Engineering topics

Sever, Tom

Publications and source records attributed to Sever, Tom.

8 records

NASA NTRS2007

SERVIR: From Space to Village. A Regional Monitoring and Visualization System For Environmental Management Using Satellite Applications For Sustainable Development

NASA is committed to providing technological support and expertise to regional and national organizations for earth science monitoring and analysis. This commitment is exemplified by NASA's long-term relationship with Central America. The focus of these efforts has primarily been to measure the impact of human development on the environment and to provide data for the management of human settlement and expansion in the region. Now, NASA is planning to extend and expand this capability to other regions of the world including Africa and the Caribbean. NASA began using satellite imagery over twenty-five years ago to locate important Maya archeological sites in Mesoamerica and to quantify the affect of deforestation on those sites. Continuing that mission, NASA has partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank, the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC) and the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD) to develop SERVIR (Sistema Regional de Visualizacion y Monitoreo), for the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. SERVIR has become one of the most important aspects of NASA's geospatial efforts in Central America by establishing a common access portal for information that affects the lives, livelihood and future of everyone in the region. SERVIR, most commonly referred to as a regional visualization and monitoring system, is a scientific and technological platform that integrates satellite and other geospatial data sets to generate tools for improved decision-making capabilities. It has a collection of data and models that are easily accessible to earth science managers, first responders, NGO's (Non-Government Organizations) and a host of others. SERVIR is currently used to monitor and forecast ecological changes as well as provide information for decision support during severe events such as forest fires, red tides,and tropical storms. Additionally, SERVIR addresses the nine societal benefit areas of the Global Earth Observation System (GEOSS): disasters, ecosystems, biodiversity, weather, water, climate, health, agriculture and energy.

Sever, Tom↗

NASA NTRS2005

SIAM-SERVIR: An Environmental Monitoring and Decision Support System for Mesoamerica

In 2002/2003 NASA, the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) joined with the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD) to develop an advanced decision support system for Mesoamerica (named SERVIR) as part of the Mesoamerican Environmental Information System (SIAM). Mesoamerica - composed of the seven Central American countries and the five southernmost states of Mexico - make up only a small fraction of the world s land surface. However, the region is home to seven to eight percent of the planet s biodiversity (14 biosphere reserves, 31 Ramsar sites, 8 world heritage sites, 589 protected areas) and 45 million people including more than 50 different ethnic groups. Today Mesoamerica s biological and cultural diversity is severely threatened by extensive deforestation, illegal logging, water pollution, and uncontrolled slash and burn agriculture. Additionally, Mesoamerica's distinct geology and geography result in disproportionate vulnerability to natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, drought, and volcanic eruptions. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, together with the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and the SIAM-SERVIR partners are developing state-of-the-art decision support tools for environmental monitoring as well as disaster prevention and mitigation in Mesoamerica. These partners are contributing expertise in space-based observation with information management technologies and intimate knowledge of local ecosystems to create a system that is being used by scientists, educators, and policy makers to monitor and forecast ecological changes, respond to natural disasters and better understand both natural and human induced effects. In its first year of development and operation, the SIAM-SERVIR project has already yielded valuable information on Central American fires, weather conditions, and the first ever real-time data on red tides. This paper presents the progress thus far in the development of SIAM-SERVIR and the plans for the future.

Irwin, Daniel E.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Creating and Perpetuating Social Memory across the Ancient Cost Rican Landscape

For most of the time that Native Americans lived in ancient Costa Rica, their travel across the landscape was task-oriented and thus sufficiently randomized to leave no detectable trace. That changed about 500 BC in the Arenal area when people separated their cemeteries from their villages, and travel between them was ritually mediated by travel along the same path, in single file, in as straight a line as possible. The inadvertent erosion over centuries of use entrenched paths 2 or more meters deep, and we believe the cultural standard developed that the preferred way of entering a special place was by an entrenched path. People created and perpetuated social memory across their landscapes with generation after generation of use. The construction of meaning developed as the paths entrenched, ultimately embedding that meaning deep in people s belief systems as well as literally embedding it in the landscape. the Arenal area, a series of chiefdoms did develop east of the area at about AD 1000. To satisfy their need for monumentality, we suggest here that chiefs chose the proper entrenched entryway as exemplified in the Arenal area, for elaboration. On the rocky slopes of the volcanoes monumental entryways were built of stone, and on the fine alluvial plains they were of earthen construction. For instance, the radiating entrenched roads entering Cutris are about 4 km long and as wide as 50 meters, and many meters deep.

