
Irwin (lower right). [Larger
image]
NSSTC
-- the National Space Science and Technology Center
in Huntsville, Alabama, serves as a "test bed"
and rapid prototyping facility for SERVIR.
Serving
Earth -- (Science@NASA) A thousand years ago, Mayan
civilization collapsed. Today, a Space Age "situation
room" in Panama is helping Central Americans avoid
mistakes that doomed the Maya.
The
Rise and Fall of the Mayan Empire -- (Science@NASA)
Scientists are using space satellites to unravel one
of the great mysteries of the ancient world.
Mesoamerica
Burning -- (Science@NASA) The rich diversity of
wildlife in southern Mexico and Central America is in
peril. Local governments are using satellites to get
a grip on a vast
corridor of protected lands.
Satellites:
SERVIR uses a whole constellation of satellites, including
IKONOS, Quickbird, Landsat 7, MODIS Terra, MODIS Aqua,
and AMSR-E, SPOT, RADARSAT and others.
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