Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
Invited Panelist at the United States Geospatial intelligence Foundation (USGIF) Symposium
-
Similar Topics
-
By Space Force
History was made on Aug. 16, as six Space Force students out of basic military training became the first Guardians to graduate technical training at the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.
View the full article
-
By NASA
The NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) instituted the Entrepreneurs Challenge to identify innovative ideas and technologies from small business start-ups with the potential to advance the agency’s science goals. Geolabe—a prize winner in the latest Entrepreneurs Challenge—has developed a way to use artificial intelligence to identify global methane emissions. Methane is a greenhouse gas that significantly contributes to global warming, and this promising new technology could provide data to help decision makers develop strategies to mitigate climate change.
SMD sponsored Entrepreneurs Challenge events in 2020, 2021, and 2023. Challenge winners were awarded prize money—in 2023 the total Entrepreneurs Challenge prize value was $1M. To help leverage external funding sources for the development of innovative technologies of interest to NASA, SMD involved the venture capital community in Entrepreneurs Challenge events. Numerous challenge winners have subsequently received funding from both NASA and external sources (e.g., other government agencies or the venture capital community) to further develop their technologies.
Each Entrepreneurs Challenge solicited submissions in specific focus areas such as mass spectrometry technology, quantum sensors, metamaterials-based sensor technologies, and more. The focus areas of the latest 2023 challenge included lunar surface payloads and climate science.
A recent Entrepreneurs Challenge success story involves 2023 challenge winner Geolabe—a startup founded by Dr. Claudia Hulbert and Dr. Bertrand Rouet-Leduc in 2020 in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Geolabe team developed a method that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically detect methane emissions on a global scale.
This image taken from a NASA visualization shows the complex patterns of methane emissions around the globe in 2018, based on data from satellites, inventories of human activities, and NASA global computer models. Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio As global temperatures rise to record highs, the pressure to curb greenhouse gas emissions has intensified. Limiting methane emissions is particularly important since methane is the second largest contributor to global warming, and is estimated to account for approximately a third of global warming to date. Moreover, because methane stays in the atmosphere for a shorter amount of time compared to CO2, curbing methane emissions is widely considered to be one of the fastest ways to slow down the rate of global warming.
However, monitoring methane emissions and determining their quantities has been challenging due to the limitations of existing detection methods. Methane plumes are invisible and odorless, so they are typically detected with specialized equipment such as infrared cameras. The difficulty in finding these leaks from space is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Leaks are distributed around the globe, and most of the methane plumes are relatively small, making them easy to miss in satellite data.
Multispectral satellite imagery has emerged as a viable methane detection tool in recent years, enabling routine measurements of methane plumes at a global scale every few days. However, with respect to methane, these measurements suffer from very poor signal to noise ratio, which has thus far allowed detection of only very large emissions (2-3 tons/hour) using manual methods.
This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI The Geolabe team has developed a deep learning architecture that automatically identifies methane signatures in existing open-source spectral satellite data and deconvolves the signal from the noise. This AI method enables automatic detection of methane leaks at 200kg/hour and above, which account for over 85% of the methane emissions in well-studied, large oil and gas basins. Information gained using this new technique could help inform efforts to mitigate methane emissions on Earth and automatically validate their effects. This Geolabe project was featured in Nature Communications on May 14, 2024.
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION
NASA Science Mission Directorate
Share
Details
Last Updated Aug 20, 2024 Related Terms
Earth Science Science-enabling Technology Technology Highlights Uncategorized Explore More
3 min read Perseverance Pays Off for Student Challenge Winners
As radioisotopes power the Perseverance rover to explore Mars, perseverance “powered” three winners to write…
Article
6 days ago
3 min read New TEMPO Cosmic Data Story Makes Air Quality Data Publicly Available
Article
7 days ago
3 min read Earth Educators Rendezvous with Infiniscope and Tour It
Article
1 week ago
View the full article
-
By NASA
4 Min Read The Macroeconomics of Space Symposium
NASA technicians lift the James Webb Telescope Join OTPS and NASA’s Agency Chief Economist at the Macroeconomics of Space Symposium on September 5, 2024
NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy invites you to join us at the “Macroeconomics of Space Symposium” happening on Thursday, September 5, 2024, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT in the James Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters and virtually via WebEx.
OTPS is bringing together civil servants and leading researchers on the economic impacts of public R&D spending, to discuss the macroeconomics of space investments. This symposium will will feature academic presentations, a panel discussion, highlights from the upcoming FY23 NASA Economic Impact Report, and a keynote speech from Heather Boushey of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers—the first ever CEA appearance at NASA!
We’ll explore multiple perspectives, from annual economic impacts to decades-long effects on aggregate productivity, to offer a new level of integrated insight into the macroeconomic impacts of NASA investments. For more information, a preview at our agenda, and to RSVP, see details below. We hope to see you there!
Register to attend in-person or virtually through WebEx: https://nasaevents.webex.com/weblink/register/r87edd3ab76a8929e05115dc74063e295
Background
The macroeconomic implications of space-related government spending have long been a topic of interest within NASA and the Federal government more broadly. While NASA programs often focus on scientific and exploration goals, questions of NASA’s economic impacts and benefits to American society at large are frequent topics of interest from members of Congress and the general public. Toward this end, NASA publishes a biannual Economic Impact Report to assess economic benefits of NASA spending across the country. While this is of substantial interest to the US space community – as evidenced by media attention the previous report received – there remain open questions about long-run impacts through channels like NASA-developed technologies proliferating through the economy, NASA-funded methods of production enhancing output over time, and NASA-incentivized activities spurring further private investments in productive activity.
