Nasa, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and their international partners cut the ribbon Friday in Nairobi, Kenya, for Servir-Africa. The Servir-Africa system integrates the satellite resources of the United States and other countries into a Web-based Earth information system. This effort puts previously inaccessible information into the hands of local scientists, government leaders and communities to help address concerns related to natural disasters, disease outbreaks, biodiversity and climate change.
Servir, Spanish for "to serve," has been in operation in Central America, the Caribbean and southern Mexico since 2005. Now, through the support of multiple government agencies and other organizations, Nasa and USAID are expanding the system to Africa in partnership with the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development in Nairobi. The center, an intergovernmental organization with 15 member states in eastern and southern Africa, is a leader in geospatial mapping in the region.
Servir-Africa will use Earth science satellite data from many of Nasa’s missions and other information to better predict areas at risk for severe flooding and map regions hit by floods. It also will develop an early-warning tool to predict the distribution of vector-borne diseases such as Rift Valley Fever. By mapping the location of climate change projections, the system will allow people to see impacts on such things as Africa’s diverse ecosystems.
Servir-Africa’s information technology team will use the Internet to acquire and distribute satellite and ground-based Earth observations, map data, and geospatial analyses that target issues such as urbanization, biodiversity threats, and management of natural resources.
The strength of the Servir system is in its diverse international team of scientists, developers and researchers. Servir-Africa builds on existing capacity at the mapping center in Nairobi. The center, together with Servir’s lead partner in Central America, the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean, are jointly developing an integrated system. These two regional organizations are standardizing database management and evaluating common methods for predicting severe weather events, analyzing impacts from climate change and working to understand health and ecosystem interactions.
For more information, please visit www.nasa.gov/servir