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The Challenge
This challenge addresses a pressing global need to track change in biological diversity, which is threatened by human-driven environmental change. Use space agency data to develop innovative ways to detect biological diversity on Earth, track and predict changes over time, and communicate that information to scientists and society.
Background:
How can we advance the use of space agency data to track changes in the distribution of life across Earth? An estimated 8.7 million species live on our planet, but only 1/6th of that diversity has been identified and described by humans. Where are those species found? What is their abundance at any given location? How do species interact and move across land, water, and air? How do natural and human driven changes in the environment influence biological function and behavior?
Remote sensing data provide a planetary view of life on Earth. NASA Earth observations have been used to track fluctuations in seasonal plant growth across decades, map the loss of forests across the globe, and even map the change in distribution of specific plant and animal species. Nevertheless, there is yet untapped potential to use these resources to detect, monitor, predict, and communicate changes in our planet's biological diversity.
NASA has an extensive history in this space. Previous NASA-funded work has enabled the development of platforms that forecast the timing of plant growth and flowering, track the distribution of thousands of species across the globe, and map migratory pathways of bird species.
Your challenge is to use space agency data to develop innovative ways to detect biological diversity on Earth, track and predict changes over time, and communicate that information to scientists and society.
Potential Considerations:
- Solutions could be as simple as visualizing biological diversity patterns (distributions, abundance, movement, physiology, behavior of one or more species), but may also include new and innovative technology or use of technology that might not be commonly used to assess biodiversity.
- If you are unfamiliar with how the Example Resources data are used to detect biological diversity, this tutorial is a great place to start.
- A number of sources exist outside of NASA that are excellent repositories of relevant biological data. Feel free to research, explore, and use data from organizations that collect and publish biodiversity and other biological data.