Water and Agriculture

Growing human population, increased demand for water and energy, and a changing climate have contributed to expanded concerns centered on freshwater resources and food supply and production. Both water resource managers and the agricultural community need to know the amount and distribution of seasonal rainfall and the timing of the onset of rainfall to prepare for freshwater shortages and forecast crop yields. Remotely sensed precipitation estimates play a key role in predicting changes in freshwater supply and agricultural forecasting. The Water Resources, Agricultural Forecasting, and Food Security Applications area promotes the use of precipitation data from the GPM constellation to analyze and forecast changes that affect water resources and its subsequent impact on agricultural productivity.

Monsoons: Wet, Dry, Repeat
Credit: NASA/Goddard/Ryan Fitzgibbons This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio The monsoon is a seasonal rain and wind pattern that occurs over South Asia (among other places). Through NASA satellites and models we can see the monsoon patterns like never before. Monsoon rains provide important reservoirs of water that sustain human activities like agriculture and supports the natural environment through replenishment of aquifers. However, too much rainfall routinely causes disasters in the region...
A Tale of Two Extremes: Rainfall Across the US
The United States has seen a tale of two extremes this year, with drenching rains in the eastern half of the country and persistent drought in the west. A new visualization of rainfall data collected from space shows the stark contrast between east and west for the first half of 2015. The accumulated precipitation product visualized here begins on Jan. 1, 2015, and runs through July 16, 2015. This visualization shows the heavy rainfall throughout Northern Texas and across Oklahoma as well as the drought in Southern California. Credits: NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio Download...