Sheets, Payson↗

NASA NTRS2003

Mapping the Ancient Maya Landscape from Space

This project uses new satellite and airborne imagery in combination with remote sensing, GIS, and GPS technology to understand the dynamics of how the Maya successfully interacted with their karst topographic landscape for several centuries in the northern Peten region of Guatemala. The ancient Maya attained one of the greatest population densities in human history in the tropical forest of the Peten, Guatemala, and it was in this region that the Maya civilization began, flourished, and abruptly disappeared for unknown reasons around AD 800. How the Maya were able to successfully manage water and feed this dense population is not known at this time. However, a recent NASA-funded project was the first to investigate large seasonal swamps (bajos) that make up 40 percent of the landscape. Through the use of remote sensing, ancient Maya features such as cities, roadways, canals and water reservoirs have been detected and verified through ground reconnaissance. The results of this research cast new light on the adaptation of the ancient Maya to their environment. Micro-environmental variation within the wetlands was elucidated and the different vegetational associations identified in the satellite imagery. More than 70 new archeological sites within and at the edges of the bajo were mapped and tested. Modification of the landscape by the Maya in the form of dams and reservoirs in the Holmul River and its tributaries and possible drainage canals in bajos was demonstrated. The recent acquisition of one-meter IKONOS imagery and high resolution STAR-3i radar imagery (2.5m backscatter/ 10m DEM), opens new possibilities for understanding how a civilization was able to survive for centuries upon a karst topographic landscape and their human-induced effects upon the local climate. This understanding is critical for the current population that is presently experiencing rapid population growth and destroying the landscape through non-traditional farming and grazing techniques, resulting in socioeconomic problems.

Sever, Tom↗

NASA NTRS2002

Mapping The Ancient Maya Landscape From Space

The Peten region of northern Guatemala is one of the last places on earth where major archeological sites remain to be discovered. It was in this region that the Maya civilization began, flourished, and abruptly disappeared. Remote sensing technology is helping to locate and map ancient Maya sites that are threatened today by accelerating deforestation and looting. Thematic Mapper and IKONOS satellite and airborne Star3-I radar data, combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, are successfully detecting ancient Maya features such as cities, roadways, canals, and water reservoirs. Satellite imagery is also being used to map the bajos, which are seasonally flooded swamps that cover over 40% of the land surface. The use of bajos for farming has been a source of debate within the professional community for many years. But the recent detection and verification of cultural features within the bajo system by our research team are providing conclusive evidence that the ancient Maya had adapted well to wetland environments from the earliest times and utilized them until the time of the Maya collapse. The use of the bajos for farming is also an important resource for the future of the current inhabitants who are experiencing rapid population growth. Remote sensing imagery is also demonstrating that in the Preclassic period (600 BC- AD 250), the Maya had already achieved a high organizational level as evidenced by the construction of massive temples and an elaborate inter-connecting roadway system. Although they experienced several setbacks such as droughts and hurricanes, the Maya nevertheless managed the delicate forest ecosystem successfully for several centuries. However, around AD 800, something happened to the Maya to cause their rapid decline and eventual disappearance from the region. The evidence indicates that at this time there was increased climatic dryness, extensive deforestation, overpopulation, and widespread warfare. This raises a question that is relevant to the contemporary world-namely, how severe do internal stresses in a civilization have to become before relatively minor climate shifts can trigger a widespread cultural collapse?