A recent wave of economic research provides new evidence on these long-run impacts. Their magnitude creates macroeconomic implications for national space policy. By some estimates, non-defense R&D spending – the bulk of which has historically been NASA spending – accounts for about one quarter of business productivity growth in the postwar period, with long-run social returns – the cumulative benefit to American society per dollar spent – of about 200%. For comparison, the social rate of return on overall US R&D investment is about 67%. As Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently noted: “… there is ample evidence [government research and development] is undersupplied, including due to a significant decline in federal R&D spending.” Paired with the evidence from the Economic Impact Report regarding annual employment effects generated by NASA spending around the country, these results suggest NASA offers a unique mechanism to promote American economic resilience, opportunity, and growth.
This symposium convenes leading researchers on the economic impacts of public R&D spending and civil servants to discuss the macroeconomics of space investments. It bridges multiple perspectives, from annual employment impacts to decades-long effects on aggregate productivity, to offer an unprecedented level of comprehensive insight into the macroeconomic impacts of NASA investments.
Event highlights (All times listed are in EDT and subject to change)
8:30 -9 a.m. In-person arrival and check-in 9-9:15 a.m. Introduction to workshop 9:15-9:30 a.m. Keynote speaker Heather Boushey, Council of Economic Advisers 9:30-10:45 a.m. Presentations: Andrew Fieldhouse/Karel Mertens, The Returns to Government R&D: Evidence from U.S. Appropriations Shocks
Measuring the causal impact of government R&D on business-sector productivity, using postwar changes in federal R&D appropriations to estimate long-term economic returns to non-defense R&D. Arnaud Dyèvre, Public R&D Spillovers and Productivity Growth
Quantifying the impact of declining public R&D funding on U.S. productivity growth using 70 years of firm-level patent and balance-sheet data to compare public and private R&D spillovers. Shawn Kantor/Alexander Whalley, Moonshot: Public R&D and Growth
Examining the Space Race to assess the impacts of windfall R&D spending on manufacturing and regional economies using declassified National Intelligence Estimates of technologies needed for space missions, detailed Census data, and data on patent funding. 10:45-11 a.m. Coffee break 11-11:20 a.m. NASA Economic Impact Report with Alex MacDonald 11:20-11:50 p.m. Closing panel, “Space in the Federal R&D portfolio” with Alex MacDonald, Arnaud Dyèvre, Andrew Fieldhouse, and Shawn Kantor. Akhil Rao as moderator. Share
Details
Last Updated Aug 16, 2024 EditorBill Keeter Related Terms
Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy (OTPS) View the full article
-
By NASA
2 min read
Geospatial AI Foundation Model Team Receives NASA Marshall Group Achievement Award
Rahul Ramachandran of NASA IMPACT, left, Elizabeth Fancher of NASA IMPACT, Ankur Kumar of the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), Sujit Roy of UAH, Raghu Ganti of IBM Research, David McKenzie of NASA, Muthukumaran Ramasubramanian of UAH, Iksha Gurung of UAH, and Manil Maskey of NASA IMPACT, right, accept the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Group Achievement Award on Thursday, August 15, 2024 at NASA Marshall. NASA NASA’s science efforts aim to empower scientists with the tools to perform research into our planet and universe. To this end, a collaborative effort between NASA and IBM created an AI geospatial foundation model, which was released as an open-source application in 2024.
Trained on vast amounts of NASA Earth science data, the foundation model can be adapted for Earth science applications such as flood, burn scar, and cropland studies. Tailoring the model for a specific task takes far less data than the original training set, providing an easy path for researchers to perform AI-powered studies.
For their groundbreaking work on this project, the development team behind the foundation model has received the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Group Achievement Award. Their success with the model showcases their commitment to advancing AI and scientific research and will inspire progress in this field for years to come.
The team members from NASA’s Marshall Space Fight Center /IMPACT (Interagency Implementation and Advanced Concepts Team) are:
Rahul Ramachandran Manil Maskey Elizabeth Fancher The team members from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) are:
Sujit Roy Ankur Kumar Christopher Phillips Iksha Gurung Muthukumaran Ramasubramanian The team members from IBM are:
Ranjini Bangalore Juan Bernabe-Moreno Dario Augusto Borges Oliveira Linsong Chu Blair Edwards Paolo Fraccaro Carlos Gomes Raghu Ganti Adnan Hoque Johannes Jakubik Levente Klein Devyani Lambhate Gabby Nyirjesy Naomi Simumba Johannes Schmude Mudhakar Srivatsa Harini Srinivasan Daniela Szwarcman Rob Parkin Kommy Weldemariam Campbell Watson Bianca Zadrozny The team members from Clark University are:
Hamed Alemohammad Michael Cecil Steve Li Sam Khallaghi Denys Godwin Maryam Ahmadi Fatemeh Kordi To learn more about the NASA projects improving accessible science discovery for the benefit of all, visit the Open Science at NASA page.
Share
Details
Last Updated Aug 15, 2024 Related Terms
Open Science Explore More
5 min read How NASA Citizen Science Fuels Future Exoplanet Research
Article
1 week ago
3 min read Meet NASA Interns Shaping Future of Open Science
Article
3 weeks ago
4 min read Mapping the Red Planet with the Power of Open Science
Article
2 months ago
Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
Manil Maskey (ST11/IMPACT) represented NASA at a discussion on the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot program held on Capitol Hill. The event brought together key members of the House AI Caucus, including Representatives Anna Eshoo, Bill Foster, Haley Stevens, Jim Baird, and Sean Casten. In attendance were several congressional staffers and the director of the National Science Foundation. During the discussion, Dr. Maskey highlighted the AI initiatives of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and emphasized the potential benefits of the NAIRR to NASA’s activities. He also showcased the advancements in SMD’s AI foundation model developments. The event served as a platform for sharing insights and fostering collaboration between NASA, other agencies, and key legislative stakeholders on the future of AI research and its applications.
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.