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Earth Action

Delivering Returns on America’s Investments in Space and Earth Science

Three images of practical Earth Science applications in bubbles hover over a circular image of Earth with a satellite casting a blue cone to the bubbles of people. Dark blue space and specs of starlight occupy the left side of the image.

NASA Earth Action accelerates the use of Earth observation data for decision-making. The program provides funding, technical expertise, and partnerships to empower decision-makers to apply Earth data to challenges related to agriculture, disasters, energy and infrastructure, water, wildfires, ecological conservation, health and air quality, and more.

About NASA Earth Action

NASA Earth Action delivers returns on America’s investment in space and Earth science with invaluable data and tools that make communities more resilient, foster economic growth, and ensure national security. Drawing on U.S. superiority in space technology and artificial intelligence, NASA Earth Action empowers local, state, and federal leaders to make more efficient and effective decisions. NASA Earth observations provide benefits – every day – to people in the United States and around the world. Examples of those benefits include:

  • Protecting lives and property
  • Improving farmers’ livelihoods
  • Supporting small businesses
  • Powering private sector solutions
  • Preventing disease
  • Managing natural capital
  • Improving weather forecasting

How NASA Earth Action Delivers Impact

Explore these stories to understand how NASA Earth Action accelerates the use of Earth observation data to deliver tangible impacts on decision-making.

Earth Action at a Glance

How Earth Action Works

Drawing on more than 50 years of experience observing the Earth, NASA Earth Action provides technical support, funding, training, and workforce development to expand the application of Earth observations. This includes support to teams that use NASA Earth data to build solutions, including tools, datasets, models, visualizations, and other products. These solutions provide new, improved information for more accurate, timely, and effective decisions.

NASA Earth Action teams work with decision-makers representing:

◆Private sector, both small and large businesses 
◆States and territories
◆Municipalities
◆Federally-recognized Tribes
◆Nonprofits and community organizations
◆Federal government agencies

elder farmer on left in a straw hat talks to a man in a beret and tie-dye shirt in front of a nearby woodline
Lachlan McKinna, an oceanographer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, speaks with Bernie Fowler, a retired state senator with an innovative approach to measuring the clarity of Maryland's Patuxent River. For nearly three decades, Fowler has waded into the river until the tops of his white sneakers disappear from view, reaching his so-called “Sneaker Depth.” Inspired by this citizen science, NASA developed the "Fowler's Sneaker Depth" algorithm to translate satellite measurements of water clarity into an easy-to-understand metric for the public and decision-makers. 

NASA Earth Action Leadership

Headshot of Thomas WagnerEmily Sylak-Glassman profile photo, facing obliquely away from the camera in a near profile stance in a black top
Thomas P. WagnerEmily Sylak-Glassman
Associate Director of the Earth Action element of NASA’s Earth Science Division Science Mission DirectorateDeputy Associate Director of the Earth Action element of NASA’s Earth Science Division Science Mission Directorate