Themed GIS Web Maps using NASA Datasets

A series of web maps combining datasets from several NASA data centers and science groups have been published through NASAs ArcGIS DAAC (Distributed Active Archive Centers) collaboration. The web maps are based on various weather and climate related themes: storms, fires, droughts, and floods. The maps are updated to facilitate near real-time monitoring of these events and the environmental conditions leading to the particular events. The web maps are packaged into Web Applications and Story Maps that guide users on how to navigate through these applications. Examples of the biophysical parameters used in these theme-based web maps are precipitation rate, soil moisture anomaly, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), as well as socioeconomic data showing population and infrastructure, all of which are acquired from across the NASA data centers. These web maps provide easy and intuitive access to NASA earth observation data and allow scientists to study phenomena across multiple disciplines without going through the pre-processing of the data.