NASA, U of I working to improve agriculture
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — NASA landed on the U of I’s campus today, but it wasn’t to talk about space instead it was to address agriculture and food insecurity. The agroecosystem sustainability center has been working with NASA for the past year with their main goal being to look at land surface observables.
Through their technology, they’ve been able to pinpoint nitrogen from the soil and cover crops giving a better idea of total loss and how to control it. Now they’re making resources easier to use for the people who need to use them most –the farmers.
“We also start to see if can we add some of the sustainability considerations, and nutrient loss reduction components into some of those tools,” Kaiyu Guan, ASC Founding Director, “So that we can comprehensively address the evolving needs of the whole society in terms of improving productivity and at the same time keeping our land sustainably and our water clean.”
NASA has information about the projects, datasets, and visualizations online. They say they’re not only trying to get the word out but also calling farmers in for collaboration and feedback.
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