Since 2003 a team of dedicated experts at the Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS) has expanded access for the scientific community to real-time, high-resolution satellite imagery. CSTARS has provided scientists at the University of Miami and other global research institutions with satellite images that allow them to apply previously inaccessible domains of data in the development of new and exciting approaches to scientific problems – quickly and effectively.

Mapping offered by CSTARS' state-of-the-art technology covers all of Florida and the eastern U.S., all of the Caribbean Basin including the Lesser Antilles, Central America, Mexico, and a significant portion of northern South America and the eastern Pacific.

CSTARS presents scientific institutions, government entities and community organizations with a broad outlook on dangerous environmental phenomena, climate change, and coastal safety issues that can assist in more timely and efficient disaster planning.  In 2010, CSTARS was critical to response efforts in Haiti, as well as in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.