NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe and Agriculture Secretary
(USDA) Ann M. Veneman announced the two agencies will join
forces on a series of programs drawing on NASA’s capabilities
in monitoring, mapping, modeling and systems engineering to
help protect the environment and enhance American
agriculture’s ability to compete in the world market.
NASA and USDA representatives participated in a workshop this
week in Denver to identify collaborative research and
development programs for the joint program. The workshop
concentrated on five “focus areas” identified as national
priorities of mutual interest: carbon management, agricultural
competitiveness, air quality, water management and
conservation, and management of invasive species.
“NASA is pleased to be part of this worthwhile effort,
benefiting all Americans and humankind in general,” said NASA
Administrator Sean O’Keefe. “NASA’s ability to view the Earth
from the unique vantage point of space provides data to
enhance our ability to predict climate, weather and natural
hazards, as well as to mitigate and assess the effects of
natural and human-induced disasters. As NASA works to
understand and protect our home planet, the relevant and
concise information we provide will allow USDA and other U.S.
government agencies to make critical, accurate, and timely
decisions,” he said.
“We in USDA are very excited about the possibilities opened up
by this new collaboration,” Veneman said. “For example, to
improve our agricultural competitiveness, we need a better
understanding of weather and climate, especially the ability
to predict weather events with more accuracy and longer lead
times. The results from NASA research and development of earth
science and technology could lead to weather and climate
predictions and observations that can be integrated into local
and regional support systems used in agricultural management,”
she said.
Participants discussed USDA policy and program needs that
might be fulfilled by remote sensing information provided by
NASA; identified current research and capabilities of both
NASA and USDA that could help address those needs; pinpointed
gaps in existing knowledge and research. They also outlined
opportunities for collaborative research and development
efforts between USDA and NASA to develop products and
solutions to serve decision makers.
Information from this week’s workshop will be used by a
USDA/NASA Interagency Working Group in evaluating and
establishing new research efforts, remote sensing systems, and
models for decision support in agricultural systems. The
information resulting from the workshop will also be
incorporated into the plans of NASA’s Earth Science
Enterprise, which seeks to meet NASA’s mission of
understanding and protecting our home planet.
For more information about NASA or NASA’s Earth Science
Enterprise on the Internet, visit:
