Data for a changing world — satellites for sustainability

In Pakistan, water managers are using data from NASA gravity satellites to track groundwater resources. In Kenya, space observations and climate models are being used to update hazard maps to help counties better prepare for extreme weather events.

Ellen Stofan, former Chief Scientist of NASA, expains how huge reams of data from space are being tapped to help governments, business and citizens to manage resources in the face of climate change. This piece was first published on Devex.

Rainfall patterns are changing. The occurrence of record high temperatures is increasing. Severe weather events — huge rainfall, severe droughts, stronger and wetter hurricanes, and typhoons — are becoming more common and potentially more deadly. As local conditions change, historical knowledge of how to grow food and how to manage water resources becomes less valuable, making feeding a growing population that much more difficult. Who would guess that some of the solutions to these challenges would be coming from 500-700 kilometers above the surface of Earth?

To manage resources sustainably in a changing world, you need information. Where is the water and how much is there to sustain crops across the growing season? What are the temperatures in my region going to be in 10 or 15 years, and how might that affect what I grow and when? If you are a water manager in a developing country, how do you fairly and adequately allocate water to agriculture and to your citizens? What are the changing rainfall amounts and seasons that could bring in parasites carrying deadly diseases?

Space as a vantage point

All of these challenges are being confronted on a daily basis around the world. Good decisions require comprehensive, accessible, easy-to-use data. Space provides a unique vantage point from which we can make local, regional, and global observations. The reams of data being beamed back to Earth minute by minute from both private and public Earth observation satellites are increasingly being turned into information that can be used by local decision-makers to make their communities more sustainable. Continue reading on Devex.