HAMPTON, Va. — NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton is now better positioned to help respond to disasters thanks to a new team there.
"This is our disaster dashboard," team manager Joshua Barnes said as he explained some of the technology the team has available.
The dashboard is just one of the tools NASA Langley Research Center’s Disaster Response Coordination System team can use to help you.
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“We work to work with our partners to answer critical decision making questions to improve resource allocation and ultimately help support the disaster response outcomes," Barnes explained.
Team members do that through the use of data, their expertise, and technology like earth observation satellites.
“It was recognized that there was a lot of capabilities across the NASA enterprise that could be leveraged for supporting the disaster response community," Barnes said.
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On June 13, NASA announced the creation of the Disaster Response Coordination System. It’s made up of six teams across the country, including the one in Hampton Roads.
As of June 2024, the system had been used to help respond to 14 disasters around the world. It helped find thousands of mudslides in Brazil during catastrophic flooding.
It’s also been used to monitor flooding in Iowa.
“Getting to use the data, and also getting it into the hands of users that can actually use it for informed action I think is really important. So that’s the think, I think, that really just motivates me," team practice, improvement, and capacity building lead Lauren Childs-Gleason said.
The resources and work could even be used in Hampton Roads, for example, in the aftermath of a hurricane.
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But, as helpful as this all may be it does have limits.
“Sometimes, satellites aren’t passing when you need them to or if there’s cloud cover you may not be able to see what you’re hoping to see. Also, sometimes the resolution of satellite data can be limiting. If something is very course, you can’t necessarily see a very fine disaster impact," said Childs-Gleason.
A new satellite scheduled to launch in 2024 will be even more help, providing new data to help further analyze disaster areas.
Anyone interested in working with the team can reach out to the team via e-mail at drcs@nasa.gov.
