Global Vegetation and Climate Insights Portal (GVCIP)

Introduction

Global climate variability, environmental change, and extreme weather events increasingly demand reliable, high-resolution environmental monitoring tools. As a PhD Candidate at UC Davis specializing in remote sensing, climate analytics, and AI for environmental applications, I mentored my undergraduate mentee, through an ambitious project: building an interactive, global-scale environmental monitoring portal powered by Google Earth Engine (GEE).

Together, we developed the Global Vegetation and Climate Insights Portal (GVCIP)—a web application that visualizes global vegetation health, land surface temperature, evapotranspiration, precipitation, and more. My mentee successfully presented this project at the UC Davis College of Engineering, where both of us received certificates for our contributions.

This blog post highlights the project goals, features, methodology, poster, and our presentation.

Project Overview

Project Title: Global Vegetation and Climate Insights Portal (GVCIP): A Google Earth Engine–Based Monitoring Tool

Authors: Nicholas Richmond, Mohammadreza Narimani, Ali Moghimi, Alireza Pourreza

Affiliation: Digital Agriculture Laboratory, UC Davis

The GVCIP portal uses MODIS, Sentinel, and ERA5 datasets within GEE to provide global, interactive maps of key environmental indicators, including:

NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index)
Evapotranspiration (ET)
Land Surface Temperature (LST)
Leaf Area Index (LAI)
Fraction of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FPAR)
Mean 2-meter Air Temperature (ERA5)
Total Daily Precipitation (ERA5)

✔️ This makes it a powerful resource for researchers, farmers, educators, policymakers, and climate analysts.

Mentoring the Project

Mentoring my undergraduate student on this project involved guiding them through:

Understanding remote sensing datasets (MODIS, ERA5, Sentinel)
Learning Earth Engine JavaScript programming
Designing interactive UI elements (dropdown menus, map layers, charts)
Implementing time-series extraction
Creating data legends and visualization styles
Developing and deploying the web app
Writing the full research poster
Presenting at the UC Davis ESEARCH and COE events

My mentee showed exceptional dedication and creativity, and I am proud to highlight their work here.

Mohammadreza Narimani PhD candidate mentoring undergraduate student Nicholas Richmond presenting Global Vegetation and Climate Insights Portal research poster at UC Davis ESEARCH Summer 2024

Mohammadreza Narimani mentoring undergraduate student during poster presentation at UC Davis ESEARCH Summer 2024

Key Features of the Portal

1️⃣ Interactive Global Environmental Mapping

Users can explore global datasets with smooth map visualization, zooming, and clicking to retrieve time-series data.

2️⃣ Dynamic Data Layer Selection

Switch between NDVI, LST, ET, precipitation, vegetation indexes, and more.

3️⃣ Time-Series Chart Extraction

Click any location on the map to visualize the full year's data trend.

4️⃣ Automated Scaling & Color Legend

The legend updates based on the dataset selected, providing accurate interpretation.

5️⃣ Region-Specific Environmental Analysis

Analyze climate and vegetation conditions for any country, region, or pixel.

Methodology Overview

According to the project poster:

1. Dataset Selection

MODIS for NDVI, LAI, FPAR, ET, and LST
ERA5 for temperature and precipitation

These datasets provide high spatial and temporal resolution, essential for environmental monitoring.

2. Visualization & Mapping

Each environmental indicator is mapped using custom visualization parameters for clarity and consistency.

3. Time-Series Analysis

The app fetches year-long data for any clicked pixel, generating a plot for insights into seasonal changes.

4. User-Friendly Interface

A clean GEE-based UI ensures ease of use for both technical and non-technical audiences.

Mohammadreza Narimani Global Vegetation and Climate Insights Portal GVCIP research poster using Google Earth Engine MODIS ERA5 datasets UC Davis Digital Agriculture Laboratory

Research poster: "Global Vegetation and Climate Insights Portal (GVCIP): A Google Earth Engine–Based Monitoring Tool"

Explore the App & Code

Live GVCIP Portal GitHub Repository Earth Engine Code

Achievements

At the UC Davis College of Engineering Poster Presentation, my mentee and I were recognized with certificates for our contribution to environmental monitoring and remote sensing research.

This mentorship experience further reinforced my passion for guiding students in advanced remote sensing, climate analytics, and Google Earth Engine workflows.

About the Author

Mohammadreza Narimani
PhD Candidate, University of California, Davis

Remote Sensing • Digital Agriculture • Earth Observation • AI for Climate Analytics

I specialize in developing satellite-based environmental monitoring systems and mentoring students in remote sensing, Python, GEE, and applied AI.

📧 mnarimani@ucdavis.edu
🎓 Google Scholar Profile

Conclusion

The Global Vegetation and Climate Insights Portal represents an important step toward building accessible, interactive environmental intelligence tools. Through this project, my mentee gained hands-on experience in satellite analytics, Earth Engine development, scientific communication, and research presentation.

As climate challenges continue to grow, tools like GVCIP will play a vital role in supporting environmental research, sustainable agriculture, and data-driven policy.

🌎 Global Vegetation and Climate Insights Portal (GVCIP)