Decision-support System for Himalayas

NASA and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have launched an innovative, web-based environmental management system for the Himalayan region. SERVIR-Himalaya was inaugurated last week at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu, Nepal by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

SERVIR was developed by researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and its name comes from the Spanish verb ‘to serve'. SERVIR features web-based access to satellite imagery, decision-support tools and interactive visualisation capabilities and puts previously inaccessible information into the hands of scientists, environmental managers and decision-makers. The Earth observation information is used to address threats related to climate change, biodiversity and extreme events such as flooding, forest fires and storms.