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NOAA and NASA are Looking at Societal Impacts of Earth Data

January 19, 2022
VIIRS data from the Suomi NPP satellite shows the extent of fires burning in California.
Data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument onboard the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite from October 9, 2017, shows the extent of the fires burning in California. This image combines the satellite's true color imagery along with thermal imagery (in red) that indicates the hot spots associated with the active fires.

 

NOAA’s Earth-observing data play an integral role in our everyday lives—from understanding and predicting changes in climate, weather, oceans and coasts, to conserving and managing coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. However, there is still an enormous potential to improve how we understand, value, and use this essential environmental information. 

Recognizing this, NASA and NOAA are co-sponsoring a Call for Proposals for Socioeconomic Assessments (SEA), which seeks to expand the research, methodologies, tools, and capacity for assessments of the socioeconomic value from Earth science information for real-world decisions and operations. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) serves as a collaborator to this activity and will host the outputs, materials, and results of the awarded groups in their international Societal Benefits Repository.

The scope of this call for proposals focuses on broad types of Earth science information, especially satellite-based Earth observations from NASA, NOAA, and USGS, as well as from commercial and international sources. 

This collaboration is an exceptional opportunity to work with the nation's leading Earth science agencies to increase our knowledge of the societal and economic value of Earth-observing data. The innovative data applications that develop from this call could advance and inform environmental management, business operations, policy decisions, and more.

Interested parties can submit a proposal for Socioeconomic Assessments; the deadline for proposal submission is March 22, 2022. For more information, please contact Shanna McClain (shanna.n.mcclain@nasa.gov), NASA’s Socioeconomic Impact Assessments Program Coordinator.