Tuesday, February 15th, 2022
For a nuisance-reduction program after a summer rainfall 2021, GDG was challenged to monitor a several-thousand-hectare region and treat all mosquito breeding sites within it in just five days. As a result, biological larvicide treatment was applied to nearly one thousand hectares of areas producing mosquito larvae by GDG’s drone division in 2021. “Once a
Monday, January 31st, 2022
The ability to provide a “volcano forecast” could help reduce the significant health, safety and even economic impacts of eruptions; they regularly disrupt aviation and the global supply chain we depend on. Last fall, circling the summit of an active volcano, a small aircraft moved us toward a future where remote but hazardous volcanoes are
Tuesday, January 18th, 2022
Earth’s global average surface temperature in 2021 tied with 2018 as the sixth-warmest on record, according to independent analyses done by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Continuing the planet’s long-term warming trend, global temperatures in 2021 were 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.85 degrees Celsius) above the average for NASA’s baseline period, according
Tuesday, January 4th, 2022
NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists are teaming up to test remote-sensing technology for use in oil-spill response. Just off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., thousands of gallons of oil seep through cracks in the seafloor and rise to the surface each day. But this isn’t a disaster zone: It’s one
Monday, December 13th, 2021
A previously unknown source of the strong greenhouse gas nitrous oxide has been found in East Siberian Yedoma permafrost. Published in Nature Communications, the observation was made by an international group of researchers, with the lead of researchers from the University of Eastern Finland. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is the third-most important greenhouse gas after carbon
Tuesday, November 30th, 2021
An international team of engineers and technicians has finished assembling a next-generation satellite that will make the first global survey of Earth’s surface water and study fine-scale ocean currents. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission is just a year out from launch, and the final set of tests on the spacecraft have started.
Tuesday, November 16th, 2021
A new NASA-led study is the first to document changing atmospheric ammonia (NH3) concentrations in Africa over an extended period. Ammonia is an air pollutant that can lead to heart- and lung-related illness. When present in excess in an ecosystem, it can make soil more acidic and hinder plant growth. Ammonia is emitted naturally from
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021
On Oct. 29, 2021, ESA and NASA publicly released the first globally harmonzed assessment of aboveground biomass—information that’s vital for managing global climate change. The Multi-Mission Algorithm and Analysis Platform (MAAP) provides seamless access to aboveground biomass information from both NASA and ESA Earth observation data. The revolutionary open-science tool is now fully operational and
Thursday, October 14th, 2021
NASA released a climate action plan Oct. 7, 2021, aimed at averting mission impacts due to climate change, ensuring the resiliency of facilities and assets, and providing the nation and world unique climate observations, analysis, and modeling through scientific research. The plan is part of President Biden’s whole-of-government approach to confronting the climate crisis. Federal
Tuesday, October 5th, 2021
If it seems like enormous wildfires have been constantly raging in California in recent summers, it’s because they have. Eight of the state’s 10 largest fires on record—and 12 of the top 20—have happened within the last five years, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Together, those 12 fires
