WORLDTECHNASA and USDA sign agreement to widen Earth observation and agricultural data work
Full credit
File:NASA Science Calendar 2021.pdf / NASA This image was created with Adobe InDesign . / https://eospso.nasa.gov/https%3A/eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/publications/2021-nasa-science-calendar ( direct link ) / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_Science_Calendar_2021.pdfSource pageNASA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand their cooperation on Earth observation and advanced data work, a move the NASA news release ties to the USDA's plan to modernise its data for American farming.
Signing at the University of Alabama
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman put their names to the memorandum during an event at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa on a Saturday in October. Rollins signed the agreement on the same date, the release states.
NASA, a public agency and space exploration organisation founded in 1958, describes the document as building on a long-standing partnership between the two bodies.
Scope of the expanded cooperation
The new arrangement is designed to strengthen earlier joint research and data-sharing work by concentrating on better integration of datasets and tighter coordination between Earth observation and farm-related applications.
Under the memorandum, both agencies may pursue activities spanning statistical analysis of agriculture, remote sensing, modelling, the engineering of geospatial data and super intelligence. The release does not say how the work will be funded, how long it will run or which projects will come first.
Open questions
- Which concrete projects will the agencies start first under the memorandum?
- What resources will each agency commit to the work?