The 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. The map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 10-degree F zones. For the first time, the map is available as an interactive GIS-based map, for which a broadband Internet connection is recommended, and as static images for those with slower Internet access. Users may also simply type in a ZIP Code and find the hardiness zone for that area. No posters of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map have been printed. But state, regional, and national images of the map can be downloaded and printed in a variety of sizes and resolutions.

VegScape delivers interactive vegetation indices so that web users can explore, visualize, query, and disseminate current vegetative cover maps and data without the need for specialized expertise, software, or high end computers. New satellite-based data are loaded on a weekly basis during the growing season. One can compare year-to-year change since the year 2000, compare conditions at a given times to mean, median and ratio vegetative cover, and can overlay a crop mask to help identify crop land versus non-crop land, among many functions. Vegetation indices, such as the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), and mean, median, and ratio comparisons to prior years have proven useful for assessing crop condition and identifying the land area impacted by floods, drought, major weather anomalies, and vulnerabilities of early/late season crops. The National Aeronautics Space Administration's MODIS satellite is used for this project and provides imaging at 250 meter (15 acres) per pixel resolution. Additionally, the data can be directly exported to Google Earth for mashups or delivered to other applications via web services.