USDA Forest Service and NASA release Web-based forest disturbance monitoring tool
Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - 11:03
in Earth & Climate
The USDA Forest Service's Eastern Forest and Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Centers recently unveiled a product that helps natural resource managers rapidly detect, identify, and respond to unexpected changes in the nation's forests by using web-based tools. ForWarn, a satellite-based monitoring and assessment tool, recognizes and tracks potential forest disturbances caused by insects, diseases, wildfires, extreme weather, or other natural or human-caused events. The tool, available at http://www.forwarn.forestthreats.org, complements and focuses efforts of existing forest monitoring programs and potentially results in time and cost savings.