The USGS is hosting its first challenge via the platform Challenge.gov. Submissions will be judged on their relevance to today’s scientific challenges, innovative use of the datasets, and overall ease of use of the application. Prizes will be awarded to the best overall app, the best student app, and the people’s choice

“Challenge Yourself to App-lify USGS Data”

Contests have a way of motivating people. It must have something to do with the spirit of healthy competition that engages people in ways that are not possible otherwise. From the Orteig prize in 1919 that led to the first transatlantic flight to the Ansari X Prize paving the way for personal space flight, prizes have a long history of success throughout the world.

But successful contests are not limited to aviation and are no longer relegated to the private sector. The USGS is throwing its hat into the challenge ring and has embarked on its first challenge – App-lifying USGS Earth Science Data. The contest utilizes the platform Challenge.gov which serves as the place where Government agencies post challenges and the public posts submissions.

The Challenge
After examining the successes by other agencies in developing and executing challenges, USGS scientists invite the public to take some of its datasets and shake them up, visualize them, and mash them up with other datasets in previously unexpected ways. The challenge is focused on a specific set of ecological and/or biological datasets that serve as the basis for the challenge.

The USGS Core Science Analytics and Synthesis (CSAS) program is seeking help from many of the Nation’s premier application developers and data visualization specialists in developing new visualizations and applications for CSAS datasets. CSAS focuses on innovative ways to manage and deliver scientific data and information. The program implements and promotes standards and best practices to enable efficient, data-driven science for decision-making that supports a rapid response to emerging natural resource issues. One way this is accomplished is by developing national data products that increase our understanding of the Earth’s natural systems.

Gap analysis for the lark bunting. A graphical representation of an analysis conducted by combining the three data layers produced by the Gap Analysis Program (http://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/). By intersecting the predicted distribution of this species with the Protected Areas Database, we determine that 2.6% of the lark bunting’s habitat falls in the category of “highly protected”.

Ready to Win?

We want you to compete in our challenge! The challenge is open to everyone. The USGS recognizes that solutions can come from unexpected places. That’s why this challenge is open to everyone including students 13 years old and up. Developers, information scientists, graphic designers, Web gurus, citizen scientists—anyone and everyone is encouraged to submit their app to the challenge.

“The USGS has produced several key biogeography datasets that are integral to understanding the natural world. We need to maximize their impact by combining them with other national datasets. By accessing and visualizing these datasets in new ways, the public can help USGS scientists tackle many of our Nation’s scientific challenges,” said Kevin Gallagher, USGS Associate Director of Core Science Systems.

The datasets for the contest consist of a range of earth science data types, including:

• authoritative taxonomic nomenclature for plants and animals of North America and the world;
• thousands of metadata records related to research studies, ecosystems, and species;
• several million biological occurrence records (terrestrial and marine); and
• vegetation and land cover data for the United States, including detailed vegetation maps for the National Parks.

Submissions will be judged on their relevance to today’s scientific challenges, innovative use of the datasets, and overall ease of use of the application. Prizes will be awarded to the best overall app, the best student app, and the people’s choice.
Submissions will be accepted from January 9, 2013, to April 1, 2013. Winners will be announced on April 26, 2013, and will be honored at the USGS The National Map Users Conference/Community for Data Integration Workshop (May 21-24, 2013, in Denver, Colo.), where their applications will be demonstrated to USGS scientists and program managers. The National Map is teaming up with the Community for Data Integration to host a conference focusing on collaboration, integration, and innovation. Themes for the conference span a wide range of topics including scientific applications of The National Map, the Open Science movement, and public participation in scientific research.

The USGS is looking for your bright ideas and everyone is encouraged to enter including students age 13 and up.

America Competes

Under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act signed in 2011, government agencies have jumped into the contest arena. The vehicle to do this became Challenge.gov, the contest platform administered by the General Services Administration. Challenge.gov is aimed at facilitating creative applications for government agencies to address a range of societal issues more effectively.

An early adopter of Challenge.gov has been The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has utilized the platform for many successful challenges including Green Chemistry Challenge, Game Day Challenge, and Apps for the Environment.

Apps for the Environment challenged participants to tap into EPA data and devise an app that was useful, innovative, and easy to use. The winner of Best Overall App was Lightbulb Finder, an app that used EPA data to help people find the best energy efficient light bulbs for their homes. By helping people switch incandescent light bulbs for more energy efficient ones, Lightbulb Finder is able to save electricity—reducing CO2 emissions and saving people money.

