On April 22nd 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets and parks and playgrounds to advocate for environmental reforms being promoted by both Republicans and Democrats. Earth Day was born out of this bipartisan movement and at INNOVIM we embrace this model of stewardship in our daily work.

Under the OPSTECH contract, we supported the development of the Climate.gov website, which earned two Webby awards in 2014. This highly respected internet destination explains climate science in an accessible manner, becoming a go-to site for the public and scientists alike. Our concern for climate-based information extends into projects like the monthly PRESTO publication that summarizes the Washington D.C. area climate.

Ali Rezaiyan-Nojani supports the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Evolution and Development
Ali Rezaiyan-Nojani supports the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Evolution and Development

“Climate change communication is a substantial goal at INNOVIM, and we work with partners that continually strive to make this information digestible for the public. It’s our hope to maintain these valuable services during this critical juncture for our environment,” says INNOVIM’s Chief Operating Officer Cindi Brown.

Nearly 100 percent of California is suffering under drought conditions.  Since 1979, nearly 13,500 square miles of sea ice (roughly the size of Maryland) is being lost each year, according to NASA climatologist Claire Parkinson. Following these trends and statistics is core to INNOVIM’s mission. Our design of data processing systems for Earth observing satellites, such as GOES-R and JPSS, improves the digesting, encoding, and communication of environmental data to meteorologists.

“While data processing lacks the romanticism of space hardware, our teams at NOAA and NASA provide extremely critical software and imaging products to help meteorologists decipher and disseminate information with clarity and efficiency,” says INNOVIM co-founder Shahin Samadi.

INNOVIM’s environmental support goes beyond weather and climate. We worked with NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to create a novel technology integration to help fight invasive species and recover from forest fires.

Dean Hinshaw supports the joint NASA-NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System
Dean Hinshaw supports the joint NASA-NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System

The Emerald Ash borer and kudzu plants are the most high profile invasive species in the U.S., but thousands of these interlopers insinuate themselves annually, and tracking them can be difficult. With NASA and the USGS, INNOVIM took data from the Landsat and Modis Earth observation satellites to build a geostatistical model that predicts the most likely locations for an invasive outbreak.

“With the Invasive Species Forecasting System, and other deployed tools evolving from ISFS such as RECOVER, national agencies responsible for the study, stewardship, and safeguarding of natural lands have been able to more reliably and cost effectively recover biodiversity in many national parks, monuments, and lands both overrun with invasive growth and scarred by wildfire,” says INNOVIM Vice President Neal Most.

From tracking weather to tracking rogue species, INNOVIM is a strong partner in  maintaining Earth’s diverse and beautiful ecosystems.

Happy Earth Day!