NASA collaborates with ESA and JAXA to unveil global view of COVID-19 impact

In response to the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) have collaborated to accumulate Earth-observing satellite data to document the planet-wide impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The three space agencies unveiled their joint COVID-19 Earth Observation Dashboard at a news conference on June 25 that integrates multiple satellite data records with analytical tools to track containment measures to stem the spread of coronavirus. 

On Earth, we are connected, Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator for science, said during the news conference, adding, the dashboard demonstrates the key capability that is important for all these global types of issues.

NASA's new dashboard includes the data showing a dip in pollutant emissions due to reduced human activities during the pandemic. It also tracks changes in air and water quality, climate change, economic activity, and agriculture. With new observations, the dashboard would continue to add new data and research as a global economy across the world resumes.  

“Together NASA, ESA, and JAXA represent a great human asset: advanced Earth-observing instruments in space that are used every day to benefit society and advance knowledge about our home planet,” Zurbuchen said. He added, “When we began to see from space how changing patterns of human activity caused by the pandemic were having a visible impact on the planet, we knew that if we combined resources, we could bring a powerful new analytical tool to bear on this fast-moving crisis.” 

According to NASA’s press release, another critical component of the atmosphere such as the carbon dioxide CO2 is highlighted in the dashboard to probe how global and local reactions to the pandemic. The three-month economic slowdown has temporarily reduced the expected increase in CO2 concentrations by a fraction of a percent, therefore, the dashboard provides the global-scale, long-term changes in CO2 as observed from the NASA satellite. NASA’s JAXA satellite would observe urban areas such as New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Delhi. 

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Dashboard to monitor any global food crisis

NASA said in the release, “Observations from space over time of shipping activity in ports, cars parked at shopping centers, and nighttime lights in urban areas can be used as indicators of how specific sectors of the economy have been affected.” It added, “Satellite data from each agency and commercial data purchased by NASA and ESA are presented in the dashboard to quantify these changes in Los Angeles; the Port of Dunkirk, France; Ghent, Belgium; Beijing, and other locations.” Additionally, the tri-agency satellite data will detect for signs of changes in agricultural production across countries in the world to monitor any global food crisis, disruptions in the food supply chain, or the availability of labor. 

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(All Images Credit: NASA)