NASA along with space agencies around the world are preparing for the third annual International Space Apps Challenge, which will be held April 12-13. Participants will develop mobile applications, software, hardware, data visualization and platform solutions that could contribute to space exploration missions and help improve life on Earth.

At the Climate Data Initiative launch at the White House Wednesday, NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan announced the inclusion of a new challenge focused on coastal flooding, developed by NASA and NOAA, and based on federal cross-agency data. The Coastal Inundation in Your Community challenge is one of four climate-related challenges using data provided by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The challenge encourages entrepreneurs, technologists, and developers to create and deploy data-driven visualizations and simulations that will help people understand their exposure to coastal-inundation hazards and other vulnerabilities.

"Solutions developed through this challenge could have many potential impacts," said Stofan. "This includes helping coastal businesses determine whether they are currently at risk from coastal inundation, and whether they will be impacted in the future by sea level rise and coastal erosion."

The two-day International Space Apps Challenge will be a "codeathon"-style event locally hosted at almost 100 locations spanning six continents. More than 200 data sources, including data sets, data services, and tools will be made available. This event will bring tech-savvy citizens, scientists, entrepreneurs, educators, and students together to help solve challenges relevant to both space exploration and social needs.

"The International Space Apps Challenge is one of the U.S. commitments to the Open Government Partnership to explore new ways that open space data can help the planet and further space exploration," said Deborah Diaz, deputy chief information officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

This year, more than 40 new challenges will represent NASA mission priorities and be organized in five themes: Earth Watch, Technology in Space Human Spaceflight, Robotics, and Asteroids. About half of the challenges are in the Earth Watch theme, which supports NASA's focus on Earth science in 2014.

For the first time in more than a decade, five NASA Earth science missions are being launched into space in the same year, opening new and improved remote eyes to monitor our changing planet. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.