Photos of Tamarisk Seasonal Changes at the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah
The Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS) is a partnership between NASA and The US Geological Survey (USGS). The ISFS combines NASA Earth observations and statistical models to enhance USGS capabilities to map, monitor, and predict the spread of significant invasive plant species. These photos show the seasonal change of one daunting invasive species, the Tamarisk tree, at the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Utah. It's important to note the slight differences in the Tamarisk growing season when compared to some of the plant life in the foreground and the trees in the background. These slight seasonal differences allow the science team to distinguish Tamarisk from other vegetation through satellite sensors. In these photos, the Tamarisk is the pink flowering foliage to the center right of the images.
This animation shows the seasonal changes of Tamarisk via actual photos taken at the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Utah between 6/14/04 and 4/13/05. Please note: In order to smoothly morph between these photos, some image warping of the photos was necessary. However, the colors in each photo remains exactly as photographed. The Tamarisk is to the center and center right of the image.
Photo of Tamarisk on 6/14/04. Notice how the pink flowering blooms on the Tamarisk make it stand out from the predominantly green trees in the background and green plants in the foreground to the left.
Photo of Tamarisk on 9/15/04.
Photo of Tamarisk on 10/12/04.
Photo of Tamarisk on 11/19/04. Notice how the Tamarisk foliage color change is still near its peak, whereas the background trees and left foreground plants have already shed most of their leaves.
Photo of Tamarisk on 1/21/05. Notice how the Tamarisk still contains some of its orangish foliage, whereas the trees in the background and the plants in the left foreground have lost most of theirs.
Photo of Tamarisk on 4/13/05. Notice how the trees in the background and the plants in the left foreground have begun to bloom and the Tamarisk is still mostly dormant.
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Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
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Animator
- Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
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Scientists
- Jeffrey Morisette (NASA/GSFC)
- Jeff Pedelty (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Wednesday, February 15, 2006.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:55 PM EDT.