Shared data means everything to Earth observation researchers. If we hope to solve global problems such as climate change, data is at the heart of finding answers to our sustainability questions. While data has become somewhat more accessible in recent years, we can’t take that accessibility for granted — every day, we need to promote the need for public use of Earth observation data.

Sharing is at the heart of GEO’s latest call to action for proposals. In partnership with Google, GEO will choose 25 project proposals to receive licenses for the sustained use of Google Earth Engine in a production environment, to be used by public sector and commercial recipients to tackle significant societal challenges and improve understanding of our planet.

We’re thankful that Google is providing these licenses, valued at US$3 million, to broaden the use of Earth observation data. In keeping with our goal of sharing data, we require that the chosen projects offer the results of their work to the open science community, including code, algorithms, datasets and results.

GEO is committed to ensuring that open Earth observations support sustainable development policies that are grounded in objective data and methods. We coordinate a work program of over 50 activities advancing the use of Earth observations to support better approaches and policies for managing our planet’s resources. The new Earth Engine license program will benefit our 130+ partners in over 100 countries so they can more effectively analyse large datasets.

Open data is instrumental in providing the necessary insights for assessing the constant changes on our planet. With these insights, decision makers can take the critical actions possible to address urgent environmental challenges — a goal at the core of GEO’s mission to enable better policies through open Earth observation data and knowledge. We believe that cloud services such as Earth Engine are the best method for GEO members and participating organizations to effectively mine insights from this data.

Earth observations from satellite imagery and in situ data offers a wealth of information about the world’s oceans, forests and key biodiversity indicators — key vital signs about the health of our planet.

Big data from openly available Earth observations offer a wealth of opportunities for the open science community to produce new research and applications, since these dataset supply critical, objective information about the world’s oceans, forests, and key biodiversity indicators. All of these represent vital signs regarding the health of our Earth’s ecosystems and will help measure the pulse of the planet.

If you’re a GEO member or partner (public sector or commercial organization) interested in proposing your project for a free Earth Engine license to be used in a sustained, production environment we’d love to hear from you. Please submit your proposal via this Application Form to dcripe@geosec.org by March 15, 2020.

NOAA Research Council invites public comment on strategies to expand the agency’s application of emerging science and technology and guide transformative advancements in NOAA science, products, and services.

The draft NOAA strategies focus on Unmanned Systems, Artificial Intelligence, ‘Omics (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics), and the Cloud as these technologies are changing capabilities to observe, predict, and understand the environment.

The public comment period for the new NOAA strategies ends December 16, 2019.

You can access the announcement, download documents, and read how to submit comments here.

During the GEO Week 2019 Plenary and Ministerial Summit, Dr. Paul DiGiacomo was awarded the Individual Excellence Award before a global audience.  This is the first year for this award, which is presented to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional personal commitment to the GEO Mission and whose work has had tangible impact. Paul was unable to attend the Plenary in person to receive his award, but Dr. Emily Smail accepted it on his behalf.  Paul first held leadership roles in multiple GEO communities of practice and was instrumental in helping them transition to Initiatives. His NOAA role enabled him to introduce GEO to the NOAA efforts which advance these initiatives and introduces GEO to various audiences both within and beyond NOAA. Several examples of his tangible impact to personally advancing GEO’s Mission include funding positions for Blue Planet and AquaWatch – first establishing home offices for both secretariats which were critical to realizing sustained Initiative achievements. Paul truly ‘walks the talk’ of supporting GEO initiatives, literally years ahead of other collaborative institutions in providing Blue Planet and AquaWatch support. While providing financial support had huge impact, he has remained engaged in various leadership roles and invested in the Initiative outcomes, not simply for enriching his NOAA role, but also advancing GEO’s Mission. Paul always emphasizes the open source technology, interdisciplinary evidence-based collaborative approaches favored by GEO; and he continuously advocates for team geographic diversity and gender-parity – values which are demonstrated in the diverse management teams and Steering Committees both Initiatives display. Above all others, Paul’s impact to GEO through leadership of Blue Planet and AquaWatch and Steering Committee service to GEOGLOWS, exemplifies the Individual Excellence this award recognizes and there is no more worthy an individual to receive such an international honor.  We congratulate Paul for this award and thank him for his dedication to international efforts!