Updated 24 September 2007

Uses and Limitations of Observations, Data, Forecasts, and Other Projections in Decision Support for Selected Sectors and Regions

A Catalog of Existing and Prospective Global Change Forecasts and Projections in DST(s)

The catalog will be updated as additional experiments are conducted and new approaches to incorporating and benchmarking application of observations and other global change research products evolve.
Name of DST/DSS	National Applications Area/ GEOSS Socio-Benefit Area	User/Operator	Description and Fact Sheet
Production Estimate and Crop Assessment Division (PECAD) PECAD/CADRE	Agricultural Efficiency	US Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service	PECAD supports the FAS mission to collect and analyze global crop intelligence information for use in production assessments and food secruity applications. PECAD is often associated as "CADRE/PECAD" with one of its major automated components known as the Crop Condition Data Retrieval and Evaluation geospatial databse management system (CADRE). PEACADFactSheet
CMAQ (Community Multiscale Air Quality Model) CMAQ---- (accessed June 15, 2007)	Air Quality	Environmental Protection Agency	CMAQ has been applied to various science and policy decision questions assessing impacts of climate change on air quality. CMAQFactSheet
HOMER (NREL's Micropower Optimization Model) HOMER (accessed June 15, 2007)	Energy	National Renewable Energy Laboratory	HOMER helps the user design grid-connected and off-grid renewable energy systems by performing a wide range of design questions. HOMER does this by finding the least-cost combination of components that meet electrical and thermal loads. HOMERFactSheet
Decision Support System to Prevent Lyme (DSSPL)	Public Health	US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Yale University	DSSPL supports the CDC misson to evaluate the risk for Lyme disease within the continental United States with a focus on the major areas of transmission in the northeastern and upper mid-western parts of the country. DSSPLFactSheet
Rapid Syndrome Validation Project (RSVP) RSVP	Public Health	Sandia National Laboratories and the New Mexico Department of Health	RSVPFactSheet
Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS) CREWS	Coastal Management	NOAA/Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory	Monitor and provide alerts on coral "bleaching" or whitening events that result in the degradation of coral reefs worldwide. Note: This DSS/DST was NOT part of the assessment. CREWSFactSheet
Climate Reconstruction Data CLIMAS Reconstruction	Water Management	Climate Assessment Project for the Southwest (CLIMAS)	Precipitation data for the Southwest is provided using both tree-ring reconstructions and instrumental records. Data is provided for each climate division in Arizona and New Mexico. Note: This DSS/DST was NOT part of the assessment.
Forecast Evaluation Tool Forecast Evaluation Tool	Area of National Application	Climate Assessment Project for the Southwest (CLIMAS)	CLIMAS and other research programs developed a forecast evaluation tool that allows users to specify the variables, seasons, and forecast lead times of concern to them. The tool empowers users to assess for themselves the utility of an array of climate and water supply forecasts, and also includes a tutorial on how to understand the information provided. Note: This DSS/DST was NOT part of the assessment.
UNFAO Food Security Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) GIEWS (accessed April 22, 2007)	Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture	UN Food and Agriculture Organization	GIEWS integrates satellite-derived information on vegetation conditions, land cover and land use with ground data on agricultural statistics and markets, livestock, and weather GIEWSFactSheet
USAID Famine Early Warning System and Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS and FEWS NET) FEWS NET (accessed April 22, 2007)	Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture	Partnership among US Agency for International Development, USDA Food and Agriculture Service, NASA, NOAA, USGS with Chemonics International, Incorporated	FEWS NET identifies vulnerability of population groups to food insecurity and approaches to mitigate adverse trends or shocks. FEWSNETFactSheet
EU MARS Food EU MARS (accessed April 2007 )	Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture	European Commission Joint Research Center	Monitor food security for at-risk regions worldwide; contributes to EU external aid and development policies to better direct European food aid. EUMARSFactSheet
EU Global Monitoring of Food Security (GMFS) GMFS (accessed April 7 2007 )	Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture	European Space Agency	Supply and use earth observation data to improve information available to food aid and food security decision makers at local and global levels. Consolidate, support, and complement existing regional information and early warning systems for agriculture. Seeks to establish a European Service for Food Security to provide state-of-the-art operational monitoring and forecasting for food production and security. Longer-term goal is to develop a network of geographically distributed service providers. GMFSFactSheet
UN FAO Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS) FIVIMS (accessed April 22, 2007)	Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture	UN Food and Agricultural Organization and World Food Programme	Seeks to provide socio-economic context for food security; integrates analyses across different sectors within developing countries (population, geography, other factors as immediate and underlying causes of food insecurity); seeks to build awareness of the food insecurity risk and agricultural production challenges in developing countries FIVIMSFactSheet
World Food Program Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping Unit (VAM) (part of FIVIMS) VAM (accessed April 22, 2007)	Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture	United Nations World Food Programme	The VAM unit seeks to identify and monitor potential threats and risks to household food security in developing countries; includes nutritional and market price survey data. VAMFactSheet
The Internet Rice Information Service (IRIS) IRIS (accessed April 22, 2007)	Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture	IRIS was developed by Sarmap in collaboration with Synoptics and Radarsat International with support from the European Space Agency	IRIS provides identification of areas planted in rice and detection of plant status and disturbances to areas under rice production; IRIS products are integraed with an agrometeorological model to provide public institutions and private sector entities such as insurers, reinsurers, producer consortia, and microfinance lenders with information on rice acreage, growth status, and yield. IRIS seeks to improve management to prevent food crises and to enable affordable insurance premiums and microfinance loan programs IRIS uses Synthetic Aperture Radar data; soil data; digital elevation models; the Agro Meteorological Model (a crop growth model developed at the DLO Institute in The Netherlands) IRISFactSheet
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Remote Sensing Unit (RSU) SADC RSU (accessed April 22, 2007)	Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture	The RSU program involves collaboration among USAID-FEWS-NET, USGS, NOAA, NASA, and FAO. Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Directorate, SADC ( see SADC (accessed April 22, 2007)	The RSU program uses data on weather conditions, crops, and vegetation from a variety of satellite sources and then uses GIS techniques, all at the member state regional level (see introduction). SADCRSUFactSheet
Crop Acreage and Production Estimation (CAPE) CAPE (accessed April 22, 2007); CAPE Study (accessed April 22, 2007)	Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture	Indian National Crop Forecasting Centre	CAPE carries out district-level pre-harvest production forecasts and demonstrates the capability to forecast national wheat production using the Forecasting Agricultural Output using Space, Agrometeorology and Land-based observation system (FASAL). The ultimate goal is to use AVHRR and IRS WiFS data to generate crop acreage estimates for state agencies. FASAL uses remotely sensed data, field observations, and weather data to produce multiple pre-harvest yield forecasts CAPEFactSheet
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The catalog will be updated as additional experiments are conducted and new approaches to incorporating and benchmarking application of observations and other global change research products evolve.