Sever, Tom↗

NASA NTRS2001

Recent Advances in Maya Studies Using Remotely Sensed Data

The Peten region of northern Guatemala is one of the last places on earth where major archeological sites remain to be discovered. It was in this region that the Maya civilization began, flourished, and abruptly disappeared. Remote sensing technology is helping to locate and map ancient Maya sites that are threatened today by accelerating deforestation and looting. Thematic Mapper and IKONOS satellite and airborne Star3i radar data, combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, are successfully detecting ancient Maya features such as cities, roadways, canals, and water reservoirs. Satellite imagery is also being used to map the bajos, which are seasonally flooded swamps that cover over 40% of the land surface. The use of baJos for farming has been a source of debate within the professional community for many years. But the recent detection and verification of cultural features within the baJo system by our research team are providing conclusive evidence that the ancient Maya had adapted well to wetland environments from the earliest times and utilized them until the time of the Maya collapse. The combination of water management and baJo farming is an important resource for the future of the current inhabitants who are experiencing rapid population growth. Remote sensing imagery is also demonstrating that in the Preclassic period (600 BC- AD 250), the Maya had already achieved a high organizational level as evidenced by the construction of massive temples and an elaborate inter-connecting roadway system. Although they experienced several setbacks such as droughts and hurricanes, the Maya nevertheless managed the delicate forest ecosystem successfully for several centuries. However, around AD 800, something happened to the Maya to cause their rapid decline and eventual disappearance from the region. The evidence indicates that at this time there was increased climatic dryness, extensive deforestation, overpopulation, and widespread warfare. This raises a relevant question today-namely, how severe do internal stresses in a civilization have to become before relatively minor climate shifts can cause a widespread cultural collapse?

Sever, Tom↗

NASA NTRS2001

Recent Advances in Maya Studies Using Remotely Sensed Data

The Peten region of northern Guatemala is one of the last places on earth where major archeological sites remain to be discovered. It was in this region that the Maya civilization began, flourished, and abruptly disappeared. Remote sensing technology is helping to locate and map ancient Maya sites that are threatened today by accelerating deforestation and looting. Thematic Mapper and IKONOS satellite and airborne Star3i radar data, combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, are successfully detecting ancient Maya features such as cities, roadways, canals, and water reservoirs. Satellite imagery is also being used to map the baJos, which are seasonally flooded swamps that cover over 40% of the land surface. The use of bajos for farming has been a source of debate within the professional community for many years. But the recent detection and verification of cultural features within the bajo system by our research team are providing conclusive evidence that the ancient Maya had adapted well to wetland environments from the earliest times and utilized them until the time of the Maya collapse. The combination of water management and bajo farming is an important resource for the future of the current inhabitants who are experiencing rapid population growth. Remote sensing imagery is also demonstrating that in the Preclassic period (600 BC- AD 250), the Maya had already achieved a high organizational level as evidenced by the construction of massive temples and an elaborate inter-connecting roadway system. Although they experienced several setbacks such as droughts and hurricanes, the Maya nevertheless managed the delicate forest ecosystem successfully for several centuries. However, around AD 800, something happened to the Maya to cause their rapid decline and eventual disappearance from the region. The evidence indicates that at this time there was increased climatic dryness, extensive deforestation, overpopulation, and widespread warfare. This raises a relevant question today-namely, how severe do internal stresses in a civilization have to become before relatively minor climate shifts can cause a widespread cultural collapse?

Sever, Tom↗

NASA NTRS1999

Theories of the Universe: A One Semester Course for Honors Undergraduates

For the last two years The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has delivered a one semester course entitled Theories of The Universe as a seminar for undergraduate honors students. The enrollment is limited to fifteen students to encourage a maximum amount of interaction and discussion. The course has been team-taught enlisting the support of four scientists from the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center as well as UAH faculty from the history, philosophy, biology and physics departments. The course mixes history, mythology, philosophy, religion, and, of course, science and astronomy. The course traces mankind's view of the universe and how that has changed from about 30,000 years BCE to the current observations and models. Starting with a brief history of mankind we trace the evolution of ideas including Prehistoric European, Babylonian, Egyptian, Asian, North, Central and South American, African, Chinese, Greek, Middle Ages, Copernican, Galileo, Kepler, the Renaissance and Enlightenment, Newton, Einstein, and Hawking etc. Namely, we try to touch on just about every different view to puzzles of quantum cosmology, missing mass and the cosmological constant. By the end of the course, students should have a good understanding of: (1) the human desire and need for understanding; (2) the interplay between observations, modeling and theory development, and the need for revisions based on further observations; (3) the role of developing technology in advancing knowledge; (4) the evolution of our views of the universe and our relation to it; and (5) where we are today in our quest. Students are required to write two term papers and present them to the class. The final exam is a open discussion on our views of what we have learned.

Dimmock, John O.↗