The SERVIR mechanism is a joint venture between NASA and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It integrates satellite observations, ground-based data and forecast models to help developing nations in Central America, East Africa and the Himalayas to assess environmental threats and to respond to and assess damage from disasters of natural origin. SERVIR is a multi-agency, multi-government mechanism, with over 30 partners and collaborators and is endorsed by governments in Central America, Africa and the Hindu-Kush Himalaya region of Asia. It has its Coordination Office in the United States and is supported by three regional centers: The Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) in Kenya, the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Nepal and the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean in Panama.
Users
The program supports not only national governments, but also universities, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. Users of SERVIR are government officials, disaster managers, scientists/researcher, students and the general public.
Conditions for activation
SERVIR serves as a source for satellite imagery and information provider during extreme events. The SERVIR mechanism is intended to respond to needs for satellite-based geo-information in Mesoamerica, Africa or the Himalaya.
User Request/Point of Contact
The mechanism is available on one of the following websites depending on the region:
Central America: https://www.servirglobal.net/Mesoamerica.aspx
Africa: https://servirglobal.net/Regions/ESAfrica
Himalaya: https://www.servirglobal.net/Himalaya.aspx
Process
SERVIR gathers images from a constellation of geosynchronous and polar-orbiting satellites. Most commonly SERVIR uses the following satellites: Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), Aqua, Aura, EO-1, Landsat 7, Terra, and the Tropical Rain Forest Measurement Mission (TRMM). It also relies on NASA datasets or imagery provided by the Canadian Space Agency, the Argentinean Space Agency, the Japanese Space Agency, the German Aerospace Center, the French Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Taiwanese National Space Organization, the Disaster Monitoring Constellation and other providers such as GeoEye and DigitalGlobe.
Products/Information
The final product in the form of geospatial information, science applications or interactive maps is made available to the user as a download or a print or via SERVIR’s interactive mapper application.