Name of DST/DSS

National Applications Area/ GEOSS Socio-Benefit Area

User/Operator

Description and Fact Sheet

Production Estimate and Crop Assessment Division (PECAD)

PECAD/CADRE

Agricultural Efficiency

US Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service

PECAD supports the FAS mission to collect and analyze global crop intelligence information for use in production assessments and food secruity applications. PECAD is often associated as "CADRE/PECAD" with one of its major automated components known as the Crop Condition Data Retrieval and Evaluation geospatial databse management system (CADRE).

PEACADFactSheet

CMAQ (Community Multiscale Air Quality Model)

CMAQ---- (accessed June 15, 2007)

Air Quality

Environmental Protection Agency

CMAQ has been applied to various science and policy decision questions assessing impacts of climate change on air quality.

CMAQFactSheet

HOMER (NREL's Micropower Optimization Model)

HOMER (accessed June 15, 2007)

Energy

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

HOMER helps the user design grid-connected and off-grid renewable energy systems by performing a wide range of design questions. HOMER does this by finding the least-cost combination of components that meet electrical and thermal loads.

HOMERFactSheet

Decision Support System to Prevent Lyme (DSSPL)

Public Health

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Yale University

DSSPL supports the CDC misson to evaluate the risk for Lyme disease within the continental United States with a focus on the major areas of transmission in the northeastern and upper mid-western parts of the country.

DSSPLFactSheet

Rapid Syndrome Validation Project (RSVP)

RSVP

Public Health

Sandia National Laboratories and the New Mexico Department of Health

RSVPFactSheet

Coral Reef Early Warning System (CREWS)

CREWS

Coastal Management

NOAA/Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory

Monitor and provide alerts on coral "bleaching" or whitening events that result in the degradation of coral reefs worldwide.

Note: This DSS/DST was NOT part of the assessment.

CREWSFactSheet

Climate Reconstruction Data

CLIMAS Reconstruction

Water Management

Climate Assessment Project for the Southwest (CLIMAS)

Precipitation data for the Southwest is provided using both tree-ring reconstructions and instrumental records. Data is provided for each climate division in Arizona and New Mexico.

