Launch Catch-Up — Agreement Signed October 24; NASA Announcement October 26
NASA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have signed an agreement to expand cooperation in Earth observation and agricultural data, NASA announced October 26.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signed the memorandum October 24 at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, according to the agency. The signing date is separate from Monday’s public release.
The agreement supports USDA’s data-modernization effort. Areas for cooperation include agricultural statistics, remote sensing, modeling and geospatial data engineering. The agencies plan to examine how satellite observations and analytical tools can improve crop monitoring, acreage and yield estimates, and assessments of drought and other disasters.
NASA says the agreement builds on an existing research and data-sharing partnership. The agencies will also explore ways to manage and analyze large datasets and better align Earth-observation tools with agricultural needs.
The announcement sets out planned cooperation. It provides no completed evaluation showing how much crop estimates or disaster assessments have improved under the new agreement.
Sources: NASA — October 26 release: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-usda-sign-agreement-advancing-earth-science-agriculture/