NASA helping farmers

In January 2015, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite (SMAP), designed to collect data on soil moisture around the globe. Using microwave radar and radiometer instruments, the SMAP has started producing the highest-resolution and most accurate soil moisture maps on a global scale. Reviewing these maps and data, the farmers around the globe will get a clear understanding of soil moisture content which will help them to decide which crop to grow on which land. In addition, governments and international organisations can use the SMAP data to forecast floods and droughts more accurately and to improve the early-warning systems to predict famine.

No doubt, SMAP is a great accomplishment of NASA. It is expected that the three-year SMAP project will develop a network to monitor SMAP data around the world and coordinate actions. The USAID may undertake a project to help the agro-based countries, including Bangladesh, improve their agricultural water management system.

Professor M Zahidul Haque
Department of Agricultural Extension & Information System, SAU, Dhaka