About
Why PoPS?
Biological invasions pose a serious threat to natural, economic, and cultural resources. To help decision makers address emerging threats, we developed the PoPS (Pest or Pathogen Spread) model: a flexible, customizable model of pest or pathogen spread. We developed PoPS specifically for use by management professionals who do not necessarily have modeling experience and tailored it for predicting the spread, containment, and control of biological invasions.
PoPS helps researchers, decision-makers, and stakeholders make decisions about how to most effectively manage emerging pests and pathogens that threaten our landscapes and food supply.
What are the advantages of PoPS over other models?
Fast
With considerable optimization and parallelization, PoPS runs quickly (up to 10x faster than traditional models), even for landscapes with millions of cells.
Flexible and modular
Various components such as weather effects and long-range dispersal can be easily turned on or off in the model, depending on the system being modeled.
Easy to use
With its modular design, PoPS can model a wide range of pests and pathogens with considerably shorter setup time than creating a model from scratch.
What does PoPS offer?
PoPS Model
The PoPS Model is free and open-source software, allowing users to download the model’s code and run it on their own computers. Learn the science behind the model
Get the PoPS ModelPoPS Forecast Dashboard
Our research team uses PoPS to generate forecasts for emerging and potential biological invasions. These forecasts are often made publicly available for stakeholders and the general public to view on an interactive forecast dashboard.
View Available Forecasts PoPS Management Dashboard
Collaborators and stakeholders access the PoPS Forecasting Platform through a user-friendly, web-based PoPS Dashboard Interface. With the PoPS Management Dashboard, users can run simulations, compare management scenarios, and save data—all without needing any programming skills.
Learn about the Forecasting Platform Workshops
The PoPS team frequently hosts workshops for stakeholders and educational outreach. During these workshops, we train users on how to navigate the PoPS Management Dashboard and assist stakeholders in understanding how management actions can influence the spread of a concerning biological invasion.
Learn about our workshops What can PoPS model?
The PoPS Model can be used to create forecasts of most pests or pathogens. So far, PoPS has been used to model plant pests and diseases, and animal diseases.
PoPS is modular, meaning that various components (e.g., weather effects or long-range dispersal) can be included or excluded from the model as necessary (through intuitive on-off switches on the interface) depending on the drivers that influence the species of interest.
Who created PoPS?
PoPS started in 2018 as a collaboration between the Center for Geospatial Analytics at North Carolina State University and the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
Our team at NCSU developed the PoPS Model, which later became the power-house behind the PoPS Forecasting Platform.
How can I use PoPS?
PoPS is open source and freely available for anyone to use:
Users may download the PoPS model code for:
- R
- GRASS GIS