Overview of Synergy project

Synergy is a pilot demonstration project funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to evaluate the utility of Earth Observation System (EOS) data for activities other than global environmental change research. Under a contract initiated in February 2000, Synergy partnered with a number of universities and State and Local government agencies in the United States to develop a variety of remote sensing applications. Phase I of Synergy focused on exploring the potential use of satellite imagery for disaster management, urban planning, water resource management, precision agriculture, and natural resources management and protection. The objectives were to demonstrate the practical use of EOS data in real world applications. For State and Local Government applications, the intent was to enhance the ability of end users at different governmental levels to make viable managerial decisions and formulate sound planning policies. The program focused on making data, extracted information, derived products, and prototype applications more readily accessible for end users through web-based "Infomarts". These Infomarts would provide data browsing and downloading capabilities as well as interactive mapping tools. The Infomarts were geared primarily toward governmental organizations that have the potential to utilize remote sensing data and integrate extracted information and derived products in geographic information systems (GIS).