This is the first direct support from NASA for the project, which began in 1999. Turner Enterprises, to evaluate the utility of remote sensing for mapping, and eventually managing, noxious weeds like Spotted Knapweed and Leafy Spurge. These noxious weeds are spreading and replacing native plants at an alarming rate in the American West, according to weed scientists. NASA's support will be directed through Positive Systems of Whitefish, Mont., a company that provides remote sensing imagery and services to the environmental, agricultural, and scientific community.
Participants hope to make remote sensing an ally in the war against noxious weeds.
The project was organized by MSU TechLink, a technology transfer organization based in Bozeman, and brings together the resources of several organizations to help bring space-based technologies to Earth. We hope that this project can help move the technology in that direction. TechLink is located at Montana State University and funded by the Department of Defense and NASA to link companies in Montana and the surrounding region with federal laboratories for joint research and technology transfer.