NASA DEVELOP — LLMpedia

NASA DEVELOP
Name	NASA DEVELOP
Formation	1998
Headquarters	Langley Research Center
Parent organization	National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Type	Applied science research program
Region served	Global

Contents

NASA DEVELOP

NASA DEVELOP is an applied sciences program that links National Aeronautics and Space Administration remote sensing assets with societally relevant decision-making through short-term, interdisciplinary project teams. The program trains early-career professionals and students from a range of institutions including Langley Research Center, Ames Research Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and university partners, applying data from platforms such as Landsat program, MODIS, Sentinel-2, VIIRS, and the Suomi NPP satellite. DEVELOP projects inform stakeholders across sectors including United States Department of Agriculture, Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Forest Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and international organizations like the United Nations Environment Programme.

Overview

DEVELOP operates as a bridge between National Aeronautics and Space Administration science and applied use by partnering with organizations such as Environmental Protection Agency, United States Geological Survey, United States Agency for International Development, and non-governmental organizations like The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund. Teams use data from missions including Terra (satellite), Aqua (satellite), ICESat, ICESat-2, GRACE, Jason-3, Hyperion (satellite instrument), and instrument suites like ASTER and MODIS. Participants come from universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, University of Washington, and University of Arizona. The program emphasizes stakeholder engagement with entities such as City of New York, Commonwealth of Virginia, State of Hawaii, Ministry of Environment (Chile), and regional authorities.

DEVELOP originated at Langley Research Center in 1998, evolving alongside programs like the Earth Observing System and the Applied Sciences Program (NASA). Early collaborations involved applied uses for Landsat imagery and partnerships with National Park Service and United States Forest Service on resource monitoring. Throughout the 2000s DEVELOP expanded to multiple locations, influenced by broader initiatives such as the Sentinel missions partnership under European Space Agency cooperative agreements and coordination with Committee on Earth Observation Satellites. High-profile use cases intersected with events like Hurricane Katrina, California wildfires, 2010 Haiti earthquake, and 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, informing disaster response and recovery. The program’s methodology paralleled developments at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Center in remote sensing validation and capacity building.

DEVELOP teams have delivered applied products for sectors including agriculture, forestry, public health, water resources, disaster management, and coastal management. Examples align with stakeholder needs from entities such as Food and Agriculture Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and municipal agencies like City of Los Angeles. Project outputs have used datasets from Landsat 8, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, TerraSAR-X, PlanetScope, Copernicus Programme, and derived products from MODIS and VIIRS. Applications include crop mapping for United States Department of Agriculture programs, wildfire risk modeling for California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, coastal inundation mapping in partnership with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center, vector habitat modeling in collaboration with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and water quality assessment with United States Environmental Protection Agency. International projects have supported ministries like Ministry of Environment and Energy (Costa Rica), Ministry of Agriculture (India), and Kenya Meteorological Department.

Funding and partnerships span federal agencies, academic institutions, non-profits, and international organizations. Major partners include National Aeronautics and Space Administration directorates, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Agriculture, United States Geological Survey, United States Agency for International Development, and foundations such as Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on select initiatives. Academic collaborations involve University of Maryland, University of California system, Iowa State University, Cornell University, and research centers like Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. International collaboration has included programs with the European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Canadian Space Agency, and regional bodies such as African Union environmental programs. Funding models blend federal allocations, cooperative agreements, reimbursable work, and in-kind support from partner organizations.

DEVELOP’s measurable outcomes include training hundreds of participants who have moved into roles at organizations such as National Aeronautics and Space Administration, United States Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Esri, and private sector companies like Planet Labs and Maxar Technologies. Project deliverables have informed decision-making for stakeholders including Federal Emergency Management Agency flood response planning, United States Forest Service fuel treatment prioritization, and municipal resilience planning for cities like Miami and New Orleans. The program has contributed to publications and technical briefs cited by institutions such as Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, Remote Sensing of Environment, and conference venues like American Geophysical Union and AGU Fall Meeting. DEVELOP’s model has been referenced in capacity-building dialogues at United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change sessions and Group on Earth Observations workshops.

Category:NASA programs