NASA's EMIT Mission Expands Data Collection to Address Diverse Topics

Washington D.C. - In a significant milestone for its Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission, NASA has announced that it is expanding its data collection capabilities to address a range of topics beyond minerals over desert regions.

As part of an effort to map global ecosystem biodiversity, NASA's EMIT instrument collected a hyperspectral image of the Amazon River in northern Brazil on June 30. The mission has been observing our planet from the International Space Station since July 2022 and has already provided valuable insights into issues such as greenhouse gas emission sources, desert regions, and climate science.

"We're adding more accuracy and reducing error on the measurements we are supplying to end users," said Jyoti Jennewein, a project co-lead for a new USGS-USDA Agricultural Research Service project exploring how EMIT can assess climate-smart agricultural practices.

The USGS-USDA project aims to study the distribution and characteristics of plants and plant matter using imaging spectrometry. This data will be used to incentivize farmers to adopt sustainable practices, such as winter cover crops and conservation tillage.

Other new projects under NASA's Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) program include researching wildflower blooming patterns, studying phytoplankton dynamics in inland waters, analyzing ecosystem biodiversity, and observing functional traits of forests.

In addition to its application-focused research projects, the EMIT mission will continue to study the climate impacts of dust. When lofted into the air by windstorms, dust particles can either warm or cool the surrounding air, depending on their color. By refining our understanding of these effects, scientists can better inform models of the Earth's climate system.

"Making this work publicly accessible has fundamentally pushed the science of measuring point-source emissions forward and expanded the use of EMIT data," said Andrew Thorpe, the JPL research technologist heading the EMIT greenhouse gas effort.

The expanded mission aims to provide valuable insights into pressing questions on our planet, from agricultural practices to climate impacts. With its hyperspectral imaging capabilities and machine learning automation, NASA's EMIT is poised to continue pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the Earth's ecosystems.