Note: This DSS/DST was NOT part of the assessment.

Forecast Evaluation Tool

Area of National Application

Climate Assessment Project for the Southwest (CLIMAS)

CLIMAS and other research programs developed a forecast evaluation tool that allows users to specify the variables, seasons, and forecast lead times of concern to them. The tool empowers users to assess for themselves the utility of an array of climate and water supply forecasts, and also includes a tutorial on how to understand the information provided.

Note: This DSS/DST was NOT part of the assessment.

UNFAO Food Security Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS)

GIEWS (accessed April 22, 2007)

Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture

UN Food and Agriculture Organization

GIEWS integrates satellite-derived information on vegetation conditions, land cover and land use with ground data on agricultural statistics and markets, livestock, and weather

GIEWSFactSheet

USAID Famine Early Warning System and Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS and FEWS NET)

FEWS NET (accessed April 22, 2007)

Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture

Partnership among US Agency for International Development, USDA Food and Agriculture Service, NASA, NOAA, USGS with Chemonics International, Incorporated

FEWS NET identifies vulnerability of population groups to food insecurity and approaches to mitigate adverse trends or shocks.

FEWSNETFactSheet

EU MARS Food

EU MARS (accessed April 2007 )

Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture

European Commission Joint Research Center

Monitor food security for at-risk regions worldwide; contributes to EU external aid and development policies to better direct European food aid.

EUMARSFactSheet

EU Global Monitoring of Food Security (GMFS)

GMFS (accessed April 7 2007 )

Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture

European Space Agency

Supply and use earth observation data to improve information available to food aid and food security decision makers at local and global levels. Consolidate, support, and complement existing regional information and early warning systems for agriculture. Seeks to establish a European Service for Food Security to provide state-of-the-art operational monitoring and forecasting for food production and security. Longer-term goal is to develop a network of geographically distributed service providers.

GMFSFactSheet

UN FAO Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS)

FIVIMS (accessed April 22, 2007)

Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture

UN Food and Agricultural Organization and World Food Programme

Seeks to provide socio-economic context for food security; integrates analyses across different sectors within developing countries (population, geography, other factors as immediate and underlying causes of food insecurity); seeks to build awareness of the food insecurity risk and agricultural production challenges in developing countries

FIVIMSFactSheet

World Food Program Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping Unit (VAM) (part of FIVIMS)

VAM (accessed April 22, 2007)

Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture

United Nations World Food Programme

The VAM unit seeks to identify and monitor potential threats and risks to household food security in developing countries; includes nutritional and market price survey data.

VAMFactSheet

The Internet Rice Information Service (IRIS)

IRIS (accessed April 22, 2007)

Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture

IRIS was developed by Sarmap in collaboration with Synoptics and Radarsat International with support from the European Space Agency

IRIS provides identification of areas planted in rice and detection of plant status and disturbances to areas under rice production; IRIS products are integraed with an agrometeorological model to provide public institutions and private sector entities such as insurers, reinsurers, producer consortia, and microfinance lenders with information on rice acreage, growth status, and yield. IRIS seeks to improve management to prevent food crises and to enable affordable insurance premiums and microfinance loan programs

IRIS uses Synthetic Aperture Radar data; soil data; digital elevation models; the Agro Meteorological Model (a crop growth model developed at the DLO Institute in The Netherlands)

IRISFactSheet

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Remote Sensing Unit (RSU)

SADC RSU (accessed April 22, 2007)

Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture

The RSU program involves collaboration among USAID-FEWS-NET, USGS, NOAA, NASA, and FAO. Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Directorate, SADC ( see SADC (accessed April 22, 2007)

The RSU program uses data on weather conditions, crops, and vegetation from a variety of satellite sources and then uses GIS techniques, all at the member state regional level (see introduction).

SADCRSUFactSheet

Crop Acreage and Production Estimation (CAPE)

CAPE (accessed April 22, 2007); CAPE Study (accessed April 22, 2007)

Agricultural Efficiency/ Supporting sustainable agriculture

Indian National Crop Forecasting Centre

CAPE carries out district-level pre-harvest production forecasts and demonstrates the capability to forecast national wheat production using the Forecasting Agricultural Output using Space, Agrometeorology and Land-based observation system (FASAL). The ultimate goal is to use AVHRR and IRS WiFS data to generate crop acreage estimates for state agencies. FASAL uses remotely sensed data, field observations, and weather data to produce multiple pre-harvest yield forecasts

CAPEFactSheet

the

The catalog will be updated as additional experiments are conducted and new approaches to incorporating and benchmarking application of observations and other global change research products evolve