A Fresh Perspective: Crowdsourcing New Ideas

Harnessing the power of crowdsourcing, challenges have led to innovative solutions to complex problems. The power comes from the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of the crowd. In this way, solutions can come from unexpected places. For instance, the winning application, Flu-Ville!, in the Center for Disease Control’s Flu App Challenge came from a graphic artist interested in educational games.

Another contest looked at mapping dark matter, which has been a problem that has plagued physicists for decades. Solutions came from many unexpected places including glaciology, neuroscience, and even a signature verification expert. The prize was ultimately awarded to a cosmology professor and grad student team from the University of California, Irvine, but examples like these demonstrate the power of prizes to find intersections where seemingly unrelated disciplines meet.

Looking back on all of the successful challenges throughout the years, the USGS is excited to see the upcoming results of its first challenge. We invite you to submit your app to our challenge. Maybe the next great app will be yours!

Young boys working in a newly cropped field in Africa.

Spring rains in the eastern Horn of Africa are projected to begin late this year and be substantially lower than normal.

From March–May, the rains are expected to total only 60 to 85 percentage of the average rainfall in this region. This is a significant deterioration compared to earlier forecasts.

Lower rain amounts would have significant impacts on crop production, rangeland regeneration for livestock, and replenishment of water resources.

This would put greater stress on the region, particularly Somalia which is still recovering from a famine declared last year, as well as Kenya and Ethiopia which also experienced a severe food crisis. An increase in food insecurity and in the size of the food insecure population is likely.

The State Department released a statement on this forecast and their intent to provide additional funding to aid refuges and drought-affected communities.

Famine Early Warning Systems Network

 The rainfall projections were completed by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), which helps target more than $1.5 billion of assistance to more than 40 countries each year. FEWS NET monitors high risk areas of the developing world with the most food insecurity, identifying critical situations in which food aid will be needed.

FEWS NET is sponsored and led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Food for Peace. Implementing partners include the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Chemonics International, Inc., National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

USGS Science

A herder moves cattle through a barren landscape in eastern Africa.

The USGS led the climate analysis for the recent FEWS NET rainfall projection.

“Rainfall projections were estimated by looking very closely at all the prior droughts from March–May since 1979 in the eastern Horn of Africa,” said USGS scientist Chris Funk, who led this research. “We found that sea surface temperatures in the western/central Pacific and the Indian oceans are key drivers of rainfall during that time period. So we compared sea surface temperatures from past years to March 2012, and developed an updated rainfall forecast for this spring season.”

Climate modeling analysis was done in collaboration with others, including Greg Husak and Joel Michaelsen with the Climate Hazards Group at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as Bradfield Lyon at The International Research Institute for Climate and Society. Lyon’s research identified the important role of the Pacific Ocean in recent droughts.

The USGS also contributes satellite remote sensing data and analysis of vegetation and rainfall to support FEWS NET activities throughout the world. Remote sensing from space allows scientists to provide rapid, accurate assessments of a broad range of environmental and agricultural conditions. A newly completed vegetation monitoring system allows FEWS NET analysts to track conditions across all of Africa in tremendous detail.

“The concerning picture that emerged from FEWS NET climate monitoring services was that despite the good rains of the past winter, the situation east Africa has deteriorated very rapidly, to a point that the water deficits and vegetation health looked as bad as this time last year,” said Funk.

Link between Sea Surface Temperatures and Rainfall

 As the globe has warmed over the last century, the Indian and central/western Pacific oceans have warmed particularly fast. USGS scientists found that the warming of these oceans affects rainfall over large areas of the Horn of Africa.

The resulting warmer air and increased humidity over the Indian and Pacific oceans produce more frequent rainfall over the oceans. The air then rises over the equatorial Indian and Pacific oceans, and flows westward, descending over Africa. Since the air has already lost moisture from rainfall over the oceans, this leads to decreased rain amounts in parts of eastern Africa. Trends toward increased frequency of drought that we are seeing now appear likely to continue into the future as warming continues.

“Essentially, our research has progressed to the point where we can recognize fairly well the climate patterns linked to the recent droughts, and we hope this helps identify potential bad seasons in advance to raise awareness,” said Funk.

More Information

Learn more about USGS science helping to save lives in Africa.

Listen to a podcast interview on FEWS NET and USGS research in Africa.