NASA WWAO has funded development of the Western Land Data Assimilation System (WLDAS) in partnership with the Colorado Climate Center. WLDAS offers stakeholders a new data record spanning over 40 years that can be used to assess drought in the Western U.S. Model outputs include 1-km resolution daily soil moisture, snow depth and snow water equivalent, evapotranspiration, and soil temperature.

Using satellite-measured evapotranspiration to improve how California irrigates its almonds could benefit farmers to the tune of $46M, and bring economic benefits to broader California water users of $128M over the period 2028–2033. A new study, focusing on one case study of how satellite data can inform irrigation, estimates potential water savings of 241,000 acre-feet per year. The paper follows WWAO’s recent work with the RTI International Research Institute to assess the value of Earth observations from space.

A recent publication from WWAO and partners looks at how next-generation satellite snow data can improve water supply forecasts with the help of machine learning. The findings point to operational implementation for better water management.

It’s only the beginning of the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere, but Earth is already roasting. Heat waves rolled through parts of Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia, leaving vulnerable populations at risk.

Rivers burst their banks, inundating homes and farmland in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa.

Data from the GRACE / GRACE-FO satellites show that, over the past two decades, the underground water supply in the Great Basin has fallen by 16.5 cubic miles (68.7 cubic kilometers). That’s about two-thirds of the water the entire state of California uses in a year, or six times the total volume of water left in Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir, at the end of 2023.

The nutrient-loaded Northern California lake turned green with algal growth in spring 2024.

For the second year in a row, California’s largest reservoir filled to nearly 100 percent capacity.

Interested in monitoring drought at global and regional scales? This four-part training will feature WWAO's work, share tools and data for assessing drought, and explore how to analyze climate change projection data related to drought.

NASA WWAO recently convened a needs assessment workshop for the Arkansas-White-Red River Basin in Oklahoma City. Twenty-three stakeholders worked with NASA subject matter experts to document twenty use cases focused on a range of water topics. Attendees came from municipal, state, federal, and private-sector organizations, with representatives from the Kiowa, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Choctaw tribes. Workshop slides here. Stay tuned for our workshop report outlining needs and opportunities!

What’s next for science? AGU will host its annual meeting – the largest gathering of Earth and space scientists – in Washington, DC, December 9-13, 2024, and there will be plenty of talk on water, space and Earth data. Abstract submissions are now open – submit by July 31.

Towards a thriving planet: AMS’ 105th annual meeting will take place January 12-16, 2025 in New Orleans, LA. Abstracts due for the 39th Conference on Hydrology by August 15.

Launched in December 2022, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission provides an unprecedented look at Earth's water. Learn how to discover, access, and use SWOT data and how they can lead to new, innovative water science and applications.

Remote-sensing data are becoming crucial to solving some of the most important environmental problems, especially those related to agricultural applications and food security. This training offers participants the skills and tools to process satellite imagery and train algorithms to solve environmental problems anywhere on the planet.

As our climate changes, farmers and growers face new challenges in producing the food we eat. Acres - NASA's flagship program for U.S. agriculture - works to deliver NASA data and tools to agricultural decision makers on the ground.

Wildfires are becoming more frequent, larger, and more likely to occur at the same time. NASA's new FireSense program focuses on improving wildfire management in the U.S. by delivering NASA Earth science and technology to the operational agencies that manage those fires.

“It’s clear we are facing a climate crisis. Communities across America ... and communities across the globe are feeling first-hand extreme heat in unprecedented numbers."

Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator

"This [water] transfer represents a historic moment as it is believed to be one of the few, if not only, times a Tribe has acquired contractual water rights such as those from Tulare Lake... We hope that leading the way in this exercise of Tribal Sovereignty will impact not only our Tribe, but all Tribes, in reaching equality... "

Leo Sisco, Tachi Yokut Tribal Council Chairman