NASA's Learning Technologies Project

Urban Environment Initiative

The Urban Environment Initiative (UEI) is a Cooperative Agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The UEI is part of NASA's overall High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) and NASA's Learning Technologies Project (LTP). The goal of the UEI is to provide public access to Earth science information and promote its use with a focus on the environment of urban areas. The UEI team is comprised of four organizations representing private industry, NASA, and universities: Prime Technologies Service Corporation, NASA's Minority University Space Interdisciplinary Network (MU-SPIN), California State University at Los Angeles, and Central State University (Wilberforce, OH).

"Urban Environment" refers to the web of environmental, economic, and social factors that combine to create the urban world in which we live. Examples of these factors are population distribution, neighborhood demographic profiles, economic resources, business activities, location and concentration of environmental hazards and various pollutants, and the proximity and level of urban services which form the basis of the urban environment and ultimately affect our lives and experiences.

The Urban Environment Initiative studies how the environment, social concerns, and the economy must be considered as we work to address the issues and problems of our neighborhood and region.

Effective solutions often require access to and use of a wide range of data and related analysis. To be understood clearly, this data is best visualized and presented in the form of maps and what are often referred to as spatial images. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing bring such information about our communities to life for everyone. These technologies allow us to collect, visualize, and analyze information about our urban environment. In so doing, they can answer a range of simple or complex questions important to planning and decision making.

These include the following examples:

How has development changed our community's land use pattern in the last ten years, and where are the changes occurring?
Where are hazardous waste sites, generators, and storage facilities located in our community?
What environmental pollutants exist in a specific area that affect the quality of urban life?
What is the air quality in our community and how does it compare to other parts of the region?
How might planned development or other changes alter traffic patterns or air quality in the community?
What percentage of the land in our community is devoted to commercial uses, housing, open space, etc?
Is the urban vegetation changing and, if so, how?
How is growth affecting the urban environment? How are specific habitats affected by this process?
Where are public or private services located within the community and who are they serving well or serving poorly?
What types of businesses are located in a specific community?

In answering such questions, it may be important to either examine a single time period, such as one year, or look at changes which have occurred for much longer periods, such as over a ten-year time span. The Urban Environment Initiative team is working cooperatively with various UEI partner organizations to provide GIS and remote sensing information products and services so that they can carry out their own information gathering and analysis.

Curator: Randolph Kim
Responsible NASA Official: Mark Leon
Last Updated: 07/02/2002