Thread by @Jack_B_Reid

Second to last @SGC2022 is about to start and I'm excited to say that it is an #EO panel with some folks from @NOAA, moderated by @aravind_raves.

Title is "Utilizing Earth Observations in Addressing Modern Challenges" and livestream is here:

Attendees are:
Irene Parker of @NOAA
Pooja Pandey of @planet
Kathryn Shontz of @NOAA
Parag Vaze of @NASAEarth and @NASAJPL

Also in audience is Steve Volz of @NOAASatellites

Irene starting us off emphasizing the importance of NOAA satellites in monitoring societal impacts beyond weather: disasters, agriculture, commodities, climate change,

"Key is we have to translate what this actually means to the citizens of the world."

"Sometimes we talk about sensors but not actually the final end user impact." +++

Irene came out of investment banking and decided the change from being pay-motivated to doing good.

Points out that the water problem in Jackson, Mississippi was caused by flooding. "We knew that it was going to flood, we had the data" but we didn't translate that into impact.

"This is an international field. It's not all about @NOAA."

Emphasizes both other national space agencies and the numerous commercial players.

Next up is Pooja of @planet (who is one of the SMEs in the food security #EO working group here at #SGC2022).

"Our Motto is you can't fix what you can't see."

Explains the Dove (now SuperDove) constellation providing monitoring and SkySat providing higher resolution.

@planet has partnered with various organizations, including the @NASA CSDA program, @DLR_SpaceAgency, @esa, and more to provide data to the research community.

Highlights the NICFI Program monitoring deforestation in the tropics with @KSAT_Kongsberg: nicfi.no

Other examples shown include Togo agriculture mapping, Amazon deforestation, the recent flooding in Pakistan, and mapping agriculture in Ukraine with @NASAHarvest

@aravind_raves : "Pooja, what I like about your presentation is that it had two slides about space and the rest werer about impacts"

Kathryn next. Came to @NOAA from the scientific side, not satellite side. Is primarily interested in impact "Finding data, taking it useful, took the majority of the time during my thesis. That has changed... We all have access to that data now."

"There is a need for a very diverse group not only in terms of expertise, but in terms of backgrounds and perspectives."
"Government is partnering with companies to solve government problems. You can come from any side of that...So many diverse careers and pathways you can take"

Reminds us that the world was able to address the hole in the ozone layer, so we can tackle these problems.

Finally we have Paraj, sharing some observations on how #EO has changed in the past 30 years.

Early on the emphasis was on government satellites and the development and testing of sensors. Now we have such an immense diversity of sensors. "Now what do we do with that data?"

"Almost all of my missions in the past 30 years have involved international collaborations."

Increasingly thinking of impacts / how to get the data out / making the community aware, early on in the mission design process. Previously it was just fundamental science and papers.

Frames the #EO pipeline as a pyramid, with data on the basis, processed by models into information, that products turn into knowledge, and decisions transform into actions.

@aravind_raves asks panel about how the industry is shifting.

Irene: Not just scientists and engineers anymore. Refers to Parag's pyramid, "I don't just want the data, I want the impact... Learn the public policy, learn the economics."

Pooja: Planet has 6PB of archive material available. Users are asking how it can solve their problems. The industry needs the soft skills to translate the data into action.

Kathryn: Growth is in getting information out of data, which historically has been in niche formats. And making it accessible, not just available. Lots of room for innovation in where the data is, how it is imparted, the use of AI (which requires massive amounts of training).

Parag; Plenty of people with high levels of expertise in a specific field (science, IT, data, etc.). There is a a great demand for multidisciplinary folks. @NASAJPL has made a new job specifically for this.

@aravind_raves, quoting someone else, says that maybe we might need neuroscientists or psychologists in the field to help us understand how people handle data and information.

(My) question about whether satellite operators will stick to that or get more and more involved in analysis and actionable information:

Irene: There will be a hybrid approach. @NOAA is getting more involved in analysis but also sees more and more partnerships.

Kathryn: Government will maintain the important long-term, stable monitoring platforms that are key for weather and climate. @NOAA does have to be involved in how the data is used so that they know how to improve and orient their own datasets.

Question about working with indigenous groups:

Pooja: Planet partners with the #GEO indigenous working group committee. Feels there is a lot more work to be done there.

Irene: NOAA has been putting more and more data on the popular cloud platforms, #GEE, Planetary Computer, etc

Parag: People often think that applications require a lot of money but that's not always the case. Sometimes it is just a matter of understanding where or how the data is available, how to marry multiple data streams.

Question about dark & quiet skies + who are you hiring

Pooja: Points to two other Planet employees in audience for first part. For hiring, lots of machine learning and customer facing roles.

Stefan (in audience): Planet's constellation is large, but it isn't blocking major part of skies like Starlink. Also about best practices in terms of reflectiveness, quick deorbiting at end of life.

Irene: US Gov is very aware of #SSA, #STM, and debris. All of that needs to be worked on a national level. Look at OADR: spacenews.com/office-of-spac…

Question about presence of black carbon in upper atmosphere / stratosphere

Kathryn: We have an increasing number of instruments looking up at these levels of the atmosphere, at space weather and heliosphere, at troposheric injections. These are key to climate models.

Question about capacity building in areas without significant educational base

Parag: About forming teams. NOAA has a global perspective. Refers back to comments about how there is a gap between potential users and knowing what data is out there.

@aravind_raves: Conferences like this help. Space industry can be a bridge to taking that data outside of